[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 56 (Monday, March 24, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16058-16059]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-06376]
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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
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. The
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is soliciting comments concerning the
proposed test of the ``Occupational Requirements Survey.'' A copy of
the proposed information collection request (ICR) can be obtained by
contacting the individual listed below 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 May 23, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Nora Kincaid, BLS Clearance Officer,
Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 4080,
2 Massachusetts Avenue NE., Washington, DC 20212. Written comments also
may be transmitted by fax to 202-691-5111 (this is not a toll free
number.)
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nora Kincaid, BLS Clearance Officer,
at 202-691-7628 (this is not a toll free number.) (See Addresses
section.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Occupational Requirements Survey (ORS) is a nationwide test
survey that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will conduct at the
request of the Social Security Administration (SSA).
BLS will evaluate ORS survey processes and operations in a
production environment. Data collection and capture will run for
approximately six months and will conclude in FY 2015. A full
evaluation of the data elements captured for this test will be followed
by an evaluation of the processes, survey design, and other test
program elements.
Estimates produced from the test data collected by this ORS Test
will be used by the SSA to determine how to use updated requirements
data in administering the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)
program but will not be used to resolve any determination cases.
The Social Security Administration, Members of Congress, and
representatives of the disability community have all identified
collection of updated information on the requirements of work in
today's economy as crucial to the equitable and efficient operation of
the SSDI program. The information currently available is more than 20
years old.
The ORS will collect data from a sample of employers. These
requirements of work data will consist of information about the duties,
responsibilities, job tasks and earnings for a sample of occupations
for each sampled employer.
This is a one-time ORS test for sampled establishments.
II. Current Action
Office of Management and Budget clearance is being sought for the
Occupational Requirements Survey Test.
The following data will be collected in this ORS test as defined by
the SSA's disability program and is data that the National Compensation
Survey (NCS) does not currently collect:
(1) An indicator of ``time to proficiency,'' defined as the amount
of time required by a typical worker to learn the techniques, acquire
the information, and develop the facility
[[Page 16059]]
needed for average job performance, comparable to the Specific
Vocational Preparation (SVP) used in the Dictionary of Occupational
Titles (DOT).
(2) Physical Demand characteristics/factors of occupations,
measured in such a way to support SSA disability determination needs,
comparable to measures in Appendix C of the Selected Characteristics of
Occupations (SCO).
(3) Environmental Conditions, measured in such a way to support SSA
disability determination needs, comparable to measures in Appendix D of
the SCO.
(4) Data elements that describe the mental and cognitive demands of
work.
(5) Occupational Task lists data as identified in the Employment
and Training Administration's (ETA's) O*Net Program in order to
validate the key tasks common across establishments and identify other
tasks commonly performed.
Some data needed for ORS are currently collected by BLS's NCS. The
ORS data will be collected with the same methodology as data collected
for NCS. The general establishment data collected on establishments in
the survey samples will be the same for ORS and NCS. The Probability
Selection of Occupations (PSO) methodology--a disaggregating technique
for selecting individual items from a large number of items--will also
be used by both ORS and NCS. For ORS and NCS, these items are
employees, occupations, divisions, or sub-units depending upon the
application of the sampling procedure being used. Wages (earnings) are
elements of the ORS data already collected by the NCS. The work level
of jobs data (factor evaluation method with four factors to evaluate
the work level) methodology will also be used in the ORS survey, as it
is currently in NCS.
The ORS Test Time Schedule calls for data collection to go from
September 2014 to March 2015.
BLS will disseminate the ORS test results in September 2015. The
ORS Test will have 8 collection forms (having unique private industry
and government collection forms). For those sampled establishments that
are in the current NCS, the ORS survey will use NCS data and forms for
those data elements that overlap.
III. Desired Focus of Comments
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is particularly interested in
comments that:
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.
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.
Type of Review: New Collection.
Agency: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Title: Occupational Requirements Survey.
OMB Number: 1220-XXXX.
Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit; not-for-profit
institutions; and State, local, and tribal government.
Total Respondents: 2550.
Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $0.
Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): $0.
All figures below are for the anticipated respondent collection
burden by forms for FY 2014 and FY 2015 for this test survey.
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Average
Total minutes for
Form respondents Frequency Total annual the Total hours
per form responses predominant
form use
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Establishment collection form 256 1 256 19 81
(ORS Form 1 PP-1G )............
Establishment collection form 1452 1 1452 19 460
(ORS Form 1 PP-1P).............
Earnings form (ORS Form 2 PP-2G) 256 1 256 20 85
Earnings form (ORS Form 2 PP-2P) 1452 1 1452 20 484
Work Level (ORS Form 3 PP-3G)... 256 1 256 25 107
Work Level (ORS Form 3 PP3-3P).. 1452 1 1452 25 605
Occupation requirements (ORS 382 1 382 76 484
Form 4 PPD-4G).................
Occupation requirements (ORS 2168 1 2168 76 2746
Form 4 PPD-4P).................
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Totals...................... 7674 .............. 7674 .............. 5052
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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 also will become a
matter of public record.
Signed at Washington, DC, this 10th day of March 2014.
Eric Molina,
Acting Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
[FR Doc. 2014-06376 Filed 3-21-14; 8:45 am]
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