Department of Labor November 25, 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Labor (DOL) is soliciting comments concerning a proposed extension for the authority to conduct the information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Request for State or Federal Workers' Compensation Information.'' 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 U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) collect workforce data through the Employer Information Report (EEO-1) (currently OMB Control No. 3046-0007) under the Joint Reporting Committee. The EEOC's legal authority to collect this data derives from Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and OFCCP's authority derives from Executive Order 11246. The EEO-1 collects information from private employers and federal contractors regarding the number of employees by job category, and by sex, race, and ethnicity (Component 1). This information is shared between the two agencies to avoid duplicative information collections and minimize the burden on employers. A recent court decision, National Women's Law Center v. Office of Management and Budget, 358 F. Supp. 3d 66 (D.D.C. 2019), appeal docketed, No. 19-5130 (D.C. Cir. May 8, 2019), ordered reinstatement of the approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) of a 2016 revision to the EEO-1 that requires filers to additionally submit aggregated employee pay and hours worked (Component 2). However, EEOC, the agency responsible for securing OMB approval of the EEO-1 data collection under the Paperwork Reduction Act, has now given notice that it does not intend to submit to OMB a request to renew Component 2 under the current OMB control number, and it has requested that Component 1 be assigned a new OMB control number. OFCCP will not request, accept, or use Component 2 data, as it does not expect to find significant utility in the data given limited resources and its aggregated nature, but it will continue to receive EEO-1 Component 1 data.

In this final rule, the Department of Labor (Department) makes two procedural changes to its Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Job Corps regulations to enable the Secretary to delegate procurement authority as it relates to the development and issuance of requests for proposals for the operation of Job Corps centers, outreach and admissions, career transitional services, and other operational support services. The Department is taking this procedural action to align regulatory provisions with the relevant WIOA statutory language and to provide greater flexibility for internal operations and management of the Job Corps program.