[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 191 (Monday, October 4, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61178-61180]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-24775]
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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 November 3, 2010.
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), the Employee Benefits
Survey (EBS), and the Locality Pay Surveys (LPS) 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 by job levels covering broad groups of related occupations, and
data that directly links 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 critical 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 has proposed 2011 budget calls for the
elimination of the Locality Pay Survey (LPS), which is the part of the
National Compensation Survey that provides occupational wage data by
industry and specific geographic areas. The NCS is currently developing
a new survey design that excludes the LPS. Planning and design for
these changes are ongoing. NCS will
[[Page 61179]]
transition from an area-based survey design to a non-area-based
national design, supplemented with modeled wages starting in FY 2011.
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 the 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 the 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.
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: 14,433 (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 form * .................. * 19 *
(NCS Form 11-1G).
Establishment collection form 1,960 At initiation..... 1,960 19 621
(NCS Form 11-1P).
Earnings form (NCS Form 11-2G). * .................. * 20 *
Earnings form (NCS Form 11-2P). 1,960 At initiation..... 1,960 20 653
Wage Shuttle form computer 10,665 Quarterly (3.827 40,823 20 13,608
generated earnings update form avg.).
.
Work Level Form (NCS Form 11- * .................. * 25 *
3G).
Work Level Form (NCS FORM 11- 1,960 At initiation..... 1,960 25 817
3P).
Work Schedule Form (NCS 11-4G). * .................. * 10 *
Work Schedule Form (NCS 11-4P). 1,960 At initiation..... 1,960 10 327
Benefits Collection Form (NCS * .................. * 177 *
11-5G).
Benefits Collection Form (NCS 1,960 At initiation..... 1,960 178.5 5,831
11-5P).
Summary of Benefits (Benefit 10,665 Quarterly......... 40,823 19.92 13,553
update form SO-1003) is (3.83 avg.).......
computer generated .
Collection not tied to a 1,808 1.89.............. 3,420 30 1,710
specific form (testing,
Quality Assurance/Quality
Measurement, etc.).**
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Totals..................... 32,938 .................. 94,866 .............. 37,120
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* Most NCS Government forms (NCS 11-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.)
[[Page 61180]]
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 28th day of September 2010.
Kimberley Hill,
Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
[FR Doc. 2010-24775 Filed 10-1-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-P