[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 221 (Wednesday, November 16, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71073-71075]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-29534]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Proposed Collection, Comment Request
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a pre-clearance
consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies
with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing
collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps to
ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format,
reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized,
collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of
collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. The
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is soliciting comments concerning the
proposed revision of the ``National Compensation Survey.'' A copy of
the proposed information collection request (ICR) can be obtained by
contacting the individual listed below in the Addresses section of this
notice.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the
ADDRESSES section of this notice on or before January 17, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Nora Kincaid, BLS Clearance Officer,
Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 4080,
2 Massachusetts Avenue NE., Washington, DC 20212. Written comments also
may be transmitted by fax to (202) 691-5111 (this is not a toll free
number).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nora Kincaid, BLS Clearance Officer,
at (202) 691-7628 (this is not a toll free number). (See ADDRESSES
section.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The National Compensation Survey (NCS) is an ongoing survey of
earnings and benefits among private firms, State, and local government.
The NCS is currently the integration of the sampling, collection, and
processing for the Employment Cost Index (ECI) and the Employee
Benefits Survey (EBS) into a single, unified program of compensation
statistics. This integration improves data for policymakers and
researchers, reduces respondent burden, improves the utilization of BLS
resources, and enhances the published measures of compensation.
Data from the integrated program include estimates of wages
covering broad groups of related occupations, and data that directly
link benefit plan costs with detailed plan provisions. The integrated
program's single sample also produces both time-series indexes and cost
levels for industry and occupational groups, thereby increasing the
analytical potential of the data. Benefits of the integrated sample
include: Improved measures of trends; better integration of benefit
costs and plan provisions; data for narrow occupations; and broad
regional and occupational coverage. The NCS employs probability methods
for selection of occupations. This ensures that sampled occupations
represent all occupations in the workforce, while minimizing the
reporting burden on respondents. Data from the NCS are used for setting
Federal white-collar salaries, determining monetary policy (as a
Principal Federal Economic Indicator), and for compensation
administrators and researchers in the private sector.
The survey collects data from a sample of employers. These data
will consist of information about the duties, responsibilities, and
compensation (earnings and benefits) for a sample of occupations for
each sampled employer.
Data will be updated on a quarterly basis. The updates will allow
for production of data on change in earnings and total compensation.
II. Current Action
Office of Management and Budget clearance is being sought for the
National Compensation Survey.
The NCS collects earnings and work level data on occupations for
the nation. The NCS also collects information on the cost, provisions,
and incidence of all the major employee benefits through its benefit
cost and benefit provision programs and publications.
The Administration's final approved budget for fiscal year 2011
called for an alternative to the Locality Pay Survey (LPS), which was
the part of the National Compensation Survey that provides occupational
wage data by industry and specific geographic areas. The alternative to
the LPS uses data from two current BLS programs--the Occupational
Employment Statistics (OES) survey and the ECI program. In this new
approach, OES data provides wage data by occupation and by area, while
ECI data are used to specify grade level effects. This new approach is
also being used to extend the estimation of pay gaps to areas that were
not included
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in the LPS and these data have been delivered to the Pay Agent.
NCS is reverting to a national survey design in order to preserve
the reliability of the ECI and EBS, after the loss of the LPS sample.
This also allowed the sample size of the ECI and EBS programs to be
reduced by about 25 percent. Starting in Fiscal Year 2013 the new NCS
private industry sample will be on a 3 year rotational cycle, which is
a change from the previous 5 years rotational cycle for private
industry sample members. Sample changes are reflected in the stated
collection and respondent burden estimates.
The NCS data on benefit costs is used to produce the ECI and
Employer Costs for Employee Compensation. The data provided will be the
same, and the series will be continuous.
The NCS will continue to provide employee benefit provision and
participation data. These data include estimates of how many workers
receive the various employer-sponsored benefits. The data also will
include information about the common provisions of benefit plans.
NCS has modified our collection forms, to 14 forms (normally having
unique private industry and government initiation and update collection
forms and versions.) Two forms are unique for private industry and
government sample members who report data through our Secure Sockets
Layer (SSL) encryption Web site. For NCS update collection, the forms
give respondents their previously reported information, the dates they
expected change to occur to these data, and space for reporting these
changes.
A second generation version of a Web-based (Internet Data
Collection Facility (IDCF)) data collection system is currently being
field tested. This will allow survey respondents to easily further
refine and breakout the detailed data they send NCS using this Web
application.
III. Desired Focus of Comments
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is particularly interested in
comments that:
Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility.
Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used.
Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected.
Minimize the burden of the collection of information on
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting
electronic submissions of responses.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Title: National Compensation Survey.
OMB Number: 1220-0164.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit; not-for-profit
institutions; and State, local, and tribal government.
Total Respondents: 13,109 (three-year average).
Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $0.
Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): $0.
All figures in the table below are based on a three-year average.
The total respondents in the table are greater than the figure shown
above because many respondents are asked to provide information
relating to more than one form.
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Avg. minutes
Total Total annual for the
Form respondents Frequency responses predominant Total hours
per form form use * *
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Establishment collection * .................. * 19 *
form (NCS Form 12-1G).
Establishment collection 3,240 At initiation..... 3,240 19 1,026
form (NCS Form 12-1P).
Earnings form (NCS Form 12- * .................. * 20 *
2G).
Earnings form (NCS Form 12- 3,240 At initiation..... 3,240 20 1,080
2P).
Wage Shuttle form computer 8,160 4................. 32,640 20 10,880
generated earnings update
form .
Work Level Form (NCS Form 12- * .................. * 25 *
3G).
Work Level Form (NCS Form 12- 3,240 At initiation..... 3,240 25 1,350
3P).
Work Schedule Form (NCS 12- * .................. * 10 *
4G).
Work Schedule Form (NCS 12- 3,240 At initiation..... 3,240 10 540
4P).
Benefits Collection Form * .................. * 177 *
(NCS 12-5G).
Benefits Collection Form 3,240 At initiation..... 3,240 178.5 9,639
(NCS 12-5P).
Summary of Benefits (Benefit 8,160 4................. 32,640 19.90 10,826
update form SO-1003) is
computer generated .
Collection not tied to a 1,709 1.716............. 2,933 32.485 1,588
specific form (testing,
Quality Assurance/Quality
Measurement, etc.) **.
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Totals.................. 34,229 .................. 88,413 .............. 36,929
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* Most NCS Government forms (NCS 12-XG) are only used for government sample initiations, which is not currently
planned during this Clearance cycle.
** Collection forms can have multiple uses. The table above shows the average collection times for the
predominant uses of the forms. Record checks (for quality assurance and measurement) are done on a sub-sample
of respondents verifying responses for pre-selected sections of the collection forms.
Includes IDCF form time (Web based screen for SSL encryption Web site secure).
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Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized
and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget
approval of the information collection request; they also will become a
matter of public record.
Signed at Washington, DC, this 9th day of November 2011.
Kimberley D. Hill,
Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
[FR Doc. 2011-29534 Filed 11-15-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-P