[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 159 (Friday, August 16, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66714-66716]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-18420]



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EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Existing Collection

AGENCY: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

ACTION: Notice of information collection--proposed revision of Local 
Union Report (EEO-3).

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), the 
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or Commission) announces 
that it intends to submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
a request for a three-year PRA approval of revisions to the currently 
approved Local Union Report (EEO-3).

DATES: Written comments on this notice must be submitted on or before 
October 15, 2024.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods--
please use only one method:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions on the website for submitting comments.
    Mail: Comments may be submitted by mail to Raymond Windmiller, 
Executive Officer, Executive Secretariat, Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission, 131 M Street NE, Washington, DC 20507.
    Fax: Comments totaling six or fewer pages can be faxed to (202) 
663-4114. Receipt of fax transmittals will not be acknowledged, except 
that the sender may request confirmation of receipt by calling the 
Executive Secretariat staff at (202) 921-2815 (voice) or (800) 669-6820 
(TTY).
    Instructions: All comments received must include the agency name 
and docket number. Comments will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. 
However, the EEOC reserves the right to refrain from posting libelous 
or otherwise inappropriate comments, including those that contain 
obscene, indecent, or profane language; that contain threats or 
defamatory statements; that contain hate speech directed at race, 
color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetic 
information; or that promote or endorse services or products.
    Copies of comments received in response to this notice are also 
available for review at the Commission's library by appointment only at 
131 M Street NE, Suite 4NW08R, Washington, DC 20507. Members of the 
public may schedule an appointment by emailing [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Guerino, Director, Data 
Development and Information Products Division, Office of Enterprise 
Data and Analytics (OEDA), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 131 
M Street NE, Washington, DC 20507; (202) 921-2928 (voice), (800) 669-
6820 (TTY) or email at [email protected]. Requests for this notice in an 
alternative format should be made to the EEOC's Office of 
Communications and Legislative Affairs at (202) 921-3191 (voice), (800) 
669-6820 (TTY), or (844) 234-5122 (ASL Video Phone).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Since 1967, the EEOC has required EEO-3 
filers to submit workforce demographic data. Every labor organization 
subject to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended (Title 
VII) \1\ is required to file the EEO-3 report, provided it has 100 or 
more members at any time during the 12 months preceding the due date of 
the report and is a ``local union'' (as that term is commonly 
understood) or an independent or unaffiliated union. Labor 
organizations required to report are those which perform, in a specific 
jurisdiction, the functions ordinarily performed by a local union, 
whether or not they are so designated.
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    \1\ 42 U.S.C. 2000e, et seq.
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    Pursuant to the PRA and OMB regulations found at 5 CFR 
1320.8(d)(1), the Commission solicits public comment on its intent to 
seek a three-year approval of revisions to the currently approved EEO-3 
to: (1) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the Commission's functions, 
including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) 
Evaluate the accuracy of the Commission's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (3) Enhance the quality, utility, and 
clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) Minimize the burden 
of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including 
the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other 
technological collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.
    Based on data from the most recent EEO-3 data collection reporting 
year (i.e., 2022), as well as ongoing updates by the EEOC to the EEO-3 
frame (i.e., filer roster or master list), the EEOC anticipates the 
total number of filers submitting an EEO-3 report may increase to 5,999 
per biennial collection. Accordingly, the burden estimates in this 
Notice are based on this revised estimate of the number of filers.

Overview of Information Collection

    Collection Title: Local Union Report (EEO-3).
    OMB Number: 3046-0006.
    Frequency of Report: Biennial.
    Type of Respondent: Labor organizations with 100 or more members 
\2\ that are local unions or independent or unaffiliated unions and 
meet certain criteria.
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    \2\ Labor organizations required to report are those which 
perform, in a specific jurisdiction, the functions ordinarily 
performed by a local union, whether or not they are so designated.
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    Description of Affected Public: Labor organizations with 100 or 
more members \3\ that are local unions or independent or unaffiliated 
unions and meet certain criteria.
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    \3\ Labor organizations required to report are those which 
perform, in a specific jurisdiction, the functions ordinarily 
performed by a local union, whether or not they are so designated.
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    Reporting Hours: 8,922 per biennial collection.
    Respondent Burden Hour Cost: $359,091 per biennial collection.
    Federal Cost: $378,002 per biennial collection.
    Number of Filers: 5,999 per biennial collection.\4\
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    \4\ This figure is based on the expanded frame of potentially 
eligible respondents and the response rate for the most recently 
completed EEO-3 data collection (2022 EEO-3 data collection).
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    Number of Responses: 5,999 per biennial collection.
    Number of Forms: 1.
    Form Number: EEOC Form 274.
    Abstract: Section 709(c) of Title VII requires labor organizations 
to make and keep records relevant to the determination of whether 
unlawful employment practices have been or are being committed, to 
preserve such records, and to produce reports as the Commission 
prescribes by regulation or order.\5\ Pursuant to this statutory 
authority, the EEOC issued regulations prescribing the reporting and 
related record retention requirements for labor organizations.\6\ The 
regulations require every local union to retain the most recent report 
filed, to make records necessary for completion of the EEO-3 and 
preserve them for a year (or if a charge of discrimination is filed, 
relevant records must be retained until final disposition of the 
matter). These recordkeeping requirements are part of

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standard administrative practices, and as a result, the EEOC believes 
that any impact on burden would be negligible and nearly impossible to 
quantify. Additionally, the regulations require labor organizations 
with 100 or more members at any time during the 12 months preceding the 
due date of the report, and that are a ``local union'' (as that term is 
commonly understood) \7\ or are independent or unaffiliated unions to 
file executed copies of the EEO-3 in conformity with the directions set 
forth in the form and accompanying instructions. Under this authority, 
such unions are required to report biennially \8\ the number of their 
members and applicants for membership by sex and race or ethnicity.
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    \5\ 42 U.S.C. 2000e-8(c).
    \6\ The EEOC's EEO-3 regulation is at 29 CFR part 1602 Subparts 
F and G. The EEOC is responsible for obtaining OMB's PRA approval 
for the EEO-3 report.
    \7\ Labor organizations required to report are those which 
perform, in a specific jurisdiction, the functions ordinarily 
performed by a local union, whether or not they are so designated.
    \8\ Beginning in 1986, the EEO-3 report has been collected 
biennially in even-numbered years. Prior to 1986, the EEO-3 report 
was collected annually.
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    Please note that on March 28, 2024, OMB published revisions, the 
first since 1997, to its Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards 
for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and 
Ethnicity.'' See https://spd15revision.gov/. The revisions include, for 
example, using a single combined race and ethnicity question and adding 
Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) as a new minimum reporting 
category. Federal agencies, including the EEOC, are required to bring 
their data collections into compliance with these standards by March 
28, 2029. Because the EEOC's current EEO-3 PRA clearance expires 
January 31, 2025, the agency is not proposing updates to its collection 
of race and ethnicity data under this Notice in order to provide filers 
with sufficient notice of the revised standards and to give the EEOC 
sufficient time to implement the revisions across its EEO collections.
    These data are currently collected electronically by the EEOC 
through a web-based data collection application (i.e., portal) referred 
to as the EEO-3 Online Filing System (OFS).\9\ Filers must submit their 
data electronically to the web-based portal. The individual EEO-3 
reports are confidential.\10\ EEO-3 data are used by the EEOC to 
investigate charges of employment discrimination against local unions 
and to publish periodic reports on workforce demographics.\11\
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    \9\ EEO-3 filers may access the EEO-3 OFS through the EEOC's 
dedicated EEO-3 website at www.eeocdata.org/eeo3.
    \10\ All reports and any information from individual reports are 
subject to the confidentiality provisions of Section 709(e) of Title 
VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-8(e), as 
amended (Title VII) and may not be made public by the EEOC prior to 
the institution of any proceeding under Title VII involving the EEO-
3 data. Any EEOC employee who violates this prohibition may be found 
guilty of a criminal misdemeanor and could be fined or imprisoned. 
The confidentiality requirements allow the EEOC to publish only 
aggregated data, and only in a manner that does not identify any 
particular filer or reveal any individual member's personal 
information. With respect to other federal agencies with a 
legitimate law enforcement purpose, the EEOC gives access to 
information collected under Title VII only if the agencies agree in 
writing to comply with the confidentiality provisions of Title VII. 
In addition, section 709(d) (42 U.S.C. 2000e-8(d) provides that the 
EEOC shall furnish upon request and without cost to state or local 
civil rights agencies information about employers in their 
jurisdiction on the condition that they not make it public prior to 
starting a proceeding under state or local law involving such 
information. The EEOC shares EEO-3 data with Fair Employment 
Practices Agencies (FEPAs) pursuant to Worksharing Agreements that 
impose obligations on the contracted FEPA with respect to 
confidentiality, privacy, and data security. On a case-by-case 
basis, the EEOC may share EEO-3 data with a FEPA that does not have 
a Worksharing Agreement, but only if that FEPA agrees to comply with 
confidentiality, privacy, and data security obligations similar to 
those imposed on FEPAs with Worksharing Agreements.
    \11\ Any reports the EEOC publishes based on EEO-3 data include 
only aggregated EEO-3 data that protect the confidentiality of each 
union's information, as well as the privacy of each member's 
personal information.
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    Burden Statement: The EEOC's Office of Enterprise Data and 
Analytics (OEDA) administers the agency's data collections, including 
the EEO-3. Since OEDA's creation in 2018, the EEOC has undertaken 
several efforts to modernize the agency's data collections and improve 
the quality of data collected. OEDA also has streamlined functions, 
such as providing additional self-service options, resource materials, 
and an online support message center.
    As part of these ongoing modernization efforts, and in response to 
a recent GAO report \12\ which recommended that the EEOC improve its 
approach to routinely identify local unions required to file the EEO-3 
report, OEDA has undertaken measures to enhance the agency's EEO-3 data 
frame of potentially eligible filers. Additionally, OEDA has identified 
changes that make the EEO-3 filing process more user-friendly and less 
burdensome. By comparing the EEOC's 2022 EEO-3 frame to a list of 
active unions from the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Labor 
Management Standards (OLMS) Online Public Disclosure Room (OPDR) 
database,\13\ OEDA identified more than 5,000 local unions that may be 
eligible to file during the next biennial data collection. With the 
addition of these unions to the EEO-3 frame and considering response 
rates during the 2022 EEO-3 data collection, OEDA now estimates 5,999 
potential respondents to the agency's next EEO-3 data collection.\14\
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    \12\ U.S. Government Accountability Office, ``Workforce 
Diversity: Hispanic Workers Are Underrepresented in the Media, and 
More Data Are Needed for Federal Enforcement Efforts'', Government 
Accountability Office, Sept. 29, 2022, https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-104669.
    \13\ The OPDR database contains information on approximately 
20,000 unions in the United States. See https://olmsapps.dol.gov/olpdr/.
    \14\ This estimate covers local unions within the 50 United 
States and the District of Columbia as well as the Commonwealth of 
Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the U.S. Possessions of 
American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and Wake Island. 
Please note that 5,999 respondents may ultimately turn out to be an 
overestimate. Following the initial enhancement of the EEO-3 frame, 
collection data may yield an unknown number of ineligible filers.
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    The EEOC has also updated its methodology for calculating the 
biennial burden of the EEO-3 to better reflect the types of personnel 
responsible for preparing and filing these reports on behalf of their 
unions. Based upon job titles provided during the 2022 EEO-3 data 
collection by individuals completing the report within the EEO-3 OFS, 
the EEOC has identified four specific job categories which account for 
the largest amount of time spent biennially on EEO-3 reporting. These 
job categories include: (1) Secretaries and Administrative Assistants; 
(2) Administrative Services and Facilities Managers; (3) Bookkeeping, 
Accounting, and Auditing Clerks; and (4) Executive-Level Staff.\15\
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    \15\ Hourly wage rates for these four job categories were 
obtained from the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor 
Statistics (BLS) Occupational Outlook Handbook. See https://www.bls.gov/ooh/. Please note that the actual job titles reported 
during the 2022 EEO-3 data collection were collapsed into these four 
BLS occupational categories.
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    Additionally, the EEO-3 OFS captures detailed information on when 
each filer starts and certifies their report. The EEOC used this 
information from the most recent EEO-3 data collection (i.e., 2022) to 
calculate more precise burden hour estimates.\16\ In table 1 below, the 
estimated average hour burden per report is 1.49 hours. The total 
estimated biennial respondent burden for all filers is 8,922 hours. The 
estimated average burden hour cost per report is $59.90, and the 
estimated total burden hour cost for all filers per biennial collection 
is $359,091.
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    \16\ The time estimates are based on the average time elapsed 
among filers who completed their reports during the same calendar 
day within the EEO-3 OFS.

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                                      Table 1--Projected Burden for Each EEO-3 Biennial Reporting Year (N = 5,999)
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                                                          Percent in job   Median hourly     Hours per       Cost per      Total burden    Total burden
                   Staff job category                      category (%)      wage rate        report          report           hours         hour cost
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Secretaries and Administrative Assistants...............            21.4          $21.19            0.33           $6.99           1,958         $41,490
Administrative Services and Facilities Managers.........            56.5           48.98            0.84           41.14           5,046         247,153
Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks............             5.1           22.05            0.09            1.98             546          12,039
Executive-Level Staff...................................             4.4           48.12            0.06            2.89             365          17,564
Other \a\...............................................            12.6           40.56            0.17            6.90           1,007          40,845
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    Total \b\...........................................  ..............  ..............            1.49           59.90           8,922         359,091
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\a\ The average hourly wage rate for the ``Other'' category was derived by taking the weighted mean average of the hourly wage rates of the four BLS job
  categories listed in the above table.
\b\ These estimates are based upon filers' use of the EEO-3 OFS to submit reports electronically because paper submissions are no longer accepted.
  Electronic filing remains the most efficient, accurate, and secure means of reporting for respondents required to submit EEO-3 data.


    Dated: August 12, 2024.

    For the Commission,
Charlotte A. Burrows,
Chair.
[FR Doc. 2024-18420 Filed 8-15-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6570-01-P