[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 189 (Tuesday, September 30, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58807-58808]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-23177]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs


Agency Information Collection Activities; Announcement of OMB 
Approval

AGENCY: Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, Labor.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the Office of Management and Budget's 
(OMB) approval of the supply and service recordkeeping requirements for 
the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). This also 
includes approval of a revised Scheduling Letter, Itemized Listing, and 
Compliance Check Letter covering the Executive Order (EO) 11246 non-
construction, supply and service, aspects of the agency's program that 
is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). This notice 
announces OMB approval of control number 1250-0003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Debra A. Carr, Director, Division of 
Policy and Program Development, Office of Federal Contract Compliance 
Programs, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave. NW., Room C-
3325, Washington, DC 20210 (202) 693-0104. This is not a toll-free 
number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OFCCP first announced its intent to seek 
renewal of its OMB approved recordkeeping requirements, including the 
Scheduling Letter, Itemized Listing, and Compliance Check Letter, in a 
notice published in the Federal Register on May 12, 2011 (76 FR 27670). 
OFCCP published a second notice on September 28, 2011 (76 FR 60083). In 
the information collection request (ICR), OFCCP proposed revisions to 
the Scheduling Letter and Itemized Listing that had been approved by 
OMB on September 30, 2008, for a three-year period (hereinafter ``2008 
Letter'' or ``2008 Itemized Listing'').\1\ OMB renewed its approval of 
the ICR under OMB control number 1250-0003. The approval expires 03/31/
2016. The Scheduling Letter and Itemized Listing OMB approved reflect 
OFCCP's review and consideration of the public comments submitted in 
response to 2011 Federal Register notices.
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    \1\ The 2008 Letter originally was scheduled to expire on 
September 30, 2011. The 2008 Letter and Itemized Listing received 
month-to-month extensions while the ICR was under OMB review.
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    The nonsubstantive changes proposed in 2011, and incorporated in 
the OMB approved renewal, update or correct legal citations, change 
language used in the text to better reflect the regulatory structure of 
compliance evaluations, and revise the writing style to improve the 
readability and clarity of the documents. The limited number of 
substantive changes that OFCCP incorporated in the OMB approved renewal 
reduce the cost and burden imposed on contractors; maintain contractor 
flexibility when submitting employment activity data; support effective 
and efficient agency enforcement in the area of pay discrimination; and 
incorporate changes required by OFCCP's recent regulatory activity. An 
overview of the substantive changes to the Scheduling Letter, Itemized 
Listing, and Compliance Check Letter is below.

I. Scheduling Letter

    In 2013, new regulations implementing the Vietnam Era Veterans' 
Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (VEVRAA), as amended, eliminated 41 
CFR part 60-250, Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination Obligations 
of Contractors and Subcontractors Regarding Special Disabled Veterans, 
Veterans of the Vietnam Era, Recently Separated Veterans, and Other 
Protected Veterans. The ICR incorporates this change.

II. Itemized Listing

    The Itemized Listing, used in conjunction with the Scheduling 
Letter, identifies for contractors the documents and information that 
they must provide for the desk audit phase of an OFCCP compliance 
evaluation. During the public comment period on the revisions proposed 
to the Itemized Listing in 2011, OFCCP received several valuable 
comments from a variety of stakeholders. This OMB approved renewal 
reflects these comments whereby OFCCP substantially reverts to the 2008 
Itemized Listing, including continuing to allow contractors to submit 
employment activity data by either job group or job title. Maintaining 
the option of reporting employment activity by either job group or job 
title eliminates the burden that some commenters associated with 
collecting, analyzing and reporting data in two different ways as OFCCP 
proposed in 2011. Contractors will continue to provide this data by 
sex; however, they will submit race and ethnicity information using 
five specified categories instead of two broad categories (i.e., 
minority and nonminority).
    To reduce the potential cost and burden that some commenters 
associated with the Itemized Listing even further, OFCCP made changes 
to aspects of its compensation data requirements. OFCCP changed the 
2008 Itemized Listing so that it no longer requires that contractors 
submit annualized aggregate compensation data. Instead, contractors 
will submit individualized employee compensation data as of the date of 
the workforce analysis in their Affirmative Action Programs, also 
noting the job title, job group and EEO-1 category. By adopting this 
approach, OFCCP opted to modify its 2011 proposal. This change is

[[Page 58808]]

expected to reduce the cost and burden that some commenters associated 
with collecting, tabulating, and analyzing data to submit in aggregate 
form. OFCCP also refined its definition of compensation, as proposed in 
2011, to include consideration of hours worked, incentive pay, merit 
increases, locality pay, and overtime.
    In the 2008 Letter, OFCCP encouraged the use of electronic 
submission of the data. In the OMB approved renewal, the agency is 
requiring contractors to provide the data electronically but only if 
they maintain it in an electronic format that is useable and readable. 
This provides contractors with more flexibility when compared to what 
OFCCP proposed in 2011, and the provision may contribute to faster and 
more efficient compliance evaluations.
    Finally, OFCCP was required to make several changes to the 2008 
Itemized Listing based on recent regulatory changes. The Section 503 of 
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and VEVRAA final rules, published in 
September 2013, changed the data collection, recordkeeping and 
reporting requirements of these two regulations. The VEVRAA rulemaking 
also eliminated 41 CFR part 60-250, and OFCCP rescinded the Voluntary 
Guidelines and Compensation Standards in February 2013 (78 FR 13508). 
Therefore, OFCCP had no discretion and incorporated these regulatory 
changes into the renewal of this ICR.

III. The Compliance Check Letter

    In 2011, OFCCP proposed changes to the 2008 Compliance Check 
Letter. However, none of the changes the agency proposed was 
substantive.
    As provided in 5 CFR 1320.5(b) and 1320.6(a), an agency may not 
conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless the collection of 
information displays a currently valid OMB control number. The agency 
must inform individuals who are to respond to the collection that they 
are not required to respond to the collection of information unless it 
displays a currently valid OMB control number.

    Dated: September 24, 2014.
Debra A. Carr,
Director, Division of Policy and Program Development, Office of Federal 
Contract Compliance Programs.
[FR Doc. 2014-23177 Filed 9-29-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-45-P