[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 181 (Monday, September 18, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56336-56337]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-23926]


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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 
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 
Multiple Worksite Report and the Report of Federal Employment and 
Wages. A copy of the proposed information collection request (ICR) can 
be obtained by contacting the individual listed 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 17, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Sytrina D. Toon, BLS Clearance Officer, 
Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 3255, 
2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Washington, DC 20212, telephone number 
202-691-7628 (this is not a toll free number).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sytrina D. Toon, BLS Clearance 
Officer, telephone number 202-691-7628. (See Addresses section.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Covered Employment and Wages (ES-202) Program is a Federal/
State cooperative effort which compiles monthly employment data, 
quarterly wage data, and business identification information from 
employers subject to State Unemployment Insurance (UI) laws. These data 
are collected from State Quarterly Contribution Reports submitted to 
State Employment Security Agencies (SESAs). The States send micro-level 
employment and wages data, supplemented with the names, addresses, and 
business identification information of these employers, to the BLS. 
These States' data are used to create the BLS business establishment 
sampling frame, known as the Business Establishment List. This file 
represents the best source of detailed industrial and geographical data 
on employers and is used as the sampling frame for most BLS surveys. 
The Business Establishment List includes individual employers' 
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 Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees 
(UCFE) program.
    The ES-202 Report, produced for 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 UCFE 
Program also are 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 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.
    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 files are 
sufficient for statistical purposes. Such data, however, are not 
sufficient 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 
reflects only Statewide employment and wages and is not disaggregated 
by establishment or worksite. Although data at this level are 
sufficient for many purposes of the UI Program, more detailed 
information is required to create a sampling frame and to meet the 
needs of several ongoing Federal/State statistical programs. As a 
result of the Multiple Worksite Report, improved establishment 
identification data elements have been incorporated into and maintained 
on the Business Establishment List. Establishment identification data 
elements that are included in the Business Establishment List are a 
physical location address, secondary name (trade name, division, 
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 
UI 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 ten 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 location identification information and to 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 federal agencies. The Report of 
Federal Employment and Wages 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.
    No other standardized report is available to collect current 
establishment-level employment and wages data by SESAs each quarter 
from the private sector nor from State and local governments. Also, no 
other standardized report currently is available to collect 
installation-level federal employment and wages data each quarter by 
SESAs.

[[Page 56337]]

II. Desired Focus of Comments

    The Bureau of Labor Statistics 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.

III. Current Action

    The BLS has taken steps to 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 BLS 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 now 
can submit employment and wages information on any electronic medium 
(tape, cartridge, diskette, or computer-to-computer) directly to the 
data collection center, rather than to each State separately. The data 
collection center then distributes the appropriate data to the 
respective States. The BLS also has been working very closely with 
firms providing payroll and tax filing services for employers as well 
as developers of payroll and tax filing software to include this 
electronic reporting as either a service for their clients or a new 
feature of their system. In addition, the BLS is developing a web-based 
system to collect these data from businesses of small to medium size.
    The confidentiality statement used on the MWR survey form is as 
follows:
    The information collected on this form by the BLS and the State 
agencies cooperating in its statistical programs will be used for 
statistical and Unemployment Insurance program purposes, and other 
purposes in accordance with law.
    Type of Review: Revision.
    Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    Title: Multiple Worksite Report (MWR) and the 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 tribal 
government.
    Number of Respondents: 114,767.
    Estimated Time Per Response: 22.2 Minutes.
    Total Burden Hours: 169,855 Hours.

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                                                                                                                           Average time
                   Form No.                         Total                      Respondent                      Total       per response    Total burden
                                                 respondents                                                 responses     (in minutes)       (hours)
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BLS 3020 (MWR)...............................         112,783  Non-Federal..............................         451,132            22.2         166,919
BLS 3021 (RFEW)..............................           1,984  Federal..................................           7,936            22.2           2,936
                                              ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Totals...................................         114,767  .........................................         459,068  ..............         169,855
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    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $0.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): $0.
    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 12th day of September 2000.
W. Stuart Rust, Jr.,
Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
[FR Doc. 00-23926 Filed 9-15-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-M