[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 57 (Wednesday, March 24, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13909-13910]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-6552]


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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 collection: Office of Federal Contract 
Compliance Programs Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements, Supply 
and Service. A copy of the proposed information collection request can 
be obtained by contacting the office listed below in the addresses 
section of this Notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
addresses section below on or before May 24, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Ms. Hazel M. Bell, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 
Constitution Ave., NW., Room S-3201, Washington, DC 20210, telephone 
(202) 693-0418, fax (202) 693-1451, E-mail [email protected]. Please 
use only one method of transmission for comments (mail, fax, or E-
mail).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    I. Background: The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs 
(OFCCP) is responsible for the administration of three equal 
opportunity programs prohibiting employment discrimination and 
requiring affirmative action. The OFCCP administers 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 (VEVRAA), 38 
U.S.C. 4212. The regulations implementing the Executive Order program 
are found at 41 CFR Parts 60-1, 60-2, 60-3, 60-4, 60-20, 60-30, 60-40, 
and 60-50. The regulations implementing Section 503 are published at 41 
CFR part 60-741. The regulations implementing VEVRAA are found at 41 
CFR Part 60-250. The regulations require contractors to develop and 
maintain Affirmative Action Programs (AAP). OFCCP reviews these AAPs 
through its compliance evaluation process. The Supply and Service 
Scheduling Letter provides the contractor notice of its selection for a 
compliance evaluation and requests the submission of its Affirmative 
Action Programs and supporting documentation. The supporting 
documentation includes compensation data (Itemized Listing question 
number 11). OFCCP uses the Item 11 data purely to determine whether 
OFCCP should investigate a contractor's compensation practices further, 
as a means of targeting and allocating the agency's investigative 
resources. OFCCP is not using Item 11 data to make any kind of 
determination of whether a violation has occurred. OFCCP only 
determines that a violation has occurred based on careful investigation 
of a contractor's

[[Page 13910]]

compensation practices, which would require examination of much more 
detailed compensation and personnel data. With respect to assessing 
whether the contractor has engaged in systemic discrimination (i.e., 
pattern or practice discrimination under a disparate treatment and/or 
disparate impact theory), OFCCP conducts multiple regression analyses 
and/or examines cohorts to assess whether there is a pattern of 
compensation disparities. In assessing whether to make a finding of 
systemic compensation discrimination, OFCCP looks not only at 
statistically-significant compensation disparities, but also at 
evidence of how the statistical pattern of pay disparities affects 
individual employees within the contractor's workplace, and other 
anecdotal evidence. OFCCP has found this approach effective in 
determining whether systemic compensation discrimination exists, 
convincing a contractor to conciliate based on OFCCP's findings, and 
creating a credible threat of enforcement litigation.
    In light of this limited use of the Item 11 data, OFCCP concludes 
that the data, while clearly not sufficient to make a determination of 
a violation, is and has been effective in allowing OFCCP to allocate 
the agency's investigative resources. OFCCP's Division of Program 
Operations (DPO) conducted an internal study of compliance reviews 
closed at the desk audit stage. The DPO study found that indicators 
obtained from review of the Item 11 data were sufficient to target 
OFCCP's resources on cases in which additional data was required. The 
DPO study also found that OFCCP's review of the additional data in many 
cases warranted OFCCP's determination that an on-site review was 
unnecessary. For example, before deciding to pursue further 
investigation during an evaluation, OFCCP asked for more data in just 
over 50% of the cases. However, in a significant number of cases, 
nearly 50%, OFCCP determined that further review of compensation data 
was unwarranted based only on the Item 11 submission. OFCCP asked for 
more compensation data only if an examination of the Item 11 data 
indicated a potential problem that could be assessed through analysis 
of further data.
    In addition to the internal DPO study, OFCCP developed and sent out 
a Compensation Questionnaire in response to the Office of Management 
and Budget's (OMB) previous Terms of Clearance. These Compensation 
Questionnaires were sent to Supply and Service contractors scheduled 
for compliance evaluations between July and September 2003. The 
Compensation Questionnaire solicited information about the burden hours 
associated with submitting compensation data to OFCCP during the 
initial desk audit stage of a compliance review. The Compensation 
Questionnaires were voluntary, and contractors were afforded 60 days to 
complete the questionnaire.
    On October 31, 2003, OFCCP requested and received a 3-month 
extension from OMB on its Supply and Service authorization to allow for 
continued submission of the questionnaires and for OFCCP to analyze the 
responses. While OFCCP sent out 1,977 questionnaires, the agency 
received only 99 responses and 4 letters of non-response, for a 
response rate of approximately 5%, a somewhat disappointing result. 
Nonetheless, OFCCP's attempt to solicit comments directly from covered 
contractors obtained the following information:

    1. On average, contractors took 28.35 staff hours to prepare and 
submit information to OFCCP in response to the Supply and Service 
Scheduling Letter.
    2. Of those 28.35 staff hours, on average, contractors took 5.23 
staff hours to submit compensation information to OFCCP.
    3. 94.94% of respondents who stated a preference, preferred to 
submit compensation information as part of the desk audit rather than 
as part of the on-site review.
    4. 86.46% of respondents maintain compensation data in electronic 
format; while 29.17% of respondents maintain compensation data manually 
(some contractors indicated both forms of data maintenance).

    OFCCP has revised its burden hour estimates based on the comments 
received from the compensation questionnaire.
    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.
    III. Current Actions: OFCCP seeks a three-year extension to the 
approval of the Supply and Service Scheduling Letter. There is no 
change in the substance or method of collection since the last OMB 
approval. OFCCP has revised the burden hour estimates associated with 
the Supply and Service Scheduling letter based on the responses to the 
Compensation Questionnaire.
    Type of Review: Extension.
    Agency: Employment Standards Administration.
    Title: OFCCP Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements, Supply and 
Service--Scheduling Letter.
    OMB Number: 1215-0072.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit, Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Total Annual responses: 6,092 (FY03 data).
    Frequency: Annually.
    Average Time per response: 28.35 hours.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 172,708.
    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $0.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): $60,798.
    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: March 18, 2004.
Bruce Bohanon,
Chief, Branch of Management Review and Internal Control, Division of 
Financial Management, Office of Management, Administration and 
Planning, Employment Standards Administration.
[FR Doc. 04-6552 Filed 3-23-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-CM-P