Proposed Collection; Comment Request
[03/24/2004]
Volume 69, Number 57, Page 13909-13910
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment Standards Administration
Proposed Collection; Comment Request
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, 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) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. 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 can be properly assessed.
Currently, the Employment Standards Administration is soliciting
comments concerning the proposed collection: Office of Federal Contract
Compliance Programs Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements, Supply
and Service. A copy of the proposed information collection request can
be obtained by contacting the office listed below in the addresses
section of this Notice.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the
addresses section below on or before May 24, 2004.
ADDRESSES: Ms. Hazel M. Bell, U.S. Department of Labor, 200
Constitution Ave., NW., Room S-3201, Washington, DC 20210, telephone
(202) 693-0418, fax (202) 693-1451, E-mail bell.hazel@dol.gov. Please
use only one method of transmission for comments (mail, fax, or E-
mail).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background: The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
(OFCCP) is responsible for the administration of three equal
opportunity programs prohibiting employment discrimination and
requiring affirmative action. The OFCCP administers Executive Order
11246, as amended; Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as
amended; and the affirmative action provisions of the Vietnam Era
Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, as amended (VEVRAA), 38
U.S.C. 4212. The regulations implementing the Executive Order program
are found at 41 CFR Parts 60-1, 60-2, 60-3, 60-4, 60-20, 60-30, 60-40,
and 60-50. The regulations implementing Section 503 are published at 41
CFR part 60-741. The regulations implementing VEVRAA are found at 41
CFR Part 60-250. The regulations require contractors to develop and
maintain Affirmative Action Programs (AAP). OFCCP reviews these AAPs
through its compliance evaluation process. The Supply and Service
Scheduling Letter provides the contractor notice of its selection for a
compliance evaluation and requests the submission of its Affirmative
Action Programs and supporting documentation. The supporting
documentation includes compensation data (Itemized Listing question
number 11). OFCCP uses the Item 11 data purely to determine whether
OFCCP should investigate a contractor's compensation practices further,
as a means of targeting and allocating the agency's investigative
resources. OFCCP is not using Item 11 data to make any kind of
determination of whether a violation has occurred. OFCCP only
determines that a violation has occurred based on careful investigation
of a contractor's
[[Page 13910]]
compensation practices, which would require examination of much more
detailed compensation and personnel data. With respect to assessing
whether the contractor has engaged in systemic discrimination (i.e.,
pattern or practice discrimination under a disparate treatment and/or
disparate impact theory), OFCCP conducts multiple regression analyses
and/or examines cohorts to assess whether there is a pattern of
compensation disparities. In assessing whether to make a finding of
systemic compensation discrimination, OFCCP looks not only at
statistically-significant compensation disparities, but also at
evidence of how the statistical pattern of pay disparities affects
individual employees within the contractor's workplace, and other
anecdotal evidence. OFCCP has found this approach effective in
determining whether systemic compensation discrimination exists,
convincing a contractor to conciliate based on OFCCP's findings, and
creating a credible threat of enforcement litigation.
In light of this limited use of the Item 11 data, OFCCP concludes
that the data, while clearly not sufficient to make a determination of
a violation, is and has been effective in allowing OFCCP to allocate
the agency's investigative resources. OFCCP's Division of Program
Operations (DPO) conducted an internal study of compliance reviews
closed at the desk audit stage. The DPO study found that indicators
obtained from review of the Item 11 data were sufficient to target
OFCCP's resources on cases in which additional data was required. The
DPO study also found that OFCCP's review of the additional data in many
cases warranted OFCCP's determination that an on-site review was
unnecessary. For example, before deciding to pursue further
investigation during an evaluation, OFCCP asked for more data in just
over 50% of the cases. However, in a significant number of cases,
nearly 50%, OFCCP determined that further review of compensation data
was unwarranted based only on the Item 11 submission. OFCCP asked for
more compensation data only if an examination of the Item 11 data
indicated a potential problem that could be assessed through analysis
of further data.
In addition to the internal DPO study, OFCCP developed and sent out
a Compensation Questionnaire in response to the Office of Management
and Budget's (OMB) previous Terms of Clearance. These Compensation
Questionnaires were sent to Supply and Service contractors scheduled
for compliance evaluations between July and September 2003. The
Compensation Questionnaire solicited information about the burden hours
associated with submitting compensation data to OFCCP during the
initial desk audit stage of a compliance review. The Compensation
Questionnaires were voluntary, and contractors were afforded 60 days to
complete the questionnaire.
On October 31, 2003, OFCCP requested and received a 3-month
extension from OMB on its Supply and Service authorization to allow for
continued submission of the questionnaires and for OFCCP to analyze the
responses. While OFCCP sent out 1,977 questionnaires, the agency
received only 99 responses and 4 letters of non-response, for a
response rate of approximately 5%, a somewhat disappointing result.
Nonetheless, OFCCP's attempt to solicit comments directly from covered
contractors obtained the following information:
1. On average, contractors took 28.35 staff hours to prepare and
submit information to OFCCP in response to the Supply and Service
Scheduling Letter.
2. Of those 28.35 staff hours, on average, contractors took 5.23
staff hours to submit compensation information to OFCCP.
3. 94.94% of respondents who stated a preference, preferred to
submit compensation information as part of the desk audit rather than
as part of the on-site review.
4. 86.46% of respondents maintain compensation data in electronic
format; while 29.17% of respondents maintain compensation data manually
(some contractors indicated both forms of data maintenance).
OFCCP has revised its burden hour estimates based on the comments
received from the compensation questionnaire.
II. Review Focus: The Department of Labor is particularly
interested in comments which:
Evaluate whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the agency, including whether the information will have practical
utility;
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;
Enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the
information to be collected; and
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.
III. Current Actions: OFCCP seeks a three-year extension to the
approval of the Supply and Service Scheduling Letter. There is no
change in the substance or method of collection since the last OMB
approval. OFCCP has revised the burden hour estimates associated with
the Supply and Service Scheduling letter based on the responses to the
Compensation Questionnaire.
Type of Review: Extension.
Agency: Employment Standards Administration.
Title: OFCCP Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements, Supply and
Service--Scheduling Letter.
OMB Number: 1215-0072.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit, Not-for-profit
institutions.
Total Annual responses: 6,092 (FY03 data).
Frequency: Annually.
Average Time per response: 28.35 hours.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 172,708.
Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $0.
Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): $60,798.
Comments submitted in response to this notice 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.
Dated: March 18, 2004.
Bruce Bohanon,
Chief, Branch of Management Review and Internal Control, Division of
Financial Management, Office of Management, Administration and
Planning, Employment Standards Administration.
[FR Doc. 04-6552 Filed 3-23-04; 8:45 am
|
