Obtaining record of what association employee did

[mihamih13]

Illinois

Hi, I live in a condo association. I am one of the owners and I am not on the board. I requested last week from management company a record of what full time handyman employed by the association did. I was told that I cannot be given such record because this violates his privacy. So $28 per month of my assessment money is going towards the salary of an employee and I can't see what he does for me (I'm not the only owner who wants to see this. Many people are asking the same question). They further told me that if we want to evaluate handyman, we first need to tell him he will be evaluated in the next two weeks for his privacy and then we can look at the record for things he did while he knew he was being evaluated. Are all their answers legally sound? Should I be able to get records or what he did when he did not know he was being evaluated?

Thanks much!

 

[eerelations]

Why don't you just ask the Board for a job description?

 

[pattytx]

And honestly, I doubt very seriously that you are a party to the contract or employment relationship between the association and the handyman. If you don't think the handyman is providing the service you expect, you complain to the board. If you're that serious about it, you get on the board yourself.

 

[mihamih13]

I don't think it is a question of what he is supposed to do so a job description won't help I think.

I did run for the board. First time they counted I won. Then some more ballots appeared (I was in the room and I can't tell you where those additional ballots came from) and they had to count again and I lost. I don't feel that there is anything I can do about it (I can't exactly accuse them of something I'm not sure about). But I just don't trust them anymore.

As far as complaining to the board. They have gotten so many complaints to a point that they switched from defending him to saying that they now have doubts about him.

I'm not trying to get the guy fired though. I basically wanted to see what he does and if he can pick up the carpet cleaning job if we bought a commercial carpet cleaning machine. I did not expect a: "We won't tell you what he does because it violates his privacy." What one does at work should not be private IMO. But based on answers I got I guess I'm paying for something and I got no right to know what I'm paying for.

Thanks for answers!

 

[pattytx]

The handyman has no legal right to privacy relative to what his duties are. I'm wondering why the board is being so secretive?

 

[mihamih13]

so if we the owners sued the association to release record of what handyman did let's say past 3 months, would we win? (not that we will sue but if I told them that we are likely to win something like this in court, I think they will release records).

Well Board is not technically involved yet. I dealt with management company. Board seems to do any work once a month and I don't feel like waiting a month to ask a question. But Board basically listens to everything management company says. They think very highly of her and nothing she does is questioned. She has an answer for everything. Also management company keeps saying "I got nothing to hide" even though I have not accused her of anything. But when I ask can I see this and this, I get tremendous resistance. I did manage to get some things out of her including one contract which I rebid and I got some bids for 33% less than what we are paying. Granted I got one bid that was 3 times more than what we are paying. Once she found out I rebid the contract, first she tried to tell me that anyone who comes through me is ineligible because they've seen the contract. I basically told her that this does not make sense and to show me the law statue that supports her claim (Also people I rebid with have not seen the contract anyway but that's besides the point)... Still does not really mean anything though. Maybe she is just worried she'll loose her contract because she did not do the best possible job.

 

[eerelations]

It's possible (in fact more than likely) that the Board is refusing to give you the handyman's personnel file because it doesn't want you involved in Board issues and is using this "privacy" thing as an excuse.

I think your problems are more related to condo law than employment law.

 

[mihamih13]

ok thank you very much for answers. I really appreciate it.

 

[Francey]

handyman duties

As a property manger in Illinois, my handymen are required to fill out weekly; a list of the job duties and hours of duties performed. This is a good way of keeping-up with actual job duties and hours. Also if required other duties as necessary can be added to their scheduled time.

The handymans' personal information should relate to privacy laws, but his job duties and scheduled time should not be hidden from the homeowners.

Maybe the homeowners should request and put as a discussion and if needed a vote, to have the handyman be required to fill-out a weekly job duties log, and also a print a schedule of the handyman's actual hours.

This should be brought before the Homeowners meeting, and scheduled for a vote.

If the Board has the weekly job duties ledgers filled-out by the handyman, to include hours worked, this document should be collected weekly by the managemnt company or self-managed Board, therefore making them avaiable to any homeowner requestig in writing to review these documents.

The issue of asking about the handymans performed duties and hours should not be a big issue for the Board to answer.

Hope this helps.

 

[mihamih13]

Hi, thanks for reply. I read the IL condo law since I initially posted and Board/management company do not have to disclose anything related to any employee. It is not under a privacy law per se and they can disclose it if they choose to but I can't force them to if they don't want to. However, the handyman is to be laid off Dec 1st so it seems that they may have been afraid to show his time sheets which they said they did have...

Thanks again.