[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 60 (Tuesday, March 30, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15179-15181]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-7777]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
Proposed Information Collection Request Submitted for Public
Comment and Recommendations; Survey of the Costs to States and
Employers To Convert Existing Reports To Accommodate the
Standardization and Expansion of Payroll Reporting
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 preclearance
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.
Currently, the Employment and Training Administration is soliciting
comments concerning the proposed survey of States concerning estimated
costs that States and employers will incur if they were to adopt the
new standards being recommended by the Social Security Administration
(SSA). A copy of the proposed survey follows in this document.
[[Page 15180]]
DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before June 1, 1999.
Written comments should:
--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; and
--Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are
to respond, including the use of appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms
of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of
responses.
ADDRESSES: Rett Hensley, Unemployment Insurance Service, Employment and
Training Administration, Department of Labor, Room S4015, 200
Constitution Ave, N.W., Washington, D.C., 20210; 202 219-5615 (this is
not a toll-free number).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The passage of welfare reform legislation, child support
legislation and increased concern about unemployment insurance (UI)
fraud and overpayments, has stimulated a movement toward adoption of a
standardized payroll reporting format. In a cooperative effort to
improve the welfare of children almost all States now report UI wages
and benefit payments to the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH). The
reporting began with States voluntarily reporting third quarter 1997
wages and fourth quarter 1997 benefit payments. The quarterly wage data
reported from State maintained systems is already a vital source of
information within the NDNH.
The NDNH, which is maintained by the Social Security Administration
(SSA) on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS),
also stores information from W-2 forms. Unfortunately a lack of
standardization in the reporting of name and social security number
(SSN) information by the States makes matching the W-2 information with
the State wage data difficult and diminishes the usefulness of the
information in the data base. Recently the SSA took the lead in
establishing a standard for storage of name and social security
information. Employers will begin using the new standards for W-2's
issued in 1999 to report wages earned in 1998. Listed below are some
agencies that HHS indicates may probably benefit as a result of
implementation of the plan for the new standards:
State child support agencies (parent locator systems)
Treasury (debt collections)
SSA (Supplemental Security Income, disability, and
retirement overpayment detection) and
IRS (fraud detection, tax enforcement).
States (fraud prevention and detection for UI, worker's
compensation, Transitional Assistance for Needy Families, Foodstamps
and Medicaid).
A system change of this magnitude will be very costly for some
States to implement. Other States may already be using these or similar
standards. The Office of Management and Budget, at the request of SSA
asked the Department of Labor to include $40 million in its Fiscal Year
2000 budget request for States to use in adopting the new standards in
payroll reporting. Since the $40 million is only a rough estimate of
need, the Unemployment Insurance Service (UIS) must gather estimates
from State Employment Security Agencies (SESAS) of the costs that
States and their employers might expect to incur if they were to adopt
the new standards. This information will produce a more accurate
estimate of actual need in the event that all States implement this new
standard. A survey form, which shows the standards, has been developed
to assist in reporting these estimates. It is titled ``Name Fields''.
The survey also asks for an estimate of the cost a State agency and
its employers might experience in gathering some new information
concerning average wages, hours worked and the location of jobs. Having
some knowledge of the potential cost of gathering this information will
help in making future decisions on whether or not it is feasible to ask
employers and States for this information. This second portion is title
``Labor Market Information''.
II. Current Actions
This is a request for OMB approval under the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3506 (c)(2)(A)).
Agency: Employment and Training Administration, Department of
Labor.
Title: Survey of the Costs to States and Employers to Convert
Existing Reports to Accommodate the Standardization and Expansion of
Payroll Reporting.
Affected Public: State governments (State Employment Security
Agencies) and employers.
Total Respondents: Fifty three State governments and, possibly,
SESA-selected samples of employers.
Frequency: One time only.
Total Responses: Fifty three.
Average Time Per Response: 90 hours for ``Name Fields'' portion of
survey. To estimate how much extra equipment and staff it will take to
gather and store the additional name fields characters, each State
would have to consult with its data processing units about equipment
needs and programming requirements. Estimates would have to be
produced, detailed and discussed. To obtain the impact on the State's
employers, some discussions would need to take place with a number of
employers and their data processing staff as well.
The complete the more difficult portion of the survey, ``Labor
Market Information'', 180 hours is estimated. States will have to
consider costs involved in: training employers and staff to granter and
report new data (e.g., hours worked, weeks worked, occupational codes
and FIPS codes) that they are not accustomed to working with; bringing
about compliance by hiring additional staff to answer employer
questions, and calling and training employers who fail to comply; and
fir the purchase of additional equipment, redesigning forms and
software, and hiring staff to process, store and forward the new data.
Total survey response time is estimated at 270 hours.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 14,310 hours for 53 States.
The survey would look as follows:
Section One--Survey Concerning the Standardization of Name Fields
Please fill in the following table showing your estimate of the
cost (for both your State and the employers of your State) of
converting your existing system to the new standards shown below. You
should assume that your State will be utilizing magnetic media to make
your reports to the National Directory of New Hires.
[[Page 15181]]
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State's State's Employer's Total
SESA's current initial ongoing Employer's ongoing cost for
Field character capability New SSA standards field type cost to annual initial annual first
change * cost ** cost * cost ** year
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First Name....................... .................... 15 characters alpha
Middle Name...................... .................... 15 characters alpha
Last Name........................ .................... 20 characters alpha
Suffix ***....................... .................... 4 characters numeric
SSN.............................. .................... 9 characters numeric
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* Consider the cost of additional computer storage equipment and programming.
** Consider the ongoing costs of entering additional data each quarter and maintaining the additional volume of records.
*** This is an optional field, for future use by SSA. It refers to Jr. or Sr. etc., after some names.
Section Two--Survey Concerning Collecting Labor Market Information
Some agencies have requested labor market information from UIS that
is not currently available on most States' Contribution and Wage
Reports. Your cost estimates for providing this information is
requested to facilitate long term planning for labor market information
needs. There are no immediate plans to begin requesting or utilizing
this additional information.
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State's Employer's Employer's Total
Fields on the quarterly wage Anticipated State's ongoing initial ongoing cost for
report characters needed initial annual cost to annual first
cost cost add cost year
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A column showing the quarterly 3 Characters........
hours worked per employee.
A column showing the weeks worked 2 Characters........
per employee.
A column showing the occupational 6 Characters........
code of each employee.
A column showing the FIPS code or 5 Characters........
zip code of where each worker
works.
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Please use this space to make any comments or observations you wish
to express about the survey.
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 will also become a
matter of public record.
Dated: March 23, 1999.
Grace A. Kilbane,
Director, Unemployment Insurance Service.
[FR Doc. 99-7777 Filed 3-29-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-M