[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 17, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14648-14649]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-05473]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Wage and Hour Division


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; 
Information Collections Pertaining to Special Employment Under the Fair 
Labor Standards Act

AGENCY: Wage and Hour Division, Department of Labor.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (the Department) is soliciting 
comments concerning a proposed extension of the information collection 
request (ICR) titled ``Information Collections Pertaining to Special 
Employment Under the Fair Labor Standards Act.'' This comment request 
is part of continuing Departmental efforts to reduce paperwork and 
respondent burden in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995 (PRA). The Department proposes to extend the approval of this 
existing information collection without change. 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. A copy 
of the proposed information request can be obtained by contacting the 
office listed below in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this Notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
ADDRESSES section below on or before May 17, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Control Number 1235-
0001, by either one of the following methods: Email: 
[email protected]; Mail, Hand Delivery, Courier: Division of 
Regulations, Legislation, and Interpretation, Wage and Hour, U.S. 
Department of Labor, Room S-3502, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20210. Instructions: Please submit one copy of your 
comments by only one method. All submissions received must include the 
agency name and Control Number identified above for this information 
collection. Because we continue to experience delays in receiving mail 
in the Washington, DC area, commenters are strongly encouraged to 
transmit their comments electronically via email or to submit them by 
mail early. Comments, including any personal information provided, 
become a matter of public record. They will also be summarized and/or 
included in the request for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
approval of the information collection request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Waterman, Division of 
Regulations, Legislation, and Interpretation, Wage and Hour Division, 
U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-3502, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-0406 (this is not a toll-
free number). Copies of this notice may be obtained in alternative 
formats (Large Print, Braille, Audio Tape, or Disc), upon request, by 
calling (202) 693-0023 (not a toll-free number). TTY/TTD callers may 
dial toll-free (877) 889-5627 to obtain information or request 
materials in alternative formats.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    I. Background: The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department 
of Labor administers the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. 
201, et seq., which sets the federal minimum wage, overtime pay, 
recordkeeping, and youth employment standards of most general 
application. See 29 U.S.C. 206, 207, 211, 212. FLSA section 14(c) 
provides that the Secretary of Labor, ``to the extent necessary to 
prevent curtailment of opportunities for employment, shall by 
regulation or order provide for the employment, under special 
certificates, of individuals'' whose productivity for the work 
performed is limited by disability at subminimum wages commensurate 
with the individual's productivity. 29 U.S.C. 214(c). In accordance 
with section 14(c), the WHD regulates the employment of individuals 
with disabilities under special certificates and governs the 
application and approval process for obtaining the certificates. See 29 
CFR part 525. The information collections on the forms (Form WH-226, 
the Application for Authority to Employ Workers with Disabilities at 
Special Minimum Wages, and WH-226A, the Supplemental Data Sheet for 
Application for Authority to Employ Workers with Disabilities at 
Special Minimum Wages) assists the Department in fulfilling its 
statutory directive to administer and enforce the section 14(c) 
program, including the conditions introduced to section 14(c) 
certificate holders pursuant to the Workforce Innovation and 
Opportunity Act (WIOA), which was signed into law on July 22, 2014.
    In addition, section 11(d) of the FLSA authorizes the Secretary of 
Labor to regulate, restrict, or prohibit industrial homework as 
necessary to prevent circumvention or evasion of the minimum wage 
requirements of the Act. 29 U.S.C. 211(d). Pursuant to section 11(d), 
WHD issues special certificates governing the employment of individual 
homeworkers and employers of homeworkers. The Department restricts 
homework in seven industries (i.e., knitted outwear, women's apparel, 
jewelry manufacturing, gloves and mittens, button and buckle 
manufacturing, handkerchief manufacturing, and embroideries) to those 
employers who obtain certificates. See 29 CFR 530.1, 530.2. The 
Department may issue individual certificates in those industries for an 
individual homeworker (1) who is unable to adjust to factory work 
because of a disability or who must remain at home to care for a person 
with a disability in the home, and (2) who has been engaged in 
industrial homework in the particular industry prior to certain 
specified dates as set forth in the regulations or is engaged in 
industrial homework under the supervision of a State Vocational 
Rehabilitation Agency. See 29 CFR 530.3, 530.4. The Department also 
allows employers to obtain general (employer) certificates to employ 
homeworkers in all restricted industries, except women's apparel and 
hazardous jewelry manufacturing operations. See 29 CFR 530.101. Form 
WH-2, the Application for Special Industrial Homeworker's Certificate, 
and Form WH-46, the Application for Certificate to Employ Homeworkers, 
are used in the application process for obtaining these certificates, 
and Form WH-75, Homeworker Handbook, is used to assist with 
recordkeeping.
    The FLSA also requires that the Secretary of Labor, to the extent 
necessary to prevent curtailment of employment opportunities, provide 
certificates authorizing the employment

[[Page 14649]]

of full-time students at (1) not less than 85 percent of the applicable 
minimum wage or less than $1.60, whichever is higher, in retail or 
service establishments or in institutions of higher education (29 
U.S.C. 214(b)(1), (3); 29 CFR part 519); and (2) not less than 85 
percent of the applicable minimum wage or less than $1.30, whichever is 
higher, in agriculture (29 U.S.C. 214(b)(2), 29 CFR part 519). The FLSA 
and the regulations set forth the application requirements as well as 
the terms and conditions for the employment of full-time students at 
subminimum wages under certificates and temporary authorization to 
employ such students at subminimum wages. The forms used to apply for 
these certificates are WH-200 (retail, service, or agricultural 
employers seeking to employ full-time students for 10 percent or more 
of total monthly hours of employment), WH-201 (institution of higher 
learning seeking to employ its students), and WH-202 (retail, service, 
or agricultural employers seeking to employ six or fewer full-time 
students).
    Under section 14(a) of the FLSA, the Secretary of Labor is required 
to provide, by regulation or order, a special certificate for the 
employment of learners, apprentices, and messengers who may be paid 
less than the federal minimum wage set by section 6(a) of the Act. See 
29 U.S.C. 214(a). The certificates are only issued to the extent 
necessary to prevent the curtailment of employment opportunities. This 
section also authorizes the Secretary to set limitations on such 
employment as to time, number, proportion, and length of service. The 
regulations at 29 CFR part 520 contain the provisions that implement 
the section 14(a) requirements. Form WH-205 is the application an 
employer uses to obtain a certificate to employ student-learners at 
wages lower than the federal minimum wage. Form WH-209 is the 
application an employer uses to request a certificate authorizing the 
employer to employ learners and/or messengers at subminimum wage rates. 
Regulations issued by the Department's Office of Apprenticeship no 
longer permit the payment of subminimum wages to apprentices in an 
approved program; therefore, the Department has not issued apprentice 
certificates since 1987. See 29 CFR 29.5(b)(5). However, WHD must 
maintain the information collection for apprentice certificates in 
order for the agency to fulfill its statutory obligation under FLSA to 
maintain this program.
    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;
     Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected;
     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;
     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.
    III. Current Actions: The Department of Labor seeks approval for an 
extension of this information collection in order to ensure effective 
administration of various special employment programs.
    Type of Review: Extension.
    Agency: Wage and Hour Division.
    Title: Information Collections Pertaining to Special Employment 
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
    OMB Control Number: 1235-0001.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit, Not-for-profit 
institutions, Federal, State, Local, or Tribal Government.
    Agency Numbers: Forms WH-226, WH-226A, WH-2, WH-46, WH-75, WH-200, 
WH-201, WH-202, WH-205, WH-209.
    Total Respondents: 335,983.
    Total Annual Responses: 1,339,779.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 684,442.
    Estimated Time per Response: Varies with type of request.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $1,522.

    Dated: March 8, 2021.
Amy DeBisschop,
Director, Division of Regulations, Legislation, and Interpretation.
[FR Doc. 2021-05473 Filed 3-16-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-27-P