[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 16, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9052-9054]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-3469]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR


Comment Request for Information Collection for the Unemployment 
Insurance (UI) Facilitation of Claimant Reemployment Employment and 
Training Administration 9047 Report, Extension Without Revision

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration (ETA).

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 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. 
Currently, the Employment and Training Administration is soliciting 
comments concerning the collection of data about the proposed extension 
of the UI Facilitation of Claimant Reemployment (current expiration 
date is July 31, 2011).
    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.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
addressee's section below on or before April 18, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments to Andrew W. Spisak, Office of Workforce 
Security, Employment and Training Administration, U. S. Department of 
Labor, Room S-4519, 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].

[[Page 9053]]


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.
    Outcome Goal 1.3 in the Department's fiscal year (FY) 2011--2016 
Strategic Plan--Help workers who are in low-wage jobs or out of the 
labor market find a path into middle-class jobs--focuses on improving 
the operational performance and effectiveness of the federal/state UI 
program. This goal is supported in part by the performance measure:

    Percent of UI claimants reemployed by the end of the first 
quarter after the quarter in which they received their first 
payment.

    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. This data collection was renewed 
in 2008 through July 31, 2011.
    ETA has also included UI reemployment as a performance measure for 
UI Performs, the Department of Labor's performance management system. 
Per UI Program Letter (UIPL) No. 17-08 (May 14, 2008), Acceptable 
Levels of Performance (ALP)--the minimum performance criteria for UI 
Performs Core Measures--are set annually for each state. The ALPs take 
into account the state's total unemployment rate and the percentage of 
UI claimants who are exempt from active work search or Employment 
Service registration requirements because they are job attached. 
Analyses of the data indicate that UI reemployment is strongly related 
to these two factors.

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 Directory of New Hires in UIPL No. 1-06, 
Change 1 (August 2, 2006).

UI Reemployment GPRA and UI Performs Measures

    The UI reemployment GPRA and UI Performs measures are 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.
    The following table summarizes GPRA targets and performance for the 
UI reemployment measure.

                                          GPRA Targets and Performance
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         Goal and indicator             FY 2010 target     FY 2010 actual     FY 2011 target     FY 2012 target
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Facilitate Reemployment:                          58.6%             53.1%*              54.4%             56.40%
    Percent of UI claimants who were
     reemployed by the end of the
     first quarter after the quarter
     in which they received their
     first payment..................
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Based on UI reemployment for the period July 2009 to June 2010, which is the most recent data available.

    ETA's analyses 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, and the percent of UI benefit 
recipients that are on temporary layoff, as measured by the percent of 
claimants who are not required to search for work or register with the 
state employment service. State ALPs for the UI Performs Core Measure 
reflect state-specific data for these two factors. State ALPs and 
performance for the performance period January to December 2009 are 
available at http://www.oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/pdf/alp.pdf.

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 submission of responses.

III. Current Actions

    Type of Review: Extension without change.
    Title: Unemployment Insurance Facilitation of Claimant 
Reemployment.
    OMB Number: 1205-0452.
    Affected Public: State Workforce Agencies (SWAs).
    Form: ETA 9047 Reemployment of UI Benefit Recipients.
    Total Annual Respondents: 53 SWAs.
    Annual Frequency: Quarterly.
    Total Annual Responses: 212 per year (53 SWAs x 4 quarterly reports 
per year).
    Average Time per Response: 10 hours.

[[Page 9054]]

    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,120 hours.
    Total Annual Burden Cost for Respondents: $86,517 (approximately 
$1,633 per SWA). This is an established data collection for which no 
changes are proposed; there are no startup costs.
    Comments submitted in response to this request 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: February 10, 2011.
Jane Oates,
Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training Administration.
[FR Doc. 2011-3469 Filed 2-15-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-FT-P