FRC 03.2010: Change in Procedures to Transfer and Retrieve Official Personnel Folders / Employee Medical Folders at the National Personnel Records Center
June 16, 2010
FRC MEMORANDUM TO FEDERAL AGENCY CONTACTS: Change in Procedures to Transfer and Retrieve Official Personnel Folders / Employee Medical Folders at the National Personnel Records Center
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has instructed NARA's Federal Records Centers Program (FRCP) to immediately suspend all work relating to the transfer and retrieval of Executive Branch Official Personnel Folders (OPFs) and Employee Medical Folders (EMFs) at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, MO for the remainder of FY2010. Therefore, the NPRC will store, but will not process, any newly received hard-copy OPFs / EMFs or interfiling documents into existing OPFs / EMFs that arrive between now and the end of the fiscal year. Similarly, OPM has directed that the NPRC not respond to requests for the retrieval of OPFs / EMFs for Federal agencies or for viewing OPFs / EMFs in the NPRC research room. OPM Director John Berry issued a memo to Chief Human Capital Officers on June 10, 2010 directing agencies to stop sending OPFs / EMFs to the NPRC. A copy of the memorandum is attached.
The FRCP is anticipating that OPM's proposed regulation for 5 CFR part 293, Personnel Records (RIN 3206-AM05), published January 19, 2010, (75 FR 2821), will be issued as final this fiscal year. As such, we are now planning for that contingency. The attached proposed regulations assigns responsibility to the agencies for all costs associated with NPRC transactions such as transfers, retrievals, and other related services. The FRCP is preparing to implement the requirements of the final regulations on their effective date. Therefore, beginning in FY2011, the NPRC will once again begin to process OPF / EMF transfers and retrievals, and will bill such services to the agencies at the time of the action rather than to OPM as in the past. We are revising our fees for OPF / EMF services to reflect folder-level transactions and modifying our systems to capture agency level transactions for billing purposes. We plan to issue our new OPF / EMF fees in early August. Based on the new transactional fees, agencies will be able to calculate the total cost of OPF / EMF services by estimating the number of OPF / EMF transfers and retrievals typically done by the agency human resources office each fiscal year.
Please alert your human resource directors about this OPM change in requesting OPF / EMF services.
Questions regarding OPM's proposed regulation and instructions to the FRCP for the remainder of FY 2010 should be directed to:
- Tanya Bennett, Chief of Records Management at tanya.bennnet@opm.gov or 202-606-4054;
- Eric Bryant, Personnel Records Management Specialist at eric.bryant@opm.gov or 202-606-2463; or
- Mickey Trinite, Information Specialist at michael.trinite@opm.gov or 202-606-2016
Questions regarding FRCP billing and interagency agreements should be directed to Gordon Everett, NARA's National Account Manager for OPM at gordon.everett@nara.gov or 301-837-1546.
Questions regarding NPRC services should be directed to the NPRC Annex Customer Support Center at stlcpr.transfer@nara.gov or 618-935-3000.
David M. Weinberg
Director
NARA Federal Records Centers Program
Attachments:
John Berry's memo to Chief Human Capitol Officers, June 10, 2010
OPM proposed rule published in the Federal Register, January 19, 2010