Notice2024-00374
Information Collection Activities; Comment Request
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
January 11, 2024
Issuing agencies
Labor DepartmentLabor Statistics Bureau
Abstract
The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a pre-clearance 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. 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. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is soliciting comments concerning the proposed revision of the "Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages Business Supplement." A copy of the proposed information collection request can be obtained by contacting the individual listed below in the Addresses section of this notice.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 8 (Thursday, January 11, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 8 (Thursday, January 11, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1944-1945]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00374]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Information Collection Activities; Comment Request
AGENCY: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor.
ACTION: Notice of information collection; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a pre-clearance
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. 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. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is soliciting
comments concerning the proposed revision of the ``Quarterly Census of
Employment and Wages Business Supplement.'' A copy of the proposed
information collection request can be obtained by contacting the
individual listed below in the Addresses section of this notice.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the
Addresses section of this notice on or before March 11, 2024.
[[Page 1945]]
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Carol Rowan, BLS Clearance Officer,
Division of Management Systems, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room G225,
2 Massachusetts Avenue NE, Washington, DC 20212. Written comments also
may be transmitted by email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#88cac4dbd7d8dac9d7d8fdeae4e1ebc8eae4fba6efe7fe"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="67252b3438373526383712050b0e0427050b1449000811">[email protected]</span></a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carol Rowan, BLS Clearance Officer, at
202-691-7628 (this is not a toll free number). (See ADDRESSES section.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages Business Supplement
(QBS) is a versatile collection instrument designed to capture
information on the US economy quickly and efficiently. The QBS
collection is designed to incorporate new questionnaires as the need
arises to allow BLS to collect and publish information quickly so that
stakeholders and data users can understand the impact of specific
events, or economic issues of relevance, on the US economy.
The BLS will primarily use the Annual Refiling Survey (ARS) as a
platform for conducting the QBS. Each year, the BLS Quarterly Census of
Employment and Wages (QCEW) Program conducts the ARS by reaching out to
approximately 1.5 million establishments requesting verification of
their main business activity, and their mailing and physical location
addresses. The fully web-based ARS allows for an accelerated timeframe
for collection and provides a low-cost platform for conducting the
quick, short surveys of the QBS. The QBSs accompanying the ARS have
little data collection overhead, leveraging the respondent contact
process undertaken as part of the production ARS. QBS respondents
already logged into the ARS secure website are directed to a QBS and
asked to answer a limited number of additional survey questions after
completing the ARS. QBS respondents that are not in the ARS are
solicited using established contact methods (email and/or printed
letters) and directed to a stand-alone interface to access and answer
the QBS questions online.
II. Current Action
Office of Management and Budget clearance is being sought for a
revision of the QCEW Business Supplement (QBS).
The QBS is designed to encourage a fast response and minimize
respondent burden on the public by limiting the number of questions on
each survey and by asking questions that respondents should be able to
answer without research or referring to records. In this manner, BLS
can provide information that is needed quickly and is not collected
elsewhere. The QBS will incorporate new questionnaires as the need for
data arises, as frequently as twice a year. The BLS plans to conduct
multiple small surveys under the QBS clearance. The 2024 survey will
focus on establishments' telework policies and practices, recent
experiences in hiring, and how they advertise vacancies. These
questions were previously asked in the 2022 QBS collected under this
clearance (the 2022 Business Response Survey). Asking these questions
again, a full two years later, will provide an understanding of how
these business operations have changed.
III. Desired Focus of Comments
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is particularly interested in
comments that:
<bullet> 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.
<bullet> 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.
<bullet> Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected.
<bullet> 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.
Title of Collection: QCEW Business Supplement.
OMB Number: 1220-0198.
Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit, not-for-profit
institutions, and farms.
Total Number of Respondents: 80,000.
Frequency: Once.
Total Responses: 80,000.
Average Time per Response: 5 minutes.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 6,667 hours.
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 also will become a
matter of public record.
Signed at Washington, DC, on January 5, 2024.
Eric Molina,
Chief, Division of Management Systems, Branch of Policy Analysis.
[FR Doc. 2024-00374 Filed 1-10-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-24-P
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