OES Work Statements

OccUPATIONAL EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS PROGRAM

A. PROGRAM INFORMATION

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program provides occupational employment and wage estimates for wage and salary workers annually for the 50 States, Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Balance of State areas (except where the MSAs exhaust the State), the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam. A semi-annual sample survey of establishments is conducted to determine statewide and area occupational employment and wage distribution at the four-digit and selected five-digit North American Industry Classification System level. Occupational employment and wage estimates and measures of reliability for the surveyed industries are published annuallyin a format designed by the State agency.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) funds and administers the OES program and provides conceptual, technical, and procedural guidance in data collection and estimation. State agencies are responsible for data collection and publication in cooperation with the BLS.

The OES program uses the standardized procedures described in the Occupational Employment Statistics State Operations Manual (OES Manual) as well as those contained in the work statement and BLS technical memoranda. Applicants should put an "X" or a check mark in the spaces provided on the following pages to indicate agreement to comply with stated program requirements.

BLS will provide electronic sample files to the State semi-annually. BLS will send out the November 20087 panel by September 154, 20087, and the May 20098 panel by March 164, 20098. A third sample file for November 20098 will be delivered to the States by September 15, 20098, but there are no State deliverables for that file in the FY 20098 agreement. The November 20087 panel will be selected from a fourth quarter 20076 frame. The May 20098 and November 20098 panels will be selected from second quarter 20087 and fourth quarter 20087 frames, respectively.

BLS will contract with a printer to prepare and mail the standard mail out packages. Included in the packages will be a survey form (including the State masthead, the name and address, and employment of the sample unit and the industry description), a State specific solicitation letter, a State specific fact sheet or helpful hints sheet (one or two sided on colored paper), a State specific mail out envelope and a State return envelope. Among the key inputs to the printing process are electronic files that the State will send to BLS Washington. BLS will check the files and then forward them to the printer.

The deliverables include interim and final master machine-readable files meeting required response rates (see B.5. and B.6.). The requirements are for the May 20087 and the November 20087 survey panels. Under the FY 20098 agreement the response rate requirements for the final master files will be considered satisfied for each panel if the response rate for the combined May 20087 and November 20087 panels meets requirements. Please note the FY 20098 requirements for response rates detailed in Section B.6.

The following table highlights dates for key OES files:

FY 2008 OES FILES SUMMARY BY PANEL

Panel Item Due Date

20087-2 Interim Master File to BLS Nov 14, 20087

20087-2 Final Master File to BLS Jan 120, 20098

20087-2 Questions sent by BLS to State Jan 265, 20098

20087-2 Final Corrections to BLS Feb 4, 20098

20087-2 Supplemental Sheets to BLS Feb 164, 20098

20087-4 Sample Sent to States Sep 154, 20087

20087-4 State Workforce Agency Return Addresses to BLS Sept 154, 20087

20087-4 Solicitation Letters and Fact Sheets to BLS Oct 1, 20087

20087-4 Refined Sample for Printer to BLS Oct 31, 20087

20087-4 1^st Follow Up Sample for Printer to BLS Dec 5, 20087

20087-4 2^nd Follow Up Sample for Printer to BLS Jan 2, 20098

20087-4 3^rd Follow Up (Opt) Sample for Printer to BLS Jan 30, 20098

20087-4 Interim Master File to BLS May 8, 20098

20087-4 Final Master File to BLS July 10, 20098

20087-4 Questions sent by BLS to State July 28, 20098

20087-4 Final Corrections to BLS Aug 4, 20098

20087-4 Supplemental Sheets to BLS Aug 175, 20098

20098-2 Sample Sent to States Mar 164, 20098

20098-2 State Workforce Agency Return Addresses to BLS Mar 164, 20098

20098-2 Solicitation Letters and Fact Sheets to BLS Apr 1, 20098

20098-2 Refined Sample for Printer to BLS Apr 30, 20098

20098-2 1^st Follow Up Sample for Printer to BLS June 4, 20098

20098-2 2^nd Follow Up Sample for Printer to BLS July 2, 20098

20098-2 3^rd Follow Up (Opt) Sample for Printer to BLS July 30, 20098

20098-4 Sample Sent to States Sep 15, 20098

The BLS will provide the State with updated master files and estimates files for the May 20087 reference period within six weeks after the final corrections files for the May 20087 panel are received from States. Dates pertaining to sample files for the printer are subject to change, pending analysis of the current schedule.

B. DELIVERABLES

Data items that must be delivered for the BLS to operate the OES program are described in summary below. Each item must be delivered according to the schedule specified in the OES Manual, the work statement, and BLS technical memoranda.

		Content	Agree To Comply (Check Box)	Due Dates	Agree To Comply (Check Box)
1.	Publication of survey data that meet the OES publication requirements outlined in the State Operations Manual and validated by the BLS. A press release, hard copy report, or Internet web site count as publication.		[____]	September 286, 20098	[____]

B. DELIVERABLES (CONTINUED)

			Content	Agree To Comply (Check Box)			Due Dates		Agree To Comply (Check Box)
2.	Delivery to BLS Washington of:
	a.	electronic State Workforce Agency return address;			[____]	a.		20087-4 panel, September 154, 20087 20098-2 panel, March 164, 20098	[____]
	b.	electronic solicitation letters (initial and follow-up) and electronic fact sheet; and			[____]	b.		20087-4 panel, October 1, 20087 20098-2 panel, April 1, 20098	[____]
	c.	electronic sample files (after address refinement).			[____]	c.		20087-4 panel, October 31, 20087 20098-2 panel, April 30, 20098	[____]
3.	For follow up solicitation, delivery to BLS Washington of electronic sample file including sample non-respondents.				[____]	As specified in technical memorandum			[____]
4.	Interim master machine-readable files containing at least a 60 percent usable response rate, including wages, in either units or employment for each sampled area, including the portion of the State in an interstate MSA. The master file will reflect coding to the full OES occupational structure.				[____]	20087-2 panel, November 14, 20087 20087-4 panel, May 8, 20098			[____]
5.	Clean final master machine-readable files containing at least a 75 percent usable response rate, including wages, in either units or employment for each sampled area, including the portion of the State in an interstate MSA. The master file will reflect coding to the full OES occupational structure. The file must contain at least 65 percent usable response rate, including wages, for employment statewide. This requirement can also be satisfied if the combined response rate for the May 20087 (20087-2) and November 20087 (20087-4) panels is at least 75 percent in either units or employment for each sampled area and 65 percent usable employment statewide.				[____]	20087-2 panel, January 120, 20098 20087-4 panel, July 10, 20098			[____]

B. DELIVERABLES (CONTINUED)

		Content	Agree To Comply (Check Box)			Due Dates	Agree To Comply (Check Box)
6.	Completed copies of the supplemental reporting sheets from all questionnaires.			[____]	20087-2 panel, February 164, 20098 20087-4 panel, August 175, 20098		[____]
7.	Data collection progress report (SPAM Summary Progress Report—RAR and RAQ) and a copy the OES Masterfile for the current panel (s) reflecting progress at that point in time – OES Deliverable Subject.).			[____]	Three working days after the end of each month during data collection.		[____]
8.	One additional interim set of master machine-readable files will be provided to the BLS regional office for each panel. There is no required response rate for this file due to the flexible timing of this deliverable. This does not preclude states from providing additional master files to the regional office as negotiated by the states and regional offices.			[____]	As negotiated between each state and its regional office.		[____]

C. PROGRAM PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS

Specific methods for conducting the OES survey are described in the OES Manual and in technical instructions provided by the BLS. Major elements are:

1. Address Refinement

The State agency will perform address refinement functions as specified in the OES Manual.

[____]

2. Data Collection

a. Survey will be conducted in accordance with procedures contained in the OES Manual.	[____]
b. BLS/OMB-approved forms and procedures will be used.	[____]

3. Software

State agencies using any BLS-sponsored OES exportable software will install the latest version of the software and maintain conformance with the latest source code. Installation will be completed within 30 days after receipt of the update.

[____]

D. QUALITY ASSURANCE REQUIREMENTS

The State agency will cooperate with the BLS in:

1.	Editing and screening efforts for all data types by running and acting on SPAM QA edits and by providing corrections and explanations when data are questioned. BLS questions on the interim master files should be addressed before final master files are submitted. Questions on the final master file should be addressed or corrections submitted as specified in the technical memoranda.		[____]
2.		Making atypical reporter adjustments as appropriate.		[____]
3.		Assessing the quality of occupational coding by providing corrections and/or explanations to questions raised during the BLS review.		[____]
4.		The BLS will provide States with the opportunity to review and request suppression of individual OES estimates before they are published. States will provide an explanation for any requested suppression of an estimate and will submit corrections to the data as necessary.		[____]

E. EXCLUSIONS

The deliverables and cost estimates for the OES program should reflect only activities associated with conducting a sample survey of establishments, developing estimates of occupational employment and wages, and publishing these estimates. Activities that are not part of the OES program include developing both projections of industry and occupational employment for States and areas and Foreign Labor Certification administrative activities.

F. EXPLANATION OF VARIANCES