Federal Register Notice-Voice of the Workplace Survey

Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 238 / Monday, December 12, 2011 / Notices
three minutes (.05 hour). Therefore, the
estimated clerical time can range from
27 minutes to 25 hours, based on the
number of records that are entered. It
would take 265 hours to enter 5,300
responses electronically [5,300 × .05
hour].
(6) An estimate of the total public
burden (in hours) associated with the
collection: The current estimated
burden is 265 (5,300 responses × .05
hour per response = 265 hours). There
is no increase in the annual
recordkeeping and reporting burden.
If additional information is required
contact: Jerri Murray, Department
Clearance Officer, United States
Department of Justice, Justice
Management Division, Policy and
Planning Staff, Two Constitution
Square, 145 N Street NE., Room 2E–508,
Washington, DC 20530.
Jerri Murray,
Department Clearance Officer, PRA, U.S.
Department of Justice.
[FR Doc. 2011–31710 Filed 12–9–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410–18–P

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Proposed Information Collection
Request (ICR) for the Voice in the
Workplace Survey; Comment Request

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AGENCY: Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Policy, Labor.
ACTION: Notice.
SUMMARY: The Department of Labor
(DOL or the Department), 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 (PRA) (44 U.S.C.
3506(c)(2)(A)). This program helps to
ensure that required 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 Department notes that a Federal
agency cannot conduct or sponsor a
collection of information unless it is
approved by the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) under the PRA and
the related materials display a currently
valid OMB control number. Also,
notwithstanding any other provisions of
law, no person shall be subject to
penalty for failing to comply with a

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19:31 Dec 09, 2011

Jkt 226001

collection of information if the related
materials do not display a currently
valid OMB control number. See 5 CFR
1320.5(a) and 1320.6. A copy of the
proposed ICR can be obtained by
contacting the office listed below in the
ADDRESSES section of this notice or by
accessing http://www.doleta.gov/
OMBCN/OMBControlNumber.cfm.
DATES: Written comments must be
received by the office listed in the
ADDRESSES section below on or before
February 10, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Celeste
Richie, U.S. Department of Labor, Chief
Evaluation Office, Office of the
Assistant Secretary for Policy, 200
Constitution Avenue NW., Frances
Perkins Bldg., Room S–2312,
Washington, DC 20210, telephone
number (202) 693–5959 (this is not a
toll-free number). Email address is
richie.celeste.j@dol.gov and fax number
is (202) 693–5960.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1. Background: The purpose of this
evaluation is to gauge the current level
of workers’ voice in the workplace and
the factors affecting voice, specifically
voice as it relates to the laws
administered and enforced by the
Department of Labor’s Occupational
Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) and Wage and Hour Division
(WHD). Voice in the workplace is a key
outcome goal for the Secretary of Labor
and part of her vision of good jobs for
everyone. DOL’s working definition of
voice in the workplace is the ‘‘worker’s
ability to access information on their
rights in the workplace, their
understanding of those rights, and their
ability to exercise those rights without
fear of recrimination.’’ The survey will
measure each of these items, first
individually, and then combine those to
come up with an overall measure of
voice. The Department also hopes to
learn how voice is related to workers’
perceptions of employer
noncompliance, such as whether or not
particular dimensions of voice correlate
to workers’ perceptions of
noncompliance. The study will also be
useful in examining how
noncompliance in one area, such as
safety, is related to voice in the
workplace and noncompliance in
another area, such as wages.
The evaluation of voice will benefit
the Department of Labor (DOL) in
several important ways:
• It will establish a baseline level of
voice to which future measurement
could be compared.
• The study should provide the
Department with information about
what factors affect voice and how voice

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can be promoted in the workplace. In
particular, the analysis of survey results
should identify which aspects of voice
are particularly sensitive or linked to
actions the Department may conduct to
increase workers’ knowledge of their
rights.
• The relationship between worker
voice and worker outcomes, such as
perceived workplace safety, fair
compensation, and employer
noncompliance (or perceived
noncompliance) will also be explored.
• It may also provide information
about types of workplaces where
workers believe OSHA and WHD
violations are more prevalent, which
will be useful for targeting the
Department’s limited enforcement
resources.
Because this evaluation will collect
new and unique data, the contractor is
engaged in a rigorous process to develop
the survey questions.
1. A comprehensive one-on-one
qualitative review was undertaken with
25 stakeholders provided by OSHA and
WHD, in order to understand concerns
of DOL’s constituency groups (see
Attachment A—Stakeholder Interviewer
Guide). Stakeholders came from both
Federal and third-party nonprofit
agencies. A report was prepared from
these interviews and suggestions from
the report were incorporated into the
survey instrument.1
2. The contractor conducted a
thorough review of the literature that
examined existing research and surveys
related to the traditional concept of
worker voice as well as the concept of
voice as defined for this study. The
literature review resulted in a
comprehensive bibliography of research
articles, reports, and studies that are
relevant to this effort.2 Through the
literature review, similar survey
instruments on the concept of voice
were identified and a few applicable
questions incorporated into DOL’s
survey instrument. However, it was also
discovered in the course of the literature
review that DOL’s undertaking is unique
to the voice literature as its mandate
focuses on compliance-related issues.
As such, it is expected that this research
will be groundbreaking in the voice (as
defined for this study) literature and
may lead to follow-on research articles.
3. A pilot survey will be undertaken
so that the instrument and sampling
design will be tested thoroughly to
ensure the instrument is performing
1 Gallup, Inc. Stakeholder Interview Report:
Department of Labor Voice in the Workplace.
Washington, DC: 2011.
2 Gallup, Inc. Worker Voice Literature Review.
Washington, DC: 2011.

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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 238 / Monday, December 12, 2011 / Notices

according to DOL needs. Upon
completion of the pilot, a report will be
written so that final results will be
clearly outlined.
Using results from the first two tasks,
the contractor developed a modularized
survey questionnaire that is
approximately 18 minutes in length.
The questionnaire begins with a core set
of questions about the DOL voice
definition. These questions will be the
crux of the voice survey and will
provide DOL with an index for each
respondent or a voice ‘‘score.’’ This
score will be applicable across agencies
and is expected to be used in other
research being undertaken with the
Department. The second part of the
instrument is two rotating modules, one
each for OSHA and for WHD, in which
specific questions can be directed to
respondents about each agency. Each
respondent will be directed to just one
module (i.e., no respondent will get
both the OSHA and the WHD modules).
Each module will focus on knowledge,
voice, and perceived noncompliance for
the given agency, providing a second
gauge of a voice measure—one that has
more granularities around the topics.
For example, knowledge of specific laws
will be tested for each agency as well as
more detail on noncompliance. A final

Number of
respondents

Type of respondent

Form name

General Working Population .............
General Working Population .............

Pilot Voice Study ..............................
Full Voice Study ...............................

Comments submitted in response to
this request will be summarized and/or
included in the request for OMB
approval; they will also become a matter
of public record.
Signed: at Washington, DC, this 6th day of
December, 2011.
William E. Spriggs,
Assistant Secretary, Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Policy.
[FR Doc. 2011–31821 Filed 12–9–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510–22–P

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section will query how worker rights are
being communicated. In the knowledge
section, respondents will be asked about
worker rights (corresponding to agency
specifics) and a knowledge score will be
derived to assess a knowledge index
score for each respondent. This
knowledge index will then play into a
second overall actual voice score that is
calculated for each respondent. The
survey will be conducted in both
Spanish and English, and will be
administered only to people who,
according to the CPS, say they are
currently employed.
2. Desired Focus of Comments:
Currently, the Department of Labor is
soliciting comments concerning the
above data collection. Comments are
requested that:
• 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;

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Proposed Information Collection
Request (ICR) for the Evaluation of the
Unemployment Compensation
Provisions of the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009;
Comment Request
AGENCY: Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Administration and
Management, Labor.
ACTION: Notice.

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Number of
responses
per
respondent

800
4,000

SUMMARY: The Department of Labor
(DOL or the Department), 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 (PRA) [44 U.S.C.

VerDate Mar<15>2010

• Enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and
• Minimize the burden of the
information collection on those who are
to respond, including 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.
3. Current Actions: Pursuant to the
PRA implementing regulations at 5 CFR
1320.8(d)(1), this notice requests
comments on the proposed information
collection request discussed above in
the Background section of this notice.
Interested parties are encouraged to
provide comments to the individual list
in the ADDRESSES section above.
Agency: Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Policy.
Type of Review: New Collection
Title of Collection: Voice in the
Workplace Survey.
OMB Control Number: [Insert OMB
Control Number].
Affected Public: Individuals or
households.
Two survey undertakings will be
completed, the first being the pilot with
800 respondents and the second being
the full study with 4,000 respondents.

Average
burden per
response
(in hours)
1
1

18/60
18/60

Total
burden
hours
240
1,200

3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps to
ensure that required 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 Department notes that a Federal
agency cannot conduct or sponsor a
collection of information unless it is
approved by the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) under the PRA and
the related materials display a currently
valid OMB control number. Also,
notwithstanding any other provisions of
law, no person shall be subject to
penalty for failing to comply with a
collection of information if the related
materials do not display a currently
valid OMB control number. See 5 CFR
1320.5(a) and 1320.6.
A copy of the proposed ICR can be
obtained by contacting the office listed

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