[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 236 (Friday, December 8, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63061-63062]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-29977]



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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Bureau of Labor Statistics


Proposed Information Collection Request Submitted for Public 
Comment and Recommendations; Multiple Worksite Report and Report of 
Federal Employment and Wages

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. This program helps to ensure that requested data can be 
provided in the desired format, reporting burden is minimized, 
reporting forms 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 extension of the ``Multiple Worksite Report.'' A copy of the 
proposed information collection request (ICR) can be obtained by 
contacting the individual listed below in the address section of this 
notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before February 6, 
1996.

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, D.C. 20212.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ms. Kurz on 202-606-7628 (this is not a toll free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The ES-202 Program is a Federal/State cooperative effort which 
compiles monthly employment and quarterly wage data. These data are 
collected from State Quarterly Contribution Reports submitted to State 
Employment Security Agencies (SESAs) by employers subject to State 
Unemployment Insurance (UI) laws. The ES-202 Report, produced for 

[[Page 63062]]
each calendar quarter, is a summary of these employer (micro-level) 
data by industry at the county level. Similar data for Federal 
Government employees covered by the Unemployment Compensation for 
Federal Employees (UCFE) Program are also included in each State 
report. These data are submitted by all 50 States, the District of 
Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands to the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics (BLS) which then summarizes these macro-level data to 
produce totals for the States and the Nation. The ES-202 Report 
provides a virtual census of nonagricultural employees and their wages, 
with about 47 percent of the workers in agriculture covered as well.
    As part of the ES-202 Program, the States also send micro-level 
employment and wages data, supplemented with the names and addresses of 
employers, to BLS. These States' data are used to create a BLS sampling 
frame, known as the Business Establishment List. This file represents 
one of the best sources of detailed industrial and geographical data on 
employers and is used as the sampling frame for most BLS surveys. The 
Business Establishment List includes the individual employer employment 
and wages data along with associated business identification 
information that is maintained by each State to administer the UI 
program as well as the UCFE program.
    For employers having only a single physical location (worksite) in 
the State and, thus, operating under a single assigned industrial and 
geographical code, the data from the States' UI accounting file are 
sufficient for statistical purposes. Such data, however, are inadequate 
for statistical purposes for those employers having multiple 
establishments or engaged in different industrial activities within the 
State. In such cases, the employer's Quarterly Contributions Report may 
reflect only Statewide employment and wages and is not disaggregated by 
establishment or worksite. Although this level of data is sufficient 
for many purposes of the UI Program, more detailed information is 
required to create a sampling frame and meet the needs of several 
ongoing Federal/State statistical programs. As a result of the Multiple 
Worksite Report, improved establishment business identification data 
elements have been incorporated into and maintained on the Business 
Establishment List. Establishment identification data elements in the 
Business Establishment List include a physical location address, 
secondary name (division, trade name, subsidiary, etc.), and reporting 
unit description (store number, plant name or number, etc.) for each 
worksite of multi-establishment employers.
    Employers with more than one establishment reporting under the same 
U.I. account number within a State are requested to complete the 
Multiple Worksite Report if the sum of the employment in all of their 
secondary establishments is 10 or greater. The primary worksite is 
defined as the establishment with the greatest number of employees. 
Upon receipt of the first Multiple Worksite Report form, each employer 
is requested to supply business location identification information. 
Thereafter, this reported information is computer-printed on the 
Multiple Worksite Report each quarter. The employer is requested to 
verify the accuracy of this business identification information and 
provide only the employment and wages for each worksite for that 
quarter. By using a standardized form, the reporting burden on many 
large employers, especially those engaged in multiple economic 
activities at various locations across numerous States, has been 
reduced.
    Comparable to the Multiple Worksite Report, the function of the 
Report of Federal Employment and Wages is to collect employment and 
wage data for each installation of a federal agency. The Report of 
Federal Employment and Wage aids in the development and maintenance of 
business identification information by installation. The Report of 
Federal Employment and Wages was modeled after the Multiple Worksite 
Report and is used only to collect data from Federal agencies covered 
by the UCFE program.

II. Current Actions

    No other standardized report is available to collect current 
establishment-level employment and wages data by SESAs for statistical 
purposes each quarter. Also, no other standardized report currently is 
available to collect installation-level Federal employment and wages 
data by SESAs for statistical purposes.
    The Bureau of Labor Statistics has taken steps to help reduce 
employer reporting burden by developing a standardized format for 
employers to use to send these data to the States in an electronic 
medium. The Bureau also established an Electronic Data Interchange 
(EDI) Collection Center to improve and expedite the Multiple Worksite 
Report collection process. Employers who complete the Multiple Worksite 
Report for multi-location businesses can now submit employment and 
wages information on any electronic medium (tape, cartridge, diskette, 
or computer-to-computer) directly to the data collection center, in 
lieu of each State agency. The data collection center then distributes 
the appropriate data to each State.
    Type of Review: Extension of currently approved collection.
    Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    Title: Multiple Worksite Report (MWR) and Report of Federal 
Employment and Wages (RFEW).
    OMB Number: 1220-0134.
    Frequency: Quarterly.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit institutions, not 
for-profit institutions, Federal Government, and State, local or 
tribunal government.
    Number of Respondents: 117,911.
    Estimated Time Per Response: 22.2 minutes.
    Total Burden Hours: 174.508 hours.
    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 ICR; they also will become a matter of public record.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 5th day of December, 1995.
W. Stuart Rust, Jr.,
Acting Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor 
Statistics.
[FR Doc. 95-29977 Filed 12-7-95; 8:45 am]
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