[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] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment Standards Administration Proposed Collection; Comment Request ACTION: Notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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