[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 101 (Friday, May 23, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30167-30168]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-11611]


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MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection

AGENCY: Merit Systems Protection Board.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), the U.S. 
Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) announces that an Information 
Collection Request (ICR) is to be forwarded to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the 
procedures prescribed in 5 CFR 1320.12. This is a request for a new 
collection. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection 
and its estimated burden and cost. On March 6, 2008 (Federal Register 
Volume 73, Number 45, page 12220), MSPB sought comments on this ICR 
pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.8(d). MSPB received only one comment.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 23, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments on the collection of information to 
the Office of Management and the Budget, care of Brenda Aguilar at 
[email protected] or by fax at (202) 395-6974. You may also submit 
comments to the MSPB via e-mail to [email protected] (please include 
Employee Surveys in the subject line). You also may mail or fax 
comments to Sharon Roth, U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, Suite 
500, 1615 M Street, NW., Washington, DC 20419. Fax: (202) 653-7211.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sharon Roth by phone on 202-653-6772, 
ext. 1340, by FAX on 202-653-7211, or by e-mail at 
[email protected]. You may contact Ms. Roth via V/TDD at 1-800-877-
8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Proposed Project: Disciplinary Process 
within Agencies. As part of its purpose, MSPB is responsible for 
conducting studies of the Federal civil service to ensure that all 
Federal government agencies follow merit systems practices and avoid 
prohibited personnel practices. To support this research agenda, MSPB

[[Page 30168]]

periodically conducts surveys of samples of Federal employees on a 
variety of topics. To obtain insight into the perspectives of 
management and management advisors regarding Federal disciplinary 
processes, MSPB is requesting OMB approval to conduct surveys of two 
groups. All surveys will be completed within two years.
    MSPB originally proposed sending surveys to (1) proposing officials 
for discipline, (2) deciding officials for discipline, and (3) human 
resources advisors on disciplinary actions. However, as discussed 
below, MSPB has determined that a survey for human resources advisors 
for this topic will not be an efficient use of resources. The surveys 
of proposing and deciding officials will ask respondents to share their 
experiences conducting suspensions of 14 days or less and removal 
actions, including their level of involvement in decisions made, their 
use of alternative discipline, the nature of the conduct that led to 
the action, the role of performance in conduct based actions, and the 
quality of related training they received. Respondents will be selected 
based upon disciplinary and adverse actions recorded in the Central 
Personnel Data File (CPDF).
    The single commenter recommended that the MSPB include a survey of 
agency legal counselors, as these individuals interact with proposing 
officials, deciding officials, and human resources advisors. We agree 
that agency legal advisors may frequently play an important role in the 
process of disciplining employees. Human resources advisors also play 
an important role. For this reason, both the proposing and deciding 
official surveys will include questions regarding the respondent's 
interactions with human resources as well as interactions with a legal 
advisor when such an advisor was used. However, as the focus of this 
study is the experience of the proposing and deciding officials, we 
have determined that surveying human resources and legal advisors would 
not be an optimal use of resources. In past studies on similar topics, 
such as agencies' use of the probationary period, the MSPB has used 
focus groups of human resources specialists to obtain additional 
insight into management activities beyond that provided by the 
supervisors who respond to the survey. If MSPB determines it is 
warranted for this study, one or more focus groups of human resources 
specialists, attorney advisors, or both, may be utilized.
    Burden Statement: The annual public reporting and recordkeeping 
burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 0.50 
hours per respondent.
    Respondents/Affected Entities: Participants will be randomly drawn 
from multiple agencies that conducted a large number of removal actions 
in the years preceding the sample being drawn. Both removal actions and 
suspensions of 14 days or less will be the subject of the surveys. For 
each personnel action, there will be two respondents (the proposing 
official and the deciding official).
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 5400.
    Frequency of Response: Once for most respondents. (If a party was 
involved in implementing multiple disciplinary or adverse actions, 
there is a potential to receive more than one survey.)
    Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden: 2,700.

William D. Spencer,
Clerk of the Board.
 [FR Doc. E8-11611 Filed 5-22-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7400-01-P