The Industry Verification Form

The Industry Verification Form is used for the Annual Refiling Survey (ARS). The form is sent to establishments and is used in conjunction with the UI tax reporting system in each State. The form is utilized to verify and to update, if necessary, information about a particular establishment. The form contains such information as the establishment's mailing address, the physical location including county, and the main business activity currently conducted by the establishment. Thus, using this form enables the ARS to capture changes in the industrial and geographical compositions of our economy in a timely manner.

The Annual Refiling Survey is part of the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program. The QCEW program is a comprehensive and accurate source of monthly employment and quarterly wages data, by industry, at the national, state, and sub-state levels. The QCEW Report, produced for each calendar quarter, provides a virtual census of nonagricultural employees and their wages, with about 51 percent of the workers in agriculture covered as well. As the most complete universe of monthly employment and quarterly wages information by industry and geographical regions, QCEW data are used in evaluating labor trends and major industry developments, conducting time-series analyses and industry comparisons, and conducting special studies such as analysis of wages by size of firm. To ensure the continued accuracy of these published economic statistics, the information supplied by the employers must be periodically reviewed and updated. There are approximately 9 million establishments on file with the States. These establishments cover all civilian employers (except interstate railroads) and some agricultural, domestic, and charitable organization employers.

The BLS has developed three distinct ARS forms. Each form is designed to verify and to collect specific information concerning the employer's industrial activity, geographic location, business mailing address, and physical location address. The ARS also asks employers to identify new locations in the State. If these employers meet QCEW program reporting criteria, then a Multiple Worksite Report (MWR) is mailed to the employer requesting employment and wages for each worksite each quarter. Thus, the ARS is also used to identify new potential MWR-eligible employers

The main purpose of this form, however, is to ask employers to verify a North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) industry description that represents their business’s main activities. If the description is correct, the employer is asked to check the appropriate box. If the description is incorrect, the employer is asked to briefly describe their business activities and the approximate percentage of the revenue or production derived from each activity. This system provides consistent classification, which improves the statistics of all Bureau of Labor Statistics programs that use the QCEW data.

 

Last Modified Date: December 5, 2007