[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 11, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13013-13015]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-4657]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR


Continuing Information Collection Request for the Unemployment 
Insurance (UI) Facilitation of Claimant Reemployment; Comment Request

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and 
respondent burden, the Department of Labor (Department) 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 the 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.
    A copy of the proposed information collection request (ICR) can be 
obtained by contacting the office listed below in the addressee section 
of this notice or by accessing: http://www.doleta.gov/OMBCN/OMBControlNumber.cfm.

DATES: Submit comments to the office listed in the addressee section 
below on or before May 12, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments to Andrew W. Spisak, Office of Workforce 
Security, Employment and Training Administration, U. S. Department of 
Labor, Room S-4522, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210; 
telephone: 202-693-3196 (this is not a toll-free number); fax: 202-693-
3975; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
     I. Background: Required by Congress under the Government 
Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), the Department's Strategic 
Plan is an integral part of the budget process. Among the purposes of 
the GPRA are to improve Federal program effectiveness and public 
accountability by focusing on program results, service quality, and 
customer satisfaction.
    Strategic Goal 4 in the Department's fiscal year (FY) 2006--2011 
strategic plan--Strengthened Economic Protections --focuses on 
improving the operational performance and effectiveness of the federal/
state UI program. Performance Goal 4A supports this goal with 
performance measures to ``Make timely and accurate benefit payments to 
unemployed workers, facilitate the reemployment of unemployment 
insurance beneficiaries, and set up unemployment tax accounts promptly 
for new employers.''
    ETA collects the data to measure the facilitation of reemployment 
of UI benefit recipients through the ETA 9047 report. OMB approved the 
Department's request to begin collecting UI reemployment data through 
the ETA 9047 report on July 26, 2005. ETA issued reporting instructions 
in Unemployment Insurance Program Letter (UIPL) No. 1-06 (October 6, 
2005), and State Workforce Agencies began reporting data to ETA in 
March 2006.
    Using the reemployment data submitted by the states through the ETA 
9047 report, ETA calculated a baseline for the UI GPRA reemployment 
rate measure. In Training and Employment Guidance Letter (TEGL) No. 24-
05 Change 1, ETA announced that the baseline reemployment rate was 
62.4%, and set the FY 2007 GPRA Facilitate Reemployment goal at 65%. 
The TEGL also advised states that the development of a UI Performs 
measure ``with a criterion by which to assess individual states'' 
success in facilitating UI reemployment'' was in progress.

Data Collection

    Each calendar quarter, states report on the ETA 9047 report 
separate counts for individuals receiving their first UI payments who 
are exempt from work search/employment service registration 
(``exempt''), in most cases because they are job-attached with definite 
recall dates, and those who must conduct work search or register with 
the employment service (``nonexempt'').
    States also report on the ETA 9047 report the number of those first 
payment recipients for whom intrastate or out-of-state employers 
reported wages in the subsequent quarter. States obtain these counts by 
running computer crossmatches of the Social Security Numbers (SSNs) of 
the claimants who received a first UI payment with the UI wage records 
for the subsequent calendar quarter. ETA issued instructions on 
obtaining out-of-state reemployment data through matching the SSNs of 
UI first payment recipients with UI wage records in the National

[[Page 13014]]

Directory of New Hires in UIPL No. 1-06, Change 1 (August 2, 2006).
    A facsimile of the ETA 9047 report is shown below. Reporting 
instructions for the ETA 9047 report are found in ET Handbook 401, 4th 
edition, section IV, chapter 7.

                                                     ETA 9047--Remployment of UI Benefit Recipients
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                        Report for period ending--
                                      Region--Number of claimants receiving 1st ------------------------------------------------------------------------
        State--Exemption Code                          payment                     Number of Intrastate Crossmatch Hits:        Number of Interstate
                                                                                                  YYYY.Q+1                    Crossmatch Hits: YYYY.Q+1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0--Not Exempt.......................  .........................................  .........................................  ............................
1--Exempt...........................  .........................................  .........................................  ............................
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Comments

    OMB No.: 1205-0452.
    OMB Expiration Date: 07/31/2008.
    OMB Burden Minutes: 600.
    OMB Burden Statement: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget has approved the 
reporting requirements for the ETA 9047 report under OMB approval No. 
1205-0452 to expire July 31, 2008. The estimated reporting burden for 
this report is 10 hours.

UI Reemployment GPRA Measure

    The UI reemployment GPRA measure is defined as the percentage of 
all UI claimants receiving a first payment in a calendar quarter who 
were paid wages in the following calendar quarter that appear in UI 
wage records.
    ETA believes that this measure encourages the agencies that 
administer UI--which share responsibility with all Workforce Investment 
partners in facilitating the reemployment of UI beneficiaries--to be 
innovative in the steps they take to facilitate these individuals' 
reemployment. Insights gained about the combinations of reemployment 
efforts and UI eligibility conditions that promote the quick return of 
UI beneficiaries to suitable work will be shared with state UI 
agencies.
    The following table summarizes GPRA targets and performance for the 
UI reemployment measure.

                                          GPRA Targets and Performance
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                       FY 2006    FY 2006    FY 2007    FY 2008
                         Goal and indicator                             target     actual     target     target
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Facilitate Reemployment:
    Percent of UI claimants who were reemployed by the end of the         *62.4       64.2       65.0      65.2
     first quarter after the quarter in which they received their
     first payment..................................................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Based on baseline data submitted March 2006.

    II. Desired Focus of Comments: The Department 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 submission of responses.
     III. Current Actions: ETA issued UIPL No. 12-08 [February 13, 
2008] to solicit comment on the proposed definition for the UI Performs 
core measure, ``Facilitate the Reemployment of UI Claimants'' and the 
approach used for setting the Acceptable Level of Performance (ALP). We 
are proposing using the same definition for the UI Performs core 
measure as for the GPRA measure for purposes of consistency and its 
uniform application to all states.
    ETA's analysis of the UI reemployment data show that state 
performance in reemployment of UI benefit recipients is influenced by 
forces outside the control of the agency administering the state UI 
law, most notably by the economic conditions in the state, as measured 
by the Total Unemployment Rate (TUR), and the percent of UI benefit 
recipients that are on temporary layoff, as measured by the percent of 
claimants who not required to search for work or register with the 
state employment service. The proposed ALP's for the UI Performs Core 
measure reflect state-specific data for these two factors. UIPL No. 12-
08 includes a detailed explanation of the methodology used to develop 
the proposed ALP.
    Type of Review: Extension without change.
    Agency: Employment and Training Administration.
    Title: Unemployment Insurance Facilitation of Claimant 
Reemployment.
    Record keeping: Per ET Handbook 401, 4th edition, p. v, ``source 
data supporting counts [reported] should be retained for at least three 
years.''
    Affected Public: State Workforce Agencies(SWAs).
    Frequency: Quarterly.
    Total Respondents: 53 SWAs.
    Total Responses: 212 per year (53 SWAs x 4 quarterly reports per 
year).
    Estimated Time Per Response: SWA staff--10 hours.
    Total Burden Hours: 2,120 hours.
    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): This is an established data 
collection for which no changes are proposed; there are no startup 
costs.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintaining): $77,168 (annual) (53 
SWAs at $1,456 per SWA).
    Comments submitted in response to this request will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the information 
collection request; they will also become a matter of public record.


[[Page 13015]]


    Dated: March 4, 2008.
Cheryl Atkinson,
Administrator, Office of Workforce Security, Washington, DC.
[FR Doc. E8-4657 Filed 3-10-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-FW-P