[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 18, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8696-8698]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-03291]


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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 new collection

[[Page 8697]]

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 April 20, 2015.

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 survey 
that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will conduct at the request 
of the Social Security Administration (SSA). The first three years of 
data collection and capture for the ORS will start in 2015 and end in 
mid-2018.
    Estimates produced from the data collected by the ORS will be used 
by the SSA to update occupational requirements data in administering 
the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental 
Security Income (SSI) programs.
    The new ORS occupational information will allow SSA adjudicators to 
clearly associate the assessment of a claimant's physical and mental 
functional capacity and vocational profile with work requirements. BLS 
will compute percentages of workers with various characteristics, such 
as skill and strength level. SSA will use this information to provide 
statistical support for the medical-vocational rules used at step 5 of 
sequential evaluation regarding the number of unskilled jobs that exist 
at each level of exertion in the national economy.
    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 Social Security Disability (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, and job tasks for a sample of occupations for each 
sampled employer.
    In October 2014, BLS commenced the collection of a six-month ORS 
Pre-production test. The goal of the Pre-production test is to test all 
survey activities by mirroring production procedures, processes and 
protocols as closely as possible. All ORS data elements planned for 
Production are being collected during the test.
    Production activities mirrored in the Pre-production test include 
selecting ORS samples, training staff, conducting calibration 
exercises, collecting the data, conducting all review activities, 
calculating estimates and standard errors, validating the estimates, 
and applying publication criteria to the computed estimates. Data from 
this test that meets BLS publication criteria will be provided to SSA 
and released in a research report for the public. However, due to the 
sample size of this test, the BLS only expects to be able to compute 
and release data for a very limited number of occupations or 
occupational groups, and these data will not be suitable for SSA 
disability determinations.
    BLS received comments on both the March 24, 2014, 60 day Federal 
Register (79 FR 16058) and July 23, 2014, 30 day Federal Register 
notice (79 FR 42829) for the six-month ORS Pre-production test. To 
assure that BLS is addressing all of these comments thoroughly, BLS 
consulted with an outside subject matter expert to gain a better 
understanding of occupational requirements data. The consultant 
reviewed and analyzed literature related to the reliability and 
validity of occupational requirements data and provided the BLS with 
recommendations for testing reliability and validity. Given the 
recommendations from the subject matter expert, BLS plans to begin a 
review initiative in FY 2015 including the development of a 
methodological guide, evaluation of benchmarks for data collection, and 
future testing of inter-rater reliability. These recommendations, as 
well as the previous refinements of the collection procedures, the data 
review process, and the validation techniques developed to date will 
ensure ORS produces quality occupational data in the areas of 
vocational preparation, mental-cognitive and physical requirements, and 
environmental conditions as the BLS moves into full production.

II. Current Action

    Office of Management and Budget clearance is being sought for the 
Occupational Requirements Survey.
    The following data will be collected during the ORS as defined by 
the SSA's disability program and are data that the 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 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 National 
Compensation Survey (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. 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.
    BLS will disseminate the data from the ORS on the BLS public Web 
site (www.bls.gov/ors).
    The ORS will have two collection forms (having unique private 
industry and government collection forms for each). For those sampled 
establishments that are in the current National

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Compensation Survey (NCS), ORS 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-NEW.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit; not-for-profit 
institutions; and State, local, and tribal government.
    Total Respondents: 10,402 (three-year average).
    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $0.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): $0.
    All figures in the table below are based on a three-year average. 
The total respondents in the table are greater than the figure shown 
above because many respondents are asked to provide information 
relating to more than one form.

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                                                                                    Minutes for
                                       Total                       Total annual         the
              Form                  respondents      Frequency      responses *     predominant    Total hours *
                                     per form                                        form use
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Establishment, work level, and             1,366               1           1,366              54           1,229
 schedule collection form (ORS
 Form 15-1G )...................
Establishment, work level, and             8,246               1           8,246              54           7,421
 schedule collection form (ORS
 Form 15-1P )...................
Occupation requirements (ORS               1,507               1           1,507              66           1,658
 Form 4 PPD-4G).................
Occupation requirements (ORS               8,545               1           8,545              66           9,400
 Form 4 PPD-4P).................
Collection not tied to a                     853               1             853  ..............             476
 specific form (Quality
 Assurance, Testing)............
ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½
    TOTALS......................          20,516  ..............          20,516  ..............          20,184
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* The sum of individual items may not equal totals due to rounding.

    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 12th day of February 2015.
Eric Molina,
Acting Chief, Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor 
Statistics.
[FR Doc. 2015-03291 Filed 2-17-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-P