[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]
BILLING CODE 4510-HX-P