[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 102 (Thursday, May 26, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32061-32062]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-11381]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request; Request for a Medical or Religious Exception 
or Delay to the COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting this Office of the 
Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management (OASAM)-sponsored 
information collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). Public comments on the ICR are invited.

DATES: The OMB will consider all written comments that the agency 
receives on or before June 27, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.
    Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the collection of information 
is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the 
Department, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (2) if the information will be processed and used in a timely 
manner; (3) the accuracy of the agency's estimates of the burden and 
cost of the collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (4) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility and clarity of the information collection; and (5) ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are 
to respond, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mara Blumenthal by telephone at 202-
693-8538, or by email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 2 of Executive Order 14043, 
Requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees, 
mandates that each agency ``implement, to the extent consistent with 
applicable law, a program to require COVID-19 vaccination for all of 
its Federal employees, with exceptions only as required by law.'' The 
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, requires federal agencies to 
provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees with 
disabilities unless that reasonable accommodation would impose an undue 
hardship on the employee's agency. The Department of Labor is proposing 
to add student volunteers as respondents who may be requesting a 
medical exception or delay to the COVID-19 vaccination requirement. 
Additionally, the Department is proposing to add the form, Request for 
a Religious Exception or Delay to the COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement, 
to the ICR. This religious exemption form is necessary for DOL to 
determine legal exemptions to the vaccine requirement from student 
volunteers under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. As student 
volunteers are not considered to be Federal employees, the Department 
must account for the burden for student volunteers to complete the 
form. For additional substantive information about this ICR, see the 
related notice published in the Federal Register on March 8, 2022 (87 
FR 13004).

A Notice Regarding Injunctions

    The vaccination requirement issued pursuant to E.O. 14043, is 
currently the subject of a nationwide preliminary injunction. While 
that injunction remains in place, DOL will not process requests for a 
medical or religious exceptions from the COVID-19 vaccination 
requirement pursuant to E.O. 14043. DOL will also not request the 
submission of any medical or religious information related to a request 
for an exception from the vaccination requirement pursuant to E.O. 
14043 while the injunction remains in place. But DOL may nevertheless 
receive information regarding a medical exception. That is because, if 
DOL were to receive a request for an exception from the COVID-19 
vaccination requirement pursuant to E.O. 14043 during the pendency of 
the injunction, DOL will accept the request, hold it in abeyance, and 
notify the volunteer who submitted the request that implementation and 
enforcement of the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to E.O. 
14043 is currently enjoined and that an exception therefore is not 
necessary so long as the injunction is in place. In other words, during 
the pendency of the injunction, any information collection related to 
requests for medical or religious exceptions from the COVID-19 
vaccination requirement pursuant to E.O. 14043 will not be undertaken 
to implement or enforce the COVID-19 vaccination requirement.
    This information collection is subject to the PRA. A Federal agency 
generally cannot conduct or sponsor a collection of information, and 
the public is generally not required to respond to an information 
collection, unless the OMB approves it and displays a currently valid 
OMB Control Number. In addition, notwithstanding any other provisions 
of law, no person shall generally be subject to penalty for failing to 
comply with a collection of information that does not display a valid 
OMB Control Number. See 5 CFR 1320.5(a) and 1320.6.
    DOL seeks PRA authorization for this information collection for 
three (3) years. OMB authorization for an ICR cannot be for more than 
three (3) years without renewal. The DOL notes that information 
collection requirements submitted to the OMB for existing ICRs receive 
a month-to-month extension while they undergo review.
    Agency: DOL-OASAM.
    Title of Collection: Request for a Medical or Religious Exception 
or Delay

[[Page 32062]]

to the COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement.
    OMB Control Number: 1225-0092.
    Affected Public: Individuals or Households.
    Total Estimated Number of Respondents: 270.
    Total Estimated Number of Responses: 270.
    Total Estimated Annual Time Burden: 48 hours.
    Total Estimated Annual Other Costs Burden: $0.

(Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3507(a)(1)(D))

     Dated: May 20, 2022.
Mara Blumenthal,
Senior PRA Analyst.
[FR Doc. 2022-11381 Filed 5-25-22; 8:45 am]
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