§ 60-60.4 - Confidentiality and relevancy of information.

(a) Desk audit data. If the contractor is concerned with the confidentiality of such information as lists of employees, employee names, reasons for termination and pay data then alphabetic or numeric coding or the use of an index of pay and pay ranges are acceptable for desk audit purposes.

(b) On-site data. The contractor must provide full access to all relevant data on-site as required by § 60-1.43 of this chapter.

(c) Data required for off-site analysis. The contractor must provide all data determined by the compliance officer to be necessary for off-site analysis pursuant to § 60-60.3(c) of this part. Such data may only be coded if the contractor makes the code available to the compliance officer. If the contractor believes that particular information which is to be taken off-site is not relevant to compliance with the Executive order, the contractor may request a ruling by the OFCCP Area Director. The OFCCP Area Director shall issue a ruling within 10 days. The contractor may appeal that ruling to the OFCCP Assistant Regional Administrator within 10 days. The Assistant Regional Administrator shall issue a final ruling within 10 days. Pending a final ruling, the information in question must be made available to the compliance officer off-site, but shall be considered a part of the investigatory file and subject to the provisions of paragraph (d) of this section. The agency shall take all necessary precautions to safeguard all confidentiality of such information until a final determination is made. Such information may not be copied and access to the information shall be limited to the compliance officer and personnel involved in the determination of relevancy. Data determined to be not relevant to the investigation will be returned to the contractor immediately.

(d) Public access to information. Information obtained from a contractor under subpart B will be subject to the public inspection and copying provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552. Contractors should identify any information which they believe is not subject to disclosure under 5 U.S.C. 552, and should specify the reasons why such information is not disclosable. The OFCCP Assistant Regional Administrator will consider the contractor's claim and make a determination, within 10 days, as to whether the material in question is exempt from disclosure. The OFCCP Assistant Regional Administrator will inform the contractor of such a determination. The contractor may appeal that ruling to the Director of OFCCP within 10 days. The Director of OFCCP shall make a final determination within 10 days of the filing of the appeal. However, during the conduct of a compliance review or while enforcement action against the contractor is in progress or contemplated within a reasonable time, all information obtained from a contractor under subpart B except information disclosable under §§ 60-40.2 and 60-40.3 of this chapter is to be considered part of an investigatory file compiled for law enforcement purposes within the meaning of 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(7), and such information obtained from a contractor under subpart B shall be treated as exempt from mandatory disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act during the compliance review.

(e) Examination and copying of documents. Nothing contained herein is intended to supersede or otherwise limit the provisions contained in Part 60-40 of this chapter for public access to information from records of the OFCC or its various compliance agencies.