Alabama attorney general opinions have indicated or opined that the following material in a personnel file would not generally be open: psychological evaluations, family history, religious affiliation or political opinions or activities, Op. Att’y Gen. Ala. No. 88-00079 (Dec. 16, 1987); marital status, medical history, confidential recommendations for employment, and drug or alcohol testing results, Op. Att’y Gen. Ala. No. 96-00003, 1995 Ala. AG LEXIS 59 (Oct. 4, 1995); Op. Att'y Gen. Ala. No. 2001-269, 2001 Ala. AG LEXIS 165 (Aug. 29, 2001).
Information about employees that is gathered from employers by the Director of Unemployment Compensation is held confidential except as necessary for the proper presentation of the contest of an unemployment claim. Ala. Code § 25-4-116.
The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals has held that state agencies must allow inspection of nonidentifying hiring and training records. Graham v. Ala. State Employees Ass’n, 991 So. 2d 710 (Ala. Civ. App. 2007) (requiring the Alabama State Personnel Department to produce records related to the hiring and training of administrative law judges).
The Alabama attorney general has stated that employee time sheets are public records subject to inspection under the Public Records Law. Certain sensitive information contained in the time sheets, such as doctors' excuses, time off for medical reasons, or personal vacation time is confidential. In addition, other information that may be contained in the records requested, such as medical history, confidential recommendations for employment, drug or alcohol testing results, home addresses, telephone numbers, Social Security numbers, and marital status of public employees, are not public records and are not subject to disclosure. The custodian of records responding to these requests for public records should ensure that the aforementioned sensitive personnel information is redacted from any publicly disclosed records. Op. Att'y Gen. Ala. No. 2008-073, 2008 Ala. AG LEXIS 43 (Apr. 21, 2008).
H2-B visa information is subject to disclosure under the Alabama Public Records Law. S. Poverty Law Ctr. v. Kennedy, CV 06-787 (Cir. Ct. Montgomery Cnty., Sept. 26, 2006).