Notice2024-02177
Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Information Collections Pertaining to Special Employment Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
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
February 5, 2024
Issuing agencies
Labor DepartmentWage and Hour Division
Abstract
The Department of Labor (Department) is soliciting comments concerning a proposed revision of the information collection request (ICR) titled "Information Collections Pertaining to Special Employment Under the Fair Labor Standards Act." This comment request is part of continuing Departmental efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). The Department proposes to revise and extend the existing information collection with minor clarifying changes to the collection instruments. 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. A copy of the proposed information request can be obtained by contacting the office listed below in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this notice.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 24 (Monday, February 5, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 24 (Monday, February 5, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7743-7745]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-02177]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Wage and Hour Division
Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request;
Information Collections Pertaining to Special Employment Under the Fair
Labor Standards Act
AGENCY: Wage and Hour Division, Department of Labor.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (Department) is soliciting comments
concerning a proposed revision of the information collection request
(ICR) titled ``Information Collections Pertaining to Special Employment
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act.'' This comment request is part of
continuing Departmental efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent
burden in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA).
The Department proposes to revise and extend the existing information
collection with minor clarifying changes to the collection instruments.
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. A copy of the proposed information request can be obtained by
contacting the office listed below in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section of this notice.
DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the
ADDRESSES section below on or before April 5, 2024.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Control Number 1235-
0001 by either one of the following methods: Email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c89f808c989a898ba7a5a5ada6bcbb88aca7a4e6afa7be"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4b1c030f1b190a082426262e253f380b2f2427652c243d">[email protected]</span></a>; Mail, Hand Delivery, Courier: Division of
Regulations, Legislation, and
[[Page 7744]]
Interpretation, Wage and Hour, U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-3502,
200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20210.
Instructions: Please submit one copy of your comments by only one
method. All submissions received must include the agency name and
Control Number identified above for this information collection.
Commenters are encouraged to transmit their comments electronically via
email or to submit them by mail early. Comments, including any personal
information provided, become a matter of public record. They will also
be summarized and/or included in the request for Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) approval of the information collection request.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Waterman, Division of
Regulations, Legislation, and Interpretation, Wage and Hour Division,
U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-3502, 200 Constitution Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-0406 (this is not a toll-
free number). Alternative formats are available upon request by calling
1-866-487-9243. If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech
disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay
services.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background: The Department's Wage and Hour Division (WHD)
administers the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. 201, et
seq., which sets the Federal minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping,
and youth employment standards of most general application. See 29
U.S.C. 206, 207, 211, 212. FLSA section 14(c) provides that the
Secretary of Labor (Secretary), ``to the extent necessary to prevent
curtailment of opportunities for employment, shall by regulation or
order provide for the employment, under special certificates, of
individuals'' whose productivity for the work performed is limited by
disability at subminimum wages commensurate with the individual's
productivity. 29 U.S.C. 214(c). In accordance with section 14(c), WHD
regulates the employment of individuals with disabilities under special
certificates and governs the application and approval process for
obtaining the certificates. See 29 CFR part 525. The information
collections on the forms (Form WH-226, the Application for Authority to
Employ Workers with Disabilities at Subminimum Wages, and Form WH-226A,
the Supplemental Data Sheet for Application for Authority to Employ
Workers with Disabilities at Subminimum Wages) assists the Department
in fulfilling its statutory directive to administer and enforce the
section 14(c) program, including the conditions introduced to section
14(c) certificate holders pursuant to the Workforce Innovation and
Opportunity Act (WIOA), which was signed into law on July 22, 2014.
In addition, section 11(d) of the FLSA authorizes the Secretary to
regulate, restrict, or prohibit industrial homework as necessary to
prevent circumvention or evasion of the minimum wage requirements of
the FLSA. 29 U.S.C. 211(d). Pursuant to section 11(d), WHD issues
special certificates governing the employment of individual homeworkers
and employers of homeworkers. The Department restricts homework in
seven industries (i.e., knitted outwear, women's apparel, jewelry
manufacturing, gloves and mittens, button and buckle manufacturing,
handkerchief manufacturing, and embroideries) to those employers that
obtain certificates. See 29 CFR 530.1, 530.2. The Department may issue
individual certificates in those industries for an individual
homeworker (1) who is unable to adjust to factory work because of a
disability or who must remain at home to care for a person with a
disability in the home, and (2) who has been engaged in industrial
homework in the particular industry prior to certain specified dates as
set forth in the regulations or is engaged in industrial homework under
the supervision of a State Vocational Rehabilitation Agency. See 29 CFR
530.3, 530.4. The Department also allows employers to obtain general
(employer) certificates to employ homeworkers in all restricted
industries, except women's apparel and hazardous jewelry manufacturing
operations. See 29 CFR 530.101. Form WH-2, the Application for Special
Industrial Homeworker's Certificate, and Form WH-46, the Application
for Certificate to Employ Homeworkers, are used in the application
process for obtaining these certificates, and Form WH-75, Homeworker
Handbook, is used to assist with recordkeeping.
The FLSA also requires that the Secretary, to the extent necessary
to prevent curtailment of employment opportunities, provide
certificates authorizing the employment of full-time students at (1)
not less than 85 percent of the applicable minimum wage or less than
$1.60, whichever is higher, in retail or service establishments or in
institutions of higher education (29 U.S.C. 214(b)(1), (3); 29 CFR part
519); and (2) not less than 85 percent of the applicable minimum wage
or less than $1.30, whichever is higher, in agriculture (29 U.S.C.
214(b)(2), 29 CFR part 519). The FLSA and the regulations set forth the
application requirements as well as the terms and conditions for the
employment of full-time students at subminimum wages under certificates
and temporary authorization to employ such students at subminimum
wages. The forms used to apply for these certificates are WH-200
(retail, service, or agricultural employers seeking to employ full-time
students for 10 percent or more of total monthly hours of employment),
WH-201 (institution of higher learning seeking to employ its students),
and WH-202 (retail, service, or agricultural employers seeking to
employ six or fewer full-time students).
Under section 14(a) of the FLSA, the Secretary is required to
provide, by regulation or order, a special certificate for the
employment of learners, apprentices, and messengers who may be paid
less than the Federal minimum wage set by section 6(a) of the FLSA. See
29 U.S.C. 214(a). The certificates are only issued to the extent
necessary to prevent the curtailment of employment opportunities. This
section also authorizes the Secretary to set limitations on such
employment as to time, number, proportion, and length of service. The
regulations at 29 CFR part 520 contain the provisions that implement
the section 14(a) requirements. Form WH-205 is the application an
employer uses to obtain a certificate to employ student-learners at
wages lower than the Federal minimum wage. Form WH-209 is the
application an employer uses to request a certificate authorizing the
employer to employ learners and/or messengers at subminimum wage rates.
Regulations issued by the Department's Office of Apprenticeship no
longer permit the payment of subminimum wages to apprentices in an
approved program, and the Department therefore has not issued
apprentice certificates since 1987. See 29 CFR 29.5(b)(5). However, WHD
must maintain the information collection for apprentice certificates to
fulfill its statutory obligation under FLSA to maintain this program.
[[Page 7745]]
II. Review Focus: The Department 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> Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected;
<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> 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: The Department seeks approval for a revision
of this information collection in order to ensure effective
administration of various special employment programs.
Type of Review: Revision.
Agency: Wage and Hour Division.
Title: Information Collections Pertaining to Special Employment
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
OMB Control Number: 1235-0001.
Affected Public: Business or other for-profit, not-for-profit
institutions, Federal, State, local, or Tribal government.
Agency Numbers: Forms WH-226, WH-226A, WH-2, WH-46, WH-75, WH-200,
WH-201, WH-202, WH-205, WH-209.
Total Respondents: 335,167.
Total Annual Responses: 1,338,561.
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 671,464.
Estimated Time per Response: Varies with type of request.
Frequency: On occasion.
Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): $2,249.66.
Dated: January 30, 2024.
Amy Hunter,
Director, Division of Regulations, Legislation, and Interpretation.
[FR Doc. 2024-02177 Filed 2-2-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-27-P
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