[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 223 (Tuesday, November 21, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55399-55400]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-25110]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of Labor Statistics


Information Collection Activities; Comment Request

AGENCY: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor.

ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.

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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. 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 revision of the ``National 
Compensation Survey.'' A copy of the proposed information collection 
request 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 January 22, 2018.

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 National Compensation Survey (NCS) is an ongoing survey of 
earnings and benefits among private firms, State, and local government. 
Data from the NCS program include estimates of wages covering broad 
groups of related occupations, and data that directly links benefit 
plan costs with detailed plan provisions. The NCS is used to produce 
the Employment Cost Trends, including the Employment Cost Index (ECI) 
and Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC), employee benefits 
data (on coverage, cost and provisions), data used by the President's 
Pay Agent and this data is used by compensation administrators and 
researchers in the private sector. Data from the NCS are used to help 
in determining monetary policy (as a Principal Federal Economic 
Indicator.)
    The integrated program's single sample produces both time-series 
indexes and cost levels for industry and occupational groups, thereby 
increasing the analytical potential of the data.
    The NCS employs probability methods for selection of occupations. 
This ensures that sampled occupations represent all occupations in the 
workforce, while minimizing the reporting burden on respondents. The 
survey collects data from a sample of employers. These data will 
consist of information about the duties, responsibilities, and 
compensation (earnings and benefits) for a sample of occupations for 
each sampled employer.
    Data will be updated on a quarterly basis. The updates will allow 
for production of data on change in earnings and total compensation.

II. Current Action

    Office of Management and Budget clearance is being sought for the 
National Compensation Survey.
    The NCS collects earnings and work level data on occupations for 
the nation. The NCS also collects information on the cost, provisions, 
and incidence of major employee benefits through its benefit cost and 
benefit provision programs and publications.
    BLS has for a number of years been using a revised approach to the 
Locality Pay Survey (LPS); this uses data from two current BLS 
programs--the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey and the 
ECI program. This approach uses OES data to provide wage data by 
occupation and by area, while ECI data are used to specify grade level 
effects. This approach is also being used to extend the estimation of 
pay gaps to areas that were not included in the prior Locality Pay 
Survey sample, and these data have been delivered to the Pay Agent (in 
2014, data for 92 areas were delivered.)
    The NCS has a national survey design for the ECI and the EBS. The 
NCS private industry sample is on a three-year rotational cycle, with 
one frozen sample year every ten years for the NCS private industry 
sample when a new NCS State and local government sample starts 
(approximately in 2025).
    The NCS continues to provide employee benefit provision and 
participation data. These data include estimates of how many workers 
receive the various employer-sponsored benefits. The data also include 
information about the common provisions of benefit plans.
    NCS collection will use a number of collection forms (normally 
having

[[Page 55400]]

unique private industry and government initiation and update collection 
forms and versions). For NCS update collection, the forms or screens 
give respondents their previously reported information, the dates they 
expected change to occur to these data, and space for reporting these 
changes.
    The NCS for electronic collection uses a Web-based system (Web-
Lite) that allows NCS respondents, using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) 
encryption and the establishment's schedule number, to upload data 
files to a secure BLS server and forwards those files to the assigned 
BLS field economist.
    Some benefits (called ``Other benefits'') data are collected to 
track the emergence of new or changing benefits over time. The BLS only 
asks whether sampled occupations receive these benefits and 
periodically modifies this list. With this clearance, BLS is removing 
subsidized commuting and stock options from Other benefit collection. 
BLS is adding the collection of student loan repayments and flexible 
work schedules.

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.
    Title of Collection: National Compensation Survey.
    OMB Number: 1220-0164.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit; not-for-profit 
institutions; and State, local, and tribal government.
    Total Respondents: 15,863 (three-year average).
    All figures are based on a three-year average. The total responses 
are higher as some respondents are contacted multiple times.

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                                                                           Average
                                                        Respondents     responses per   Total number of  Average minutes    Total hours
                                                                             year          responses
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Three-year average..................................           15863           3.1579            50094         52.96685            44222
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                                                Collection Forms
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National Compensation Survey (Private   NCS 18-1P, NCS 18-2P, NCS 18-   Establishment Form, Earnings Form,
 Industry sample).                       5P, NCS-9P, SO-1003P, E-        Benefits Form, Earning Update Form,
                                         update, IDCF.                   Benefits Update Form, E-update Screen,
                                                                         NCS IDCF Screen.
National Compensation Survey (State     NCS 18-1G, NCS 18-2G, NCS 18-   Establishment Form, Earnings Form,
 and local government sample).           5G, NCS-9G, SO-1003G, E-        Benefits Form, Earning Update Form,
                                         update, IDCF.                   Benefits Update Form, E-update Screen,
                                                                         NCS IDCF Screen.
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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 14th day of November 2017.
Kimberley Hill,
Chief, Division of Management Systems.
[FR Doc. 2017-25110 Filed 11-20-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4510-24-P