[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 192 (Tuesday, October 5, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54056-54057]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-25811]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment Standards Administration


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 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 Standards Administration is soliciting 
comments concerning the proposed new information collection of The 
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs' Equal Opportunity 
Survey. A copy of the proposed information collection request can be 
obtained by contacting the office listed below in the addressee section 
of this Notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
addressee section on or before December 6, 1999.

ADDRESSEE: Ms. Patricia A. Forkel, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 
Constitution Ave., N.W., Room S-3201, Washington, D.C. 20210, telephone 
(202) 693-0339 (this is not a toll-free number), fax (202) 693-1451.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Government contractors provide information on their personnel 
activities and the results of their affirmative efforts to employ and 
promote minorities and women. This information is used to select 
specifically identified contractors for compliance evaluations and 
technical assistance. This requirement has been established under 
Executive Order 11246, as amended; Section 503 of the Rehabilitation 
Act of 1973, as amended, and the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment 
Assistance Act of 1974, as amended, 38 USC 4212, and OFCCP's 
implementing regulations at 41 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) 
Chapter 60.

II. Review Focus

    The Department of Labor 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.

[[Page 54057]]

III. Current Actions

    The Department of Labor is developing an Equal Opportunity Survey 
in order to improve its implementation of the laws enforced by OFCCP: 
Executive Order 11246, as amended; Section 503 of the Rehabilitation 
Act of 1973, as amended; and the affirmative action provisions of the 
Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, as amended, 
38 U.S.C. 4212. The three-part survey, as currently envisioned, would 
collect general information on the status of the federal contractor's 
affirmative action plan and aggregated personnel and compensation data, 
with a breakdown by gender and minority status.
    Each year, OFCCP will collect survey data from federal contractors 
who are subject to the laws enforced by the agency. DOL's goals for the 
survey are: to increase compliance with equal employment opportunity 
requirements by improving contractor self-awareness; to improve the 
deployment of scarce federal government resources toward contractors 
more likely than not to be in noncompliance; and to increase agency 
efficiency by building on the tiered-review process already 
accomplished by OFCCP's regulatory reform efforts, thereby allowing 
better resource allocation.
    In consultation with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), DOL 
has developed a plan for phasing in the implementation of the Equal 
Opportunity Survey. As part of the developmental process, the 
instrument first is being tested using procedures established by the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics to assure that it is structured in a manner 
that respondents understand and that the data OFCCP is seeking are 
readily available.
    Once the survey development process has been completed, the survey 
will be phased in using two mailings in FY 2000. The phase-in process 
will allow updating of the flagged contractor list with the new EEO-1 
data expected in the summer of 2000. It will also permit modifications 
to be made to data processing procedures to assure timely processing.

Phase I--Survey Instrument Development

    During this phase the survey instrument will be put in final form 
and tested for clarity; the analytical model will be developed; and, 
initial consultation with an outside contractor on survey processing 
procedures will take place.
    The draft survey instrument has been tested and evaluated using the 
facilities of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Behavioral Science 
Research Center. This assures that the definitions and instructions are 
clearly written and can be readily understood. Suggestions for 
improving the clarity of the form have been incorporated into the 
current version. This part of the process began in August 1999 and was 
completed in September 1999.
    Between October 1999 and January 2000 the Department will field 
test the survey instrument. This field test, conducted on a voluntary 
basis, will be designed to test the procedures used when the survey is 
implemented and will include a follow-up component for both respondents 
and nonrespondents. The field test will be conducted by OFCCP with the 
assistance of BLS. Following the field test, appropriate revisions will 
be made to the survey instrument. The final report of the results of 
the field test and the survey in final form will be included with the 
final ICR submission to OMB in January 2000.

Phase II--Survey

    At this time OFCCP intends to send the survey to contractor 
establishments that are ``flagged'' by OFCCP's Equal Employment Data 
System (EEDS) as being potentially out of compliance with Executive 
Order 11246. An initial mailing of the survey will be made to 
respondents selected from those establishments that were flagged in 
1999. Approximately 7,000 of the flagged establishments will be 
surveyed in April 2000. This number was chosen to provide a sufficient 
sample to test the data intake and processing procedures. Flagged 
establishments will be selected for the survey based on geographic 
location and size.
    The survey data from the initial mailing will be processed and 
analyzed and the results used to identify establishments for compliance 
evaluations. The analytical model will result in a ranking of 
contractors based on the nature and number of adverse indicators. 
Compliance evaluations will be scheduled beginning with those 
establishments with the highest rankings on the indicator scale. As 
part of the compliance evaluation process, survey responses will be 
validated for a sample of establishments to assure that accurate data 
are being submitted. Establishments where compliance evaluations are 
not initiated may be notified of areas that require additional self-
analysis.
    The second mailing will be sent to the flagged establishments that 
were not previously surveyed in the first mailing (i.e., about 53,000 
establishments). These surveys will be mailed in late FY 2000, and will 
be used to select establishments for compliance evaluations during FY 
2001. Thereafter OFCCP intends to survey contractors on an annual 
basis.
    Type of Review: New Collection.
    Agency: Employment Standards Administration.
    Title: Equal Opportunity Survey.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit; Not-for-profit 
institutions; State, Local or Tribal Government.
    Total Respondents: 60,000.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Total Responses: 60,000.
    Estimated Time Per Response: 12 hours.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 720,000.
    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): 0.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): $60,000.
    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: September 30, 1999.
Margaret J. Sherrill,
Chief, Branch of Management Review and Internal Control, Division of 
Financial Management, Office of Management, Administration and 
Planning, Employment Standards Administration.
[FR Doc. 99-25811 Filed 10-4-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-27-P