[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 115 (Wednesday, June 16, 2010)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 34286-34291]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-14182]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
48 CFR Parts 52 and 53
[FAC 2005-42; FAR Case 2009-018; Item XI; Docket 2010-0082, Sequence 1]
RIN 9000-AL53
Federal Acquisition Regulation; FAR Case 2009-018, Payrolls and
Basic Records
AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration
(GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
ACTION: Interim rule with request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense
Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) are issuing an interim rule
amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to revise the FAR
clause, Payrolls and Basic Records. This revision implements a
Department of Labor rule to protect the privacy of workers.
DATES: Effective Date: June 16, 2010.
Comment Date: Interested parties should submit written comments to
the Regulatory Secretariat on or before August 16, 2010 to be
considered in the formulation of a final rule.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by FAC 2005-42, FAR Case 2009-
018, by any of the following methods:
Regulations.gov: http://www.regulations.gov.
Submit comments via the Federal eRulemaking portal by inputting
``FAR Case 2009-018'' under the heading ``Enter Keyword or ID'' and
selecting ``Search''. Select the link ``Submit a Comment'' that
corresponds with ``FAR Case 2009-018''. Follow the instructions
provided at the ``Submit a Comment'' screen. Please include your name,
company name (if any), and ``FAR Case 2009-018'' on your attached
document.
Fax: 202-501-4067.
Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory
Secretariat (MVCB), 1800 F Street, NW., Room 4041, ATTN: Hada Flowers,
Washington, DC 20405.
Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite FAC 2005-42, FAR
Case 2009-018, in all correspondence related to this case. All comments
received will be posted without change to http://
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www.regulations.gov, including any personal and/or business
confidential information provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For clarification of content, contact
Mr. Ernest Woodson, Procurement Analyst, at (202) 501-3775. For
information pertaining to status or publication schedules, contact the
Regulatory Secretariat at (202) 501-4755. Please cite FAC 2005-42, FAR
Case 2009-018.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background
This interim rule incorporates changes from the Department of
Labor's (DOL) final rule, Protecting the Privacy of Workers: Labor
Standards Provisions Applicable to Contracts Covering Federally
Financed and Assisted Construction, published in the Federal Register
at 73 FR 77504 on December 19, 2008, that removed the requirement to
submit complete social security numbers and home addresses of
individual workers in weekly payroll submissions. The DOL concluded
that such disclosure of personal information from the prime contractor
was unnecessary and created an increased risk of privacy violations.
B. Discussion
As a result of the changes that DOL instituted regarding the
submission of payroll data, the clause at FAR 52.222-8, Payrolls and
Basic Records, is revised to delete the requirement for submission of
full social security numbers and home addresses of individual workers
from the prime contractor on weekly transmittals. Instead the payrolls
shall only need to include an individually identifying number for each
employee (e.g., the last four digits of the employee's social security
number). The information may be submitted in any form desired, but this
rule provides a link to the DOL's Wage and Hour Division website where
Optional Form WH-347 is available for the purpose of submitting payroll
information. The rule requires contractors and subcontractors to
maintain the full social security number and current address of each
covered worker, and shall provide them upon request to the contracting
officer, the contractor, or the Wage and Hour Division of the DOL for
purposes of an investigation or audit of compliance with prevailing
wage requirements.
This is not a significant regulatory action and, therefore, was not
subject to review under Section 6(b) of Executive Order 12866,
Regulatory Planning and Review, dated September 30, 1993. This rule is
not a major rule under 5 U.S.C. 804.
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Councils do not expect this interim rule to have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities within the
meaning of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601, et seq.,
because this rule provides relief for contractors from submitting more
personal information than is necessary in the weekly payroll
submissions and will not impose any measurable costs on contractors.
Therefore, an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis has not been
performed. The Councils invite comments from small business concerns
and other interested parties on the expected impact of this rule on
small entities.
The Councils will also consider comments from small entities
concerning the existing regulations in parts affected by this rule in
accordance with 5 U.S.C. 610. Interested parties must submit such
comments separately and should cite 5 U.S.C. 610 (FAC 2005-42, FAR Case
2009-018) in all correspondence.
D. Paperwork Reduction Act
The Paperwork Reduction Act does apply; however, these changes to
the FAR do not impose additional information collection requirements to
the paperwork burden previously approved under the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) Control Number 1215-0149, assigned to the DOL. The
interim rule affects the certification and information collection
requirements in the provisions at FAR 52.222-8(b)(1) and 53.303-WH-347.
The impact of this requirement will not impose any measurable costs on
any private or public sector entity. As stated in the DOL rule, the
Department believes that a reduction in the amount of information
required on certified payrolls provided weekly under the Davis-Bacon
Act is a reduction in regulatory compliance costs. While some
contractors may have to slightly reconfigure their systems to produce
the revised version, most have access to computerized systems that can
easily be revised to remove data. Those contractors who currently use
the Optional Form WH-347 will actually have an overall decrease of
total administrative costs. The DOL published a notice in the Federal
Register at 74 FR 2862 on January 16, 2009, announcing that the OMB
approved the DOL information collection request titled ``Protecting the
Privacy of Workers: Labor Standards Provisions Applicable to Contracts
Covering Federally Financed and Assisted Construction, Effectiveness of
Information Collection Requirements''.
E. Determination to Issue an Interim Rule
A determination has been made under the authority of the Secretary
of Defense (DoD), the Administrator of General Services (GSA), and the
Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) that urgent and compelling reasons exist to promulgate this
interim rule without prior opportunity for public comment. This action
is necessary because the DOL has already published a final rule in the
Federal Register at 73 FR 77504 on December 19, 2008, deleting the
requirement for submission of full social security numbers and home
addresses of employees as part of weekly payroll submissions for prime
contractors. The effective date of the DOL rule was January 18, 2009.
However, pursuant to Public Law 98-577 and FAR 1.501-3(b), the Councils
will consider public comments received in response to this interim rule
in the formation of the final rule.
List of Subjects in 48 CFR Parts 52 and 53
Government procurement.
Dated: June 2, 2010.
Edward Loeb,
Acting Director, Acquisition Policy Division.
0
Therefore, DoD, GSA, and NASA amend 48 CFR parts 52 and 53 as set forth
below:
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1. The authority citation for 48 CFR parts 52 and 53 continues to read
as follows:
Authority: 40 U.S.C. 121(c); 10 U.S.C. chapter 137; and 42
U.S.C. 2473(c).
PART 52--SOLICITATION PROVISIONS AND CONTRACT CLAUSES
0
2. Amend section 52.222-8 by revising the date of the clause and
paragraph (b)(1) to read as follows:
52.222-8 Payrolls and Basic Records.
* * * * *
PAYROLLS AND BASIC RECORDS (JUN 2010)
* * * * *
(b)(1) The Contractor shall submit weekly for each week in which
any contract work is performed a copy of all payrolls to the
Contracting Officer. The payrolls submitted shall set out accurately
and completely all of the information required to be maintained under
paragraph(a) of this clause, except that full social security numbers
and home addresses shall not be included on weekly transmittals.
Instead the payrolls shall only need to include an
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individually identifying number for each employee (e.g., the last four
digits of the employee's social security number). The required weekly
payroll information may be submitted in any form desired. Optional Form
WH-347 is available for this purpose and may be obtained from the U.S.
Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division website at http://www.dol.gov/whd/forms/wh347.pdf. The Prime Contractor is responsible
for the submission of copies of payrolls by all subcontractors.
Contractors and subcontractors shall maintain the full social security
number and current address of each covered worker, and shall provide
them upon request to the Contracting Officer, the Contractor, or the
Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor for purposes of an
investigation or audit of compliance with prevailing wage requirements.
It is not a violation of this section for a Prime Contractor to require
a subcontractor to provide addresses and social security numbers to the
Prime Contractor for its own records, without weekly submission to the
Contracting Officer.
* * * * *
PART 53--FORMS
0
3. Amend section 53.303-WH-347 by revising the form to read as follows:
53.303-WH-347 Department of Labor Form WH-347, Payroll (For
Contractor's Optional Use).
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[FR Doc. 2010-14182 Filed 6-15-10; 8:45 am]
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