[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 153 (Thursday, August 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64960-64961]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-17587]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB
Review; Comment Request, National Worker Survey, New Collection
AGENCY: Chief Evaluation Office, Office of the Assistant Secretary for
Policy, Department of Labor.
ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (DOL), as part of its continuing
effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a
preclearance 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 (PRA95). 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 is properly assessed. Currently, the Department of Labor is
soliciting comments concerning the collection of data for the National
Worker Survey. A copy of the proposed Information Collection Request
(ICR) can be obtained by contacting the office listed below in the
addressee section of this notice.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the
addressee section below on or before October 7, 2024.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by either one of the following
methods:
Email: [email protected]; Mail or Courier: Kacie Chang,
Chief Evaluation Office, OASP, U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-2312,
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 OMB Control Number identified
above for this information collection. Comments, including any personal
information provided, become a matter of public record. They will also
be summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval of the
information collection request.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kacie Chang by email at
[email protected] or by phone at (202) 693-5992.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Background: The Chief Evaluation Office
(CEO) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) intends to study the
prevalence and severity of violations to the Fair Labor Standards Act
(FLSA) which requires that workers who are covered by the act and not
specifically exempt from its provisions be paid at least the Federal
minimum wage and 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for hours worked
over 40 in a workweek. The act also regulates the employment of youth
under the age of 18 and establishes recordkeeping requirements for
employers, among other provisions.
Violations of the FLSA are not uncommon. In a survey of 4,387
workers in low-wage industries in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York
City, two-thirds experienced at least one pay-related violation in any
given week (Bernhardt, A., Milkman, R. and Theodore, N. 2009. Broken
laws, unprotected workers: Violations of employment and labor laws in
America's cities. National Employment Law Project, New York, NY). The
actual extent of violations is unknown and must be estimated through
surveys. Existing national surveys do a poor job of including workers
who are at the highest risk of violations and are generally able to
measure only minimum wage violations due to the way questions are
asked. Given DOL's limited resources to investigate individual
complaints, it is important to have nationally representative data on
prevalence across industries and worker subpopulations to prioritize
enforcement. The current study will build on the work of previous
surveys by designing a nationally representative survey of workers with
oversamples of workers in low-wage industries where violations are most
likely to occur. The study will provide DOL with information it needs
to promote compliance with the FLSA as well as outreach and education
to raise awareness among vulnerable workers about the types of pay
practices and other actions used by employers who violate the FLSA.
[[Page 64961]]
This Federal Register Notice provides the opportunity to comment on
proposed data collection instrument that will be used in the National
Worker Survey. The instrument will contain approximately 25 questions
and is expected to take up to 25 minutes to complete (not every
participant will be expected to answer every question).
II. Desired Focus of Comments: Currently, the Department of Labor
is soliciting comments concerning the above data collection for the
National Worker Survey. DOL is particularly interested in comments that
do the following:
[cir] evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have practical utility;
[cir] evaluate the accuracy of the agency's burden estimate of the
proposed information collection, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions;
[cir] enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information
to be collected; and
[cir] 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--for example, permitting
electronic submissions of responses.
III. Current Actions: At this time, the Department of Labor is
requesting clearance for the survey instrument.
Type of Review: New information collection request.
OMB Control Number: 1290-0NEW
Affected Public: Individuals or households
Comments submitted in response to this request will be summarized
and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget
approval of the information collection request; they will also become a
matter of public record.
Estimated Annual Burden Hours
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Average
Type of instrument (form/ Number of Number of Total number burden time Estimated
activity) respondents responses per of responses per response burden hours
respondent (hours)
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Address-based sample screener 6,000 1 6,000 .08 480
only...........................
Address-based sample screener 4,000 1 4,000 .5 2,000
and survey.....................
Respondent-driven sample 1,000 1 1,000 .08 80
screener only..................
Respondent-driven sample 4,000 1 4,000 .5 2,000
screener and survey............
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Total....................... 15,000 .............. 15,000 .............. 4,560
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Upeksha Savi Swick,
Director of Research, Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of
Labor.
[FR Doc. 2024-17587 Filed 8-7-24; 8:45 am]
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