Under the National Compensation Survey
(NCS), the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) conducts ongoing
surveys of compensation and job characteristics. Data collected by
the NCS is used to produce Employment Cost Trends, including the
Employment Cost Index (ECI) and Employer Costs for Employee
Compensation (ECEC), employee benefits data, and data used by the
President's Pay Agent. Through 2011, the BLS used the Locality Pay
Survey (LPS) and the ECI to deliver data required by the
President's Pay Agent to comply with the requirements of the
Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990 (FEPCA). The final
approved budget for FY 2011 called for an alternative to the LPS
component of the NCS, and the BLS introduced a new approach that
uses data from two current BLS programs the Occupational
Employment Statistics (OES) survey and ECI program. In the new
approach, OES data provides wage data by occupation and by area,
while ECI data are used to specify grade level effects. The new
approach is also being used to extend the estimation of pay gaps to
areas that were not included in the LPS sample and this data has
been delivered to the Pay Agent.
US Code:
5 USC
5318 Name of Law: The Ethics Reform Act of 1989
US Code: 29 USC
2b Name of Law: Studies of Productivity and Labor Costs in
Industries
US Code: 5 USC
5304 Name of Law: The Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act
of 1990
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.