[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 230 (Thursday, December 1, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73795-73798]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-26112]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Veterans' Employment and Training Service


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; 
Eligibility Data Form: Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment 
Rights Act and Veterans' Preference

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 
DOL is soliciting public comments regarding the proposed revision of 
this Office of the Assistant Secretary for Veterans' Employment and 
Training Service (VETS) sponsored information collection for the 
authority to revise the information collection request (ICR) titled, 
``VETS USERRA/VP/VEOA Claim Form,'' previously titled ``Eligibility 
Data Form: Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act 
and Veterans' Preference.'' The existing version of the form is 
currently approved under Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Control 
Number 1293-0002.

DATES: Consideration will be given to all written comments received by 
January 30, 2023.

ADDRESSES: A copy of this ICR with applicable supporting documentation, 
including a description of the likely respondents, proposed frequency 
of response, and estimated total burden, may be obtained for free by 
contacting William Coughlin by email at [email protected].
    Electronic submission: You may submit comments and attachments 
electronically at [email protected]. Include ``VETS-1010 
Form'' in the subject line of the message, identified by OMB Control 
Number 1293-0002.
    Comments are invited on: (1) whether the collection of information 
is

[[Page 73796]]

necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the 
Department, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (2) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency; 
(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. Comments submitted in response 
to this notice will be summarized and included in the request for the 
Office of Management and Budget approval of the information collection 
request. Comments will become a matter of public record.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Coughlin, Investigative 
Analyst, Compliance and Investigations, by telephone at 202-693-4715, 
or by email at: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Form Description: The VETS USERRA/VP/VEOA Claim Form, VETS USERRA/
VP/VEOA Form 1010 (VETS-1010) is used to file complaints with the DOL 
VETS under either the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment 
Rights Act (USERRA) or the laws and regulations related to Veterans' 
Preference (VP) or the Veterans' Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA) in 
Federal employment. On October 13, 1994, the Uniformed Services 
Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), Public Law 103-353, 
108 Stat. 3150 was signed into law. The purpose of USERRA is: (1) to 
minimize disruption to the lives of persons who perform service in the 
uniformed services (including the National Guard and Reserves), as well 
as to their employers, their fellow employees, and their communities, 
by providing for prompt reemployment of such persons upon completion of 
such service; (2) to encourage individuals to participate in non-career 
uniformed service by eliminating and minimizing the disadvantages to 
civilian careers and employment which can result from such service; and 
(3) to prohibit discrimination in employment and acts of reprisal 
against persons because of their obligations in the uniformed services, 
prior service, intention to join the uniformed services, filing of a 
USERRA claim, seeking assistance concerning an alleged USERRA 
violation, testifying in a proceeding, or otherwise assisting in an 
investigation of a USERRA claim. The Veterans Employment Opportunities 
Act (VEOA) of 1998, Public Law 105-339, 12 Stat. 3182, contained in 
Title 5 U.S.C. 3330a-3330c, authorizes the Secretary of Labor to 
provide assistance to preference eligible individuals who believe their 
rights under the veterans' preference laws have been violated, and to 
investigate claims filed by those individuals. The purpose of VP and 
VEOA is: (1) to provide preference for certain veterans over others in 
Federal hiring from competitive lists of applicants; (2) to allow 
access to Federal job opportunities to veterans that might otherwise be 
closed to the public; and (3) to provide preference eligible veterans 
with preference over others in retention during reductions in force 
(RIF) in Federal agencies.

Purpose of Request

    DOL is proposing to revise VETS USERRA/VP/VEOA Claim Form, which 
was previously approved in April 2020 under the title ``Eligibility 
Data Form: Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act 
and Veterans' Preference.'' Proposed revisions to the form include 
updates which add new or missing collection elements, remove non-
pertinent collection elements, improve form accessibility and 
structure, improve compliance with DOL form requirements, and update 
form selection options. These changes are being made to comply with DOL 
requirements, amendments to USERRA, and other statutory, regulatory, or 
policy requirements described in Figure 1.

                                                    Figure 1
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         Name                                  Abbreviation                      Type
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Civilian Reservist Emergency Workforce Act of 2021...  CREW Act....................  Statutory.
Executive Order 13985--Advancing Racial Equity, and    E.O. 13985..................  Executive Order.
 Support for Underserved Communities Through the
 Federal Government.
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act as amended by    Sec. 508....................  Statutory.
 the Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act of
 2014--29 U.S.C. 794d.
DLMS 7-1300 DOL Forms Management Program.............  DLMS 7-1300.................  Department Policy.
5 U.S.C. 3501, 3502..................................  VP-RIF......................  Statutory.
Plain Writing Act of 2010............................  PWA.........................  Statutory.
National Defense Authorization Act...................  NDAA........................  Statutory.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Proposed Changes

    Form Design and Structure: VETS has updated the design of the form 
to comply with requirements in DLMS 7-1300. This includes converting 
the overall layout of the form to a Box Design, with captions in the 
upper left corner of fields. Fields and elements within the form were 
also reorganized based on a logical sequence for completion of the 
form. The sections of the form were also modified to have a templated 
hierarchy that better organizes the sections by heading, and form field 
number. This improves the compatibility of the form with screen-
readers, and other assistive technology as required by Section 508 
requirements. Accessibility was further improved with the addition of 
more descriptive field text and labels, tag ordering, and form 
controls.
    Removal of Content: Several elements of the prior form were removed 
from the new form due to logistical changes within VETS, a desire to 
improve clarity, and a determination that some of the requested 
information in the form was not necessary at the time of claim filing. 
The largest removal from the form is of Section II: Uniformed Service 
Information. VETS determined that the information necessary to review 
eligibility for coverage under USERRA or Veterans Preference are 
notably different, therefore, the information was separated into the 
corresponding claim sections. Questions about the uniformed service 
unit the claimant is assigned to, and the unit's contact information 
were removed, due to their non-relevance at this stage of claim 
processing.
    Within the Employer Information Section VETS removed the question 
asking about cumulative uniformed

[[Page 73797]]

service. The count of cumulative uniformed service is heavily 
influenced by a determination that an investigator must make about 
types of service which are exempted from the cumulative count. It is an 
unreasonable burden on the claimant to request they assess the 
authority for every mobilization they performed and calculate the 
cumulative time while they are filing their claim. Within the Employer 
Information Section VETS also removed the question asking about Union 
Representation. The claimant's representation by a Union is not 
relevant to the intake of their claim, or subsequent assignment to an 
investigator.
    Within the form, the information and ability to file dual claims 
for USERRA and Veterans Preference simultaneously was also removed. 
While a claimant may have multiple claims, the eligibility criteria, 
and information relevant to those claims is distinct, and can possibly 
conflict. Therefore, a separate form is required for each claim they 
wish to file.
    Finally, VETS also removed contact information by phone from the 
form. The phone number previously provided was to the generic 1(866) 4-
USA-DOL phone line, which did not connect claimants directly to staff 
within VETS who could immediately assist them, often delaying or 
preventing the filing of claims.
    Modification of Content: The Claim Information Section from the 
prior version of the form has been separated into five more appropriate 
sub-sections, detangling separate claim types from one another. These 
subsections improve clarity for claimants about which information is 
required based on the type of claim they are filing and reduce the 
likelihood of accidental over-disclosure at the time of claim filing. 
For example, all information related to USERRA versus VP/VEOA claims 
are split in the form, with clear instructions in the form about when 
the claimant can skip a section.
    Many of the fields in each section of the form were modified to 
include drop-down lists, radio-boxes, and check boxes, when possible, 
to narrow the field entry options to only values that are relevant to 
USERRA, or the statutes and regulations covering Veterans Preference or 
VEOA. This reduces the risk of improper claim filing, and risk of 
providing more information than is necessary to review and assign their 
claim to an investigator. Existing fields were also modified to provide 
additional validation coding for dates, social security numbers, phone 
numbers, etc. Drop boxes and selection options were also expanded to 
include additional relevant values based on updated statutes, 
regulations, and orders. For example, Space Force, and FEMA have been 
added to the list of uniformed service branches based on the creation 
of the Space Force through the NDAA and expanded coverage to FEMA 
service members through the CREW Act.
    VETS has also replaced the USERRA Issue section of the claim 
information section with a series of statements that the claimant must 
answer ``Yes'' or ``No'' to, to help VETS process and investigate their 
claim. The prior version of the form allowed claimants to select 
multiple checkboxes from a list of ``USERRA Issue Codes'' that match 
with coding in our databases that help categorize the types of claims 
received. However, many of these ``Issue Codes'' are not clearly 
explained to the claimant and create miscommunication early in 
investigations. The replacement statements will help to more clearly 
identify the exact issue that the claimant is requesting assistance 
for, and only if it's covered by USERRA.
    Next, VETS updated the language and references contain in all 
``statements'' (Section K through Section O) in the form. These have 
been reviewed and updated with input provided by the DOL Solicitor's 
office.
    Finally, the instructions pages for the form have been separated 
into a companion document titled ``VETS USERRA/VP/VEOA Claim Form 
Instructions'' or VETS-1010a. This reduces the overall quantity of 
pages in the claim document, and ultimately reduces the resources 
required to print, scan, fax, or electronically send or the form.
    Addition of Content: VETS modified the form to include additional 
fields and content we want to collect at the time of initial claim 
filing. To comply with E.O. 13985, VETS has added ``Section H. Claimant 
Demographic Data'' as a section in the form. This section requests the 
claimant voluntarily identify their disability status, date of birth, 
ethnicity, race, and gender. This information will be used to provide 
better training to investigators to better serve underserved 
populations, through review and analysis of case trends and outcomes 
that may be related to claimants' demographic profiles.
    VETS has also added a VP Reduction in Force (RIF) Claim Information 
Section. RIF claims are distinct from Federal hiring claims in the 
information needed to process them. Therefore, this claim type required 
its own distinct claim section, with information required to process 
the claim.
    VETS also added fields to request an email address for person 
identified in the document. Missing email addresses at the time of 
claim processing reduces efficiency of investigators and can create 
delays in completing an investigation.
    Estimated Change in Hour Burden: VETS estimates that the proposed 
revisions will increase the currently approved public burden from an 
estimated 30 minutes to 45 minutes. VETS has determined that this 
increase is related to the inclusion of fields and sections for USERRA 
Claim Eligibility (for USERRA Cases), Reduction in Force Claim 
Information (for VP RIF cases), and Claimant Demographic Information 
(All Cases). However, VETS also estimates a time savings of one to 
three hours during the investigation phase for those claim types, which 
resulted from investigators trying to obtain the missing information 
through investigative tasks. VETS further estimates the inclusion of 
this new material will reduce the volume of erroneously filed claims 
for situations that are not covered by USERRA or VP, which decrease the 
administrative burden on Federal staff and resources.
    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-VETS.
    Type of Review: Revision.
    Title of Collection: Eligibility Data Form: Uniformed Services 
Employment and Reemployment Rights Act and Veterans' Preference.
    OMB Control Number: 1293-0002.
    Form: VETS/USERRA/VP (VETS-1010 Form).
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Total Estimated Number of Respondents: 2,250.
    Frequency: On occasion.
    Total Estimated Number of Responses: 2,250.

[[Page 73798]]

    Estimated Average Time per Response: 45 minutes, including 10 
minutes estimated to collect the information needed to file a USERRA or 
VP claim, and 35 minutes estimated to complete the form.
    Total Estimated Burden Hours: 1,688 hours.
    Total Estimated Other Burden Costs (Operating and Maintenance): $0.

(Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).

James D. Rodriguez,
Assistant Secretary, Veterans' Employment and Training Service, U.S. 
Department of Labor.
[FR Doc. 2022-26112 Filed 11-30-22; 8:45 am]
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