[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 82 (Thursday, April 29, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23122-23123]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-10724]
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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 1994 (PRA95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). This problem 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 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
addressed section of this notice.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the
addresses section below on or before June 28, 1999.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is particularly interested in
comments which:
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 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.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Karin G. Kurz, BLS Clearance Officer,
Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 3255,
2 Massachusetts Avenue N.E., Washington, DC 20212. Ms. Kurz can be
reached on 202-606-7628 (this is not a toll free number).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The National Compensation Survey (NCS) is an ongoing survey of
earnings and benefits among private firms, and State and Local
government. The survey resulted from the integration of three surveys:
the Occupational Compensation Survey Program (OCSP); the Employment
Cost Index (ECI); and the Employee Benefits Survey (EBS). Data from
these surveys are critical for setting Federal white-collar salaries,
determining monetary policy (as a Principal Federal Economic
Indicator), and providing data for compensation administrators and
researchers in the private sector.
Data are collected from a sample of employers. These data consist
of information about the duties, responsibilities, and compensation for
a sample of occupations for each sampled employer.
Data are updated on either an annual or quarterly basis. The
updates allow for production of data on change in earnings and total
compensation.
II. Current Actions
In 1996, BLS began the National Compensation Survey (NCS) with the
collection of occupational earnings by locality and by job duties and
responsibilities. Since that time, BLS has published compilations of
these data for 65 separate localities.
In 1998, BLS began the collection of benefits data in the NCS. BLS
collected information on the cost, provisions, and incidence of all the
major employee benefits through the ECI and EBS. The change to the NCS
sample reduces total respondent burden and increases possible ways BLS
can provide data.
NCS data on benefit costs will continue to be used to produce the
Employment Cost Index and Employer Expenditures for Employee
Compensation Series. The data provided will be the same, and the series
will be continuous.
The NCS also will provide much of the data now provided by the EBS.
These data include estimates of how many workers receive the various
employer-sponsored benefits and the common features of those benefit
plans.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Title: National Compensation Survey.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit; not-for-profit
institutions; and State, Local or Tribal Government.
Total Respondents: 40,116 (3-year average).
[[Page 23123]]
Frequency: Annually in some establishments, and quarterly in
others.
Total Responses: 71,607 (3-year average).
Average Time Per Response: 45 minutes (3-year average).
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 54,262 hours (3-year average).
Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $0.
Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): $0.
All figures in the chart below are based on a 3-year average. The
sum of total respondents and the sum of total responses are greater on
the chart below than the figures listed above; many respondents are
asked to provide information relating to more than one form.
Collection forms can have multiple purposes. The chart below shows
the average collection time for the predominant use of the form, and
the weighted average time for all uses of the form. The benefit
initiation forms, for example, are used both for initial collection of
benefits from an establishment, and for technical review of the initial
collection. The initial collection takes an average of 180 minutes,
while the records check takes about eight minutes. The weighted average
collection time in 156 minutes.
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Average
Total Average time for Total
Form Total Frequency annual minutes per the annual
respondents responses response predominant burden
form use
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Earnings Initiation (NCS 99- 5,640........... Annual or 6,204 76 82 7,821
1). Quarterly
Earnings Update (NCS 99-2)... 24,106.......... Annual or 54,368 19 20 17,477
Quarterly
Benefits Initiation (NCS 99- 2,240........... Annual or 2,593 156 180 6,748
3) \1\. Quarterly
Benefits Update (NCS 99-4)... 10,686.......... Annual or 37,807 20 20 12,464
Quarterly
Informed Consent (NCS 99-5).. (*)............. Unknown Unknown Negligible Negligible Negligible
Collection Not Tied to a 10,370.......... Annual 10,370 56 82 9,752
Specific Form.
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Total.................. 53,041.......... ........... 111,342 ........... ........... 54,262
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\1\ Form 3038D will continue to be used until the NCS data capture system is completed at the end of FY 2000.
* Unknown; dependent upon number of respondents who elect to have third parties provide data.
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; the comments also will
become a matter of public record.
Signed at Washington, D.C., this 23rd day of April 1999.
W. Stuart Rust, Jr.,
Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
[FR Doc. 99-10724 Filed 4-28-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-M
