[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 18, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8696-8698]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-03291]
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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 new collection
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of the ``Occupational Requirements 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 April 20, 2015.
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 Occupational Requirements Survey (ORS) is a nationwide survey
that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will conduct at the request
of the Social Security Administration (SSA). The first three years of
data collection and capture for the ORS will start in 2015 and end in
mid-2018.
Estimates produced from the data collected by the ORS will be used
by the SSA to update occupational requirements data in administering
the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental
Security Income (SSI) programs.
The new ORS occupational information will allow SSA adjudicators to
clearly associate the assessment of a claimant's physical and mental
functional capacity and vocational profile with work requirements. BLS
will compute percentages of workers with various characteristics, such
as skill and strength level. SSA will use this information to provide
statistical support for the medical-vocational rules used at step 5 of
sequential evaluation regarding the number of unskilled jobs that exist
at each level of exertion in the national economy.
The Social Security Administration, Members of Congress, and
representatives of the disability community have all identified
collection of updated information on the requirements of work in
today's economy as crucial to the equitable and efficient operation of
the Social Security Disability (SSDI) program. The information
currently available is more than 20 years old.
The ORS will collect data from a sample of employers. These
requirements of work data will consist of information about the duties,
responsibilities, and job tasks for a sample of occupations for each
sampled employer.
In October 2014, BLS commenced the collection of a six-month ORS
Pre-production test. The goal of the Pre-production test is to test all
survey activities by mirroring production procedures, processes and
protocols as closely as possible. All ORS data elements planned for
Production are being collected during the test.
Production activities mirrored in the Pre-production test include
selecting ORS samples, training staff, conducting calibration
exercises, collecting the data, conducting all review activities,
calculating estimates and standard errors, validating the estimates,
and applying publication criteria to the computed estimates. Data from
this test that meets BLS publication criteria will be provided to SSA
and released in a research report for the public. However, due to the
sample size of this test, the BLS only expects to be able to compute
and release data for a very limited number of occupations or
occupational groups, and these data will not be suitable for SSA
disability determinations.
BLS received comments on both the March 24, 2014, 60 day Federal
Register (79 FR 16058) and July 23, 2014, 30 day Federal Register
notice (79 FR 42829) for the six-month ORS Pre-production test. To
assure that BLS is addressing all of these comments thoroughly, BLS
consulted with an outside subject matter expert to gain a better
understanding of occupational requirements data. The consultant
reviewed and analyzed literature related to the reliability and
validity of occupational requirements data and provided the BLS with
recommendations for testing reliability and validity. Given the
recommendations from the subject matter expert, BLS plans to begin a
review initiative in FY 2015 including the development of a
methodological guide, evaluation of benchmarks for data collection, and
future testing of inter-rater reliability. These recommendations, as
well as the previous refinements of the collection procedures, the data
review process, and the validation techniques developed to date will
ensure ORS produces quality occupational data in the areas of
vocational preparation, mental-cognitive and physical requirements, and
environmental conditions as the BLS moves into full production.
II. Current Action
Office of Management and Budget clearance is being sought for the
Occupational Requirements Survey.
The following data will be collected during the ORS as defined by
the SSA's disability program and are data that the NCS does not
currently collect:
(1) An indicator of ``time to proficiency,'' defined as the amount
of time required by a typical worker to learn the techniques, acquire
the information, and develop the facility needed for average job
performance, comparable to the Specific Vocational Preparation (SVP)
used in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT).
(2) Physical Demand characteristics/factors of occupations,
measured in such a way to support SSA disability determination needs,
comparable to measures in Appendix C of the Selected Characteristics of
Occupations (SCO).
(3) Environmental Conditions, measured in such a way to support SSA
disability determination needs, comparable to measures in Appendix D of
the SCO.
(4) Data elements that describe the mental and cognitive demands of
work.
(5) Occupational Task lists data as identified in the Employment
and Training Administration's (ETA's) O*NET Program in order to
validate the key tasks common across establishments and identify other
tasks commonly performed.
Some data needed for ORS are currently collected by BLS's National
Compensation Survey (NCS). The ORS data will be collected with the same
methodology as data collected for NCS. The general establishment data
collected on establishments in the survey samples will be the same for
ORS and NCS. The Probability Selection of Occupations (PSO)
methodology--a disaggregating technique for selecting individual items
from a large number of items--will also be used by both ORS and NCS.
For ORS and NCS, these items are employees, occupations, divisions, or
sub-units depending upon the application of the sampling procedure
being used. The work level of jobs data (factor evaluation method with
four factors to evaluate the work level) methodology will also be used
in the ORS survey, as it is currently in NCS.
BLS will disseminate the data from the ORS on the BLS public Web
site (www.bls.gov/ors).
The ORS will have two collection forms (having unique private
industry and government collection forms for each). For those sampled
establishments that are in the current National
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Compensation Survey (NCS), ORS will use NCS data and forms for those
data elements that overlap.
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: New Collection.
Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Title: Occupational Requirements Survey.
OMB Number: 1220-NEW.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit; not-for-profit
institutions; and State, local, and tribal government.
Total Respondents: 10,402 (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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Minutes for
Total Total annual the
Form respondents Frequency responses * predominant Total hours *
per form form use
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Establishment, work level, and 1,366 1 1,366 54 1,229
schedule collection form (ORS
Form 15-1G )...................
Establishment, work level, and 8,246 1 8,246 54 7,421
schedule collection form (ORS
Form 15-1P )...................
Occupation requirements (ORS 1,507 1 1,507 66 1,658
Form 4 PPD-4G).................
Occupation requirements (ORS 8,545 1 8,545 66 9,400
Form 4 PPD-4P).................
Collection not tied to a 853 1 853 .............. 476
specific form (Quality
Assurance, Testing)............
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TOTALS...................... 20,516 .............. 20,516 .............. 20,184
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* The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.
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 12th day of February 2015.
Eric Molina,
Acting Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
[FR Doc. 2015-03291 Filed 2-17-15; 8:45 am]
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