[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 126 (Thursday, July 2, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40599-40600]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-13443]


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OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT


Agency Information Collection Request: Federal Employee Viewpoint 
Survey, OMB Control Number (3206-NEW)

AGENCY: Office of Personnel Management.

ACTION: 60-day notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) offers the general 
public and other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a new 
Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) information collection request 
(ICR). OPM conducts this collection to satisfy statutorily required 
employee survey requirements.

DATES: Comments are encouraged and will be accepted until August 31, 
2026. This process is conducted in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1).

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the Federal Rulemaking Portal: 
http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting 
comments. The general policy for comments and other submissions from 
members of the public is to make these submissions available for public 
viewing at http://www.regulations.gov as they are received without 
change, including any personal identifiers or contact information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Employee Viewpoint Survey Team, 
Attention: Makisha Brown, via electronic mail to [email protected] or via 
telephone at (202) 606-1800.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995, as amended 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2), OPM is soliciting comments 
for this new information collection request prior to seeking Office of 
Management and Budget approval. A Federal agency may not conduct or 
sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of 
information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. 
The Office of Management and Budget is particularly interested in 
comments that:
    1. Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
    2. 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;
    3. Suggest ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
    4. Suggest ways to 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.

Background

    Section 1128 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
Year 2004 (Pub. L. 108-136, 5 U.S.C. 7101 note) requires executive 
agencies to conduct an annual employee survey and directs OPM to issue 
regulations prescribing the survey questions that must appear on all 
agency surveys to allow for comparison across agencies. The survey is 
the instrument through which agencies meet the statutory requirement to 
assess (1) leadership and management practices that contribute to 
agency performance and (2) employee satisfaction with leadership 
policies and practices, the work environment, rewards and recognition 
for professional accomplishment and personal contributions to achieving 
the organizational mission, opportunity for professional development 
and growth, and opportunity to contribute to achieving the 
organizational mission. OPM implemented this requirement through 
regulations at 5 CFR part 250, subpart C, to provide comparable 
governmentwide data and centrally administered the annual survey, the 
Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), on behalf of agencies. 
Agencies participating in the FEVS satisfy the annual employee survey 
requirement by including the prescribed core survey questions, while 
retaining limited flexibility to add agency-specific items consistent 
with OPM guidance.
    In the Rules section of this issue of the Federal Register, OPM 
proposes to reduce the number of prescribed annual employee survey 
questions from 16 to 10, retaining the most probative items to better 
serve workforce planning needs. In addition, OPM will no longer 
centrally administer the survey on behalf of agencies. Instead, each 
agency will administer the survey to its employees. The survey consists 
of Likert-type, mark-one, and mark-all-that-apply items. The 
information collection consists of the responses provided by the 
employees who complete the survey. The OPM survey will be available to 
agencies as a common form. An agency will submit the resulting data for 
the prescribed questions to OPM and OMB once per year to enable 
governmentwide comparison. Should agencies add questions to the common 
form, agencies would be responsible for their own collections separate 
from the OPM common form and would need to seek their own OMB control 
number.

Analysis

    Agency: Office of Personnel Management.
    Title: Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey.
    OMB Number: 3206-NEW.
    Type of Review: New collection (Request for a new OMB control 
number).
    Frequency: Annually.
    Affected Public: Federal employees.

[[Page 40600]]

    Number of Respondents: 619,184 (annualized 3-year historical 
average from 2022-2024).
    Estimated Time per Respondent: 20 minutes.
    Total Burden Hours: 206,395 hours.

Jerson Matias,
Federal Register Liaison.
[FR Doc. 2026-13443 Filed 7-1-26; 8:45 am]
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