[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 131 (Monday, July 11, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41146-41148]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-14663]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Wage and Hour Division


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; 
Information Collections: Labor Standards for Federal Service Contracts 
Regulations

AGENCY: Wage and Hour Division, Department of Labor.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (Department) is soliciting comments 
concerning a proposed extension of the information collection request 
(ICR) titled, ``Labor Standards for Federal Service Contracts 
Regulations.'' This comment request is part of continuing Departmental 
efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden in accordance with 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The Department proposes to extend 
its information collection without change to existing requirements. 
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 September 9, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Control Number 1235-
0007 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

[[Page 41147]]

of Management and Budget (OMB) approval of the information collection 
request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy DeBisschop, 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). Alternative formats are available upon request by calling 
1-866-487-9243. If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech 
disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay 
services.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Department's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) administers the 
McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act (SCA or Act), 41 U.S.C. 351 et 
seq. The SCA applies to every contract entered into by the United 
States or the District of Columbia, the principal purpose of which is 
to furnish services to the United States through the use of service 
employees. The SCA requires contractors and subcontractors performing 
services on covered federal or District of Columbia contracts in excess 
of $2,500 to pay service employees in various classes no less than the 
monetary wage rates and fringe benefits found prevailing in the 
locality, or the rates (including prospective increases) contained in a 
predecessor contractor's collective bargaining agreement. Safety and 
health standards also apply to such contracts. WHD enforces the 
compensation requirements of the SCA.

A. Vacation Benefit Seniority List

    Section 2(a) of the SCA provides that every contract subject to the 
Act must contain a provision specifying the minimum monetary wages and 
fringe benefits to be paid to the various classes of service employees 
performing work on the contract. Many wage determinations issued for 
recurring services performed at the same federal facility provide for 
certain vested fringe benefits (e.g., vacations), which are based on 
the employee's total length of service with a contractor or any 
predecessor contractor. See 29 CFR 4.162. When found to prevail, such 
fringe benefits are incorporated in wage determinations and are usually 
stated as ``one-week paid vacation after one year's service with a 
contractor or successor, two weeks after two years,'' etc. These 
provisions ensure that employees receive the vacation benefit payments 
that they have earned and accrued by requiring that such payments be 
made by successor contractors who hire the same employees who have 
worked over the years at the same facility in the same locality for 
predecessor contractors.

B. Conformance Record

    Section 2(a) of the SCA provides that every contract subject to the 
Act must contain a provision specifying the minimum monetary wage and 
fringe benefits to be paid the various classes of service employees 
employed on the contract work. See 41 U.S.C. 351, et seq. Problems 
sometimes arise (1) when employees are working on service contracts in 
job classifications that the Department was not previously informed 
about and (2) when there are job classifications for which no wage data 
are available.
    Section 4.6(b)(2) of 29 CFR part 4 provides a process for 
``conforming'' (i.e., adding) classifications and wage rates to the 
wage determinations for classes of service employees not previously 
listed on a wage determination but where employees are actually working 
on an SCA covered contract. This process ensures that the requirements 
of section 2(a) of the Act are fulfilled and that a formal record 
exists as part of the contract which documents the wage rate and fringe 
benefits to be paid for a conformed classification while a service 
employee(s) is employed on the contract.
    The contracting officer is required to review each contractor-
proposed conformance to determine if the unlisted classes have been 
properly classified by the contractor so as to provide a reasonable 
relationship (i.e., appropriate level of skill comparison) between such 
unlisted classifications and the classifications (and wages) listed in 
the wage determination. See 29 CFR 4.6(b)(2). Moreover, the contracting 
agency is required to forward the conformance action to WHD for review 
and approval. Id.

C. Indexing

    In any case where a contract succeeds a contract under which a 
class was previously conformed, the contractor may use an optional 
procedure known as indexing (i.e., adjusting) to determine a new wage 
rate for a previously conformed class. See 29 CFR 4.6(b)(2)(iv)(B). 
This procedure does not require the Department's approval, but it 
requires the contractor to notify the contracting agency in writing 
that a previously conformed class has been indexed and to include 
information describing how the new rate was computed. Id.

D. Submission of Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)

    Sections 2(a) and 4(c) of the SCA provide that any contractor that 
succeeds a contract subject to the Act and under which substantially 
the same services are furnished shall pay any service workers employed 
on the contract no less than the wages and fringe benefits to which 
such workers would have been entitled if employed under the predecessor 
contract. See 29 CFR 4.163(a).
    29 CFR 4.6(l)(1) requires a predecessor contractor to provide to 
the contracting officer a copy of any CBA governing the wages and 
fringe benefits paid service employees performing work on the contract 
during the contract period. The contracting agency submits these CBAs 
to WHD where they are used in issuing wage determinations for successor 
contracts subject to sections 2(a) and 4(c) of the SCA. See 29 CFR 
4.4(c).
    WHD uses this information to determine whether covered employers 
have complied with various legal requirements of the laws administered 
by the agency. The Department seeks approval to extend this information 
collection related to labor standards for federal service contracts.

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; or
     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 an approval for the extension of this 
information collection that requires

[[Page 41148]]

employers to make, maintain, and preserve records in accordance with 
statutory and regulatory requirements.
    Type of Review: Extension.
    Agency: Wage and Hour Division.
    Title: Labor Standards for Federal Service Contracts Regulations.
    OMB Control Number: 1235-0007.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit, Not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Total Respondents: 137,394.
    Total Annual Responses: 137,394.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 136,462.
    Estimated Time per Response: Vacation Benefit Seniority List: 1 
hour. Conformance Record: 30 minutes. Conformance Indexing: 2 hours. 
Collective Bargaining Agreement: 5 minutes.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Total Burden Cost (Capital/Startup): $0.
    Total Burden Costs (Operation/Maintenance): $0.

    Dated: July 1, 2022.
Amy DeBisschop,
Director, Division of Regulations, Legislation, and Interpretation.
[FR Doc. 2022-14663 Filed 7-8-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-27-P