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• FL.RA· . .·• ··•· . < • , Federal labor Relations Authority 

Federal Labor Relations Authority 

Privacy Impact Assessment 

PRISM System 

July 2020 

The Federal Labor Relations Authority 

The Federal Labor Relations Authority ("FLRA") is an independent administrative 

federal agency created by Title VII of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (also known 

as the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute) (the Statute). Pub. L. 95-

454, 5 U.S.C. §7101 et seq. The Statute allows certain non-postal federal employees to 

organize, bargain collectively, and participate through labor organizations of their choice 

in decisions affecting their working lives. 

The Statute establishes distinct components within the FLRA, including the Authority, 

the Office of the General Counsel of the Authority, and the Federal Service Impasses 

Panel ("Panel"). Presidential appointees are included in each of these three 

components. The FLRA structure also includes an Office of Administrative Law 

Judges. These components are depicted below in the order in which cases generally 

process through the FLRA. The business of the FLRA, and thus the FLRA mission, is to 

carry out five (5) primary statutory responsibilities as efficiently as possible and in a 

manner that gives full effect to the rights afforded employees and agencies under the 

Statute. Those five primary responsibilities are: 

1. Resolving complaints of unfair labor practices (ULPs) 

2. Determining the appropriateness of units for labor organization representation 

(REP) 

3. Adjudicating exceptions to arbitrators' awards (ARB) 

4. Adjudicating legal issues relating to the duty to bargain (NEG) 

5. Resolving impasses during negotiations (Impasse) 

The FLRA components exercise statutorily independent prosecutorial and adjudicative 

responsibilities, with different and separate legal roles. The Statute, however, requires 

the President to designate one of the Authority Members to serve also as the FLRA 

Chairman, the head of the agency. As the FLRA's chief executive and administrative 

officer, the FLRA Chairman is responsible for decisions regarding agency-wide 

administrative functions, such as purchasing, human resources, budgeting, finance, 

information technology, leasing of office space, and agency performance 

management. The Chairman carries out these duties through the Office of the Executive 

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Director. The Chairman has designated the FLRA's Solicitor to serve as Senior Agency 

Official for Privacy. The immediate staffs of the Authority Members, the Office of the 

General Counsel, and the Panel are under the general, day-to-day supervision of their 

respective Members or component heads. In addition, the Authority Members appoint 

Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) to hear and prepare decisions in cases involving 

alleged ULPs, as well as decisions involving applications for attorney fees filed pursuant 

to the Back Pay Act or the Equal Access to Justice Act. The FLRA also provides full 

staff support to two other organizations - - the Foreign Service Impasse Disputes 

Panel and the Foreign Service Labor Relations Board. The Authority, Office of the 

General Counsel, and Panel maintain their respective headquarters offices at a common 

site in Washington, DC. The FLRA Office of the General Counsel also includes staff in 

5 regional offices (Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, Washington, D.C.). 

The Agency's Information Resources Management Division (IRMD), led by its Chief 

Information Officer (CIO), operates and maintains the necessary Information Technology 

(IT) services to support the mission, including the Agency's network, servers, 

applications, databases, computers, and communication facilities. 

Personally Identifiable Information (PII) & PRISM 

PRISM is used to create, manage and report on procurement actions. PRISM stores predecisional, pre-award requisition/solicitation information and Social Security Account Numbers 

of consultants who are providing a service for FLRA. The system stores contract numbers, 

identification of products/services purchased, socio-economic categories of vendors, and 

provides management tracking capabilities. 

The PRISM modules will contain and publicly post the following information: 

PRISM does not publicly post any PII information. 

Why PRISM Collects Information 

PRISM collects the PII in order to effectively manage procurement actions to increase 

productivity across the procurement process from requisitioning to closeout, minimize data 

entry, and maximize efficiency through electronic routing, workflow, and workload 

management. 

How PRISM uses information 

FLRA personnel enter contractor, acquisition, and award information. Subsequent actions, such 

as contract status change, closeout, etc. are also entered. 

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How PRISM Shares Information 

In accordance with Sections A4 and AS of the PRISM System Security Plan, PRISM is hosted 

off-site by Compusearch at Equinox in Sterling, Virginia. PRISM currently interfaces with: 

(1) Federal Procurement Data System Next Generation (FPDS-NG); 

(2) Central Contractor Registration (CCR); 

(3) On-line Representations and Certification Actions; 

( 4) Excluded Parties List; and 

(5) Past Performance Information Retrieval System. 

How PRISM Provides Notice and Consent 

PRISM displays an approved system warning banner to alert users of notice and consent to 

monitoring prior to login. 

How PRISM Ensures Data Accuracy 

PRISM employs the data accuracy checks inherent in Oracle database software to ensure data 

validity and accuracy. The system has been reviewed to ensure, to the greatest extent possible, it 

is accurate, relevant, timely and complete via security testing and evaluation. 

How PRISM Provides Redress 

Validation checks are built into the application software that both prompt the user that an 

incorrect entry has been entered and must be corrected, and that a user has successfully input 

data. 

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How PRISM Secures Information 

PRISM takes appropriate security measures to safeguard PU and other sensitive data. PRISM 

applies FLRA security standards, including but not limited to routine scans and monitoring, 

back-up activities, and background security checks of FLRA employees and contractors. 

Role Access 

STAFF Application and data set access 

! i only ...! ..... 

AD MIN .. 1 Access to all system functions 

How Long PRISM Retains Information 

i······ 

I 

Safeguards 

Access is audited 

Can only be granted by ADMIN level 

users 

PRISM retains PU information for a minimum of one year. 

System of Records 

PRISM may contain information that should be included in a System of Records subject to the 

Privacy Act because it can be searched by an individual's name, social security number, 

corporate entity, service provided and address. The FLRA, however, does not routinely search 

PRISM by an individual's personal identifiers. 

FLRA has certified and accredited the security of PRISM in accordance with FLRA information 

technology security standard requirements. 

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22 July 2020

Approval and Signature 

Certification: I have read and understand the purpose of this assessment. I have also 

accurately listed the personal data elements. 

Name: Noah Peters 

Title: Solicitor and Senior Agency Official for Privacy 

Email address: npeters@flra.gov 

T~lephod · umb : dl-202) ~ () ·-:J-/ ),.'2/ ·~4 

S1gnatnre: ,14 --- Date: / ----- --~--

Name: Dave Fontaine 

Title: Chief Information Officer 

Email address: dfontaine@flra.gov 

Telephone Number: (202) 218-7778 

Signature: __ 17..,,,___~--~___,~----- / 

Date: -----

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