Form JOLTS Record Check JOLTS Record Check JOLTS Record Check Script

APPENDIX C: Interviewer Script

SCRIPT FOR ESTABLISHMENT INTERVIEWS

Employer Records Check

Confirm contact name from screener _________________________________________

Introduction1

Hello, this is [NAME] calling from ORI/ IMPAQ International on behalf of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today. As mentioned when we set up this time to talk with you, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has contracted with us to help identify better information about job openings, hires, and separations. Your responses today will help us better understand the current labor market, and identify new data items to be collected by BLS.

Depending on your answers, this interview will take about 20 minutes to complete. Your participation is voluntary, and you may skip any questions you do not want to answer. Your answers will be kept strictly confidential and will be used only for research purposes to improve the Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey.

Do you have any questions before we begin?

YES  PROCEED WITH INTERVIEW

NO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS/RESPOND TO CONCERNS AS APPROPRIATE (SEE FAQ)

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Introduction2

As I mentioned we’re looking for better information about the labor market, so I’m going to read you a list of types of information that the Bureau of Labor Statistics is interested in, and then ask you a few questions about each one. The questions I will ask you are, first, do you keep track of this information in any way? Second, would you be able to provide this information to BLS at some regular interval such as monthly, quarterly, annually or something else? Third, how difficult it would be to provide this information and why? I think after you go through a couple, you’ll get the flow of the questions.

Question Wording (for table below):

1. Does your company keep track of (ask for all types of information first) …

2. Would your company be able to provide this information to BLS at some regular interval such as monthly, annually, quarterly or something else?

3. On a scale where a 1 means not at all difficult, and a 5 means extremely difficult, how difficult would it be for your company

to provide this information? (if 3, 4, or 5, probe to find out why)

Type of Information [IF ANSWERING NO TO ALL COLUMN A, GO TO Q12 INTRO]	(A) Keep Track?		(B) Able to provide? (Yes to A)		(C) Difficulty? (Ra-ting)	Why?
	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes to B	(Ask if 3,4 or 5)
The number of full-time, permanent job vacancies
The number of part-time, permanent job vacancies
The number of temporary job vacancies (individual workers hired for a short-term or temporary basis, such as those hired for seasonal jobs each year)
Whether the job vacancies are for a new position or for refilling an existing position
How long it takes to fill different types of job vacancies
The reasons why it might take longer to fill some vacancies than others
The number of hires
The number of workers who are separated

Comments -

9. My next question deals with how your company keeps track of information related to job vacancies, hiring of new employees and separated employees. Does your company use:

[Record all that apply][Read list]

IF RESPONDING ANY OR ALL OF A, B, OR C, ASK Q10 AS A FOLLOW UP

IF RESPONDING D, ASK Q10a AS FOLLOWUP

IF RESPONDING A, B, C OR D, ASK BOTH 10 AND 10a

1. Paper files

2. Internally developed and maintained electronic files, spreadsheets such as EXCEL, or payroll, or HR software

3. Externally purchased software (please name_________________________)

4. An outside service such as ADP, Paychex, or other (please name__________________)

5. Personal knowledge [Go to Q12 intro]

6. Something else?_______________________________________________[Go to Q12 intro]

7. Don’t know [Go to Q12 intro]

8. No Response [Go to Q12 intro]

10. How often is the information that is maintained within the company updated

[ASK FOR THOSE REPLYING ANY OF A, B, OR C TO Q9]

1. Daily

2. Weekly

3. Every two weeks

4. Monthly

5. Quarterly

6. Semi-annually

7. Annually

8. At the end of the current pay period

9. As needed

10. Other______________________________________________

11. Don’t know

12. No response

10a.How often is the information that is maintained by your outside service provider updated

[ASK FOR THOSE REPLYING D TO Q9]

1. Daily

2. Weekly

3. Every two weeks

4. Monthly

5. Quarterly

6. Semi-annually

7. Annually

8. At the end of the current pay period

9. As needed

10. Other______________________________________________

11. Don’t know

12. No response

11. If the Bureau of Labor Statistics were to ask you to provide information related to filling job vacancies, and the hiring and separation of employees, when would the information be available for reporting?

1. Within a day

2. Within 2 weeks

3. Within a month

4. At the end of the quarter

5. In six months

6. At the end of the year

7. Other_______________________________________________

8. Don’t know

9. No Response

Now I would like to switch gears a bit and ask about other types of workers your company might employ.

1. [Use wording in Column 1 … ask for all types of information first] …

2. Would your company be able to provide this information to BLS at some regular interval such as monthly, annually, quarterly or something else?

3. On a scale where a 1 means not at all difficult, and a 5 means extremely difficult, how difficult would it be for your company

to provide this information? (if 3, 4, or 5, probe to find out why)

Type of Information [IF ANSWERING NO TO ALL COLUMN A, GO TO Q21 INTRO]	(A) Keep Track?		(B) Able to provide? (Yes to A)		(C) Diff-iculty? (Ra-ting)	Why?
	Yes	No	Yes	No	(Yes to B)	(Ask if 3,4 or 5)
Does your company keep track of the number of individual workers hired for a short-term or temporary basis, such as those hired for seasonal jobs each year?
Does your company keep track of the length of these individual short term or temporary assignments each year?
Does your company maintain a list of individuals available for on-call assignments?
Does your company keep track of the number of individual on-call workers used each year?
Does your company keep track of the number of times each on-call worker is used each year?
Does your company keep track of the length of each on-call assignment?

Comments -

18. My next question deals with how your company keeps track of short term, temporary or on-call workers Does your company use:

[Record all that apply][Read list]

IF RESPONDING ANY OR ALL OF A, B, OR C, ASK Q19 AS A FOLLOW UP

IF RESPONDING D, ASK Q19a AS FOLLOWUP

IF RESPONDING A, B, C OR D, ASK BOTH 19 AND 19a

1. Paper files

2. Internally developed and maintained electronic files, spreadsheets such as EXCEL, or payroll, or HR software

3. Externally purchased software (please name_________________________)

4. An outside service such as ADP, Paychex, or other (please name________________)

5. No formal records are kept [Go to Q21 intro]

6. Something else?_________________________________________[Go to Q21 intro]

7. Don’t know [Go to Q21 intro]

8. No Response [Go to Q21 intro]

19. How often is the information that is maintained within the company updated?

[ASK FOR THOSE REPLYING ANY OF A, B, OR C TO Q18]

1. Daily

2. Weekly

3. Every two weeks

4. Monthly

5. Quarterly

6. Semi-annually

7. Annually

8. At the end of the current pay period

9. As needed

10. Other______________________________________________

11. Don’t know

12. No response

19a.How often is the information that is maintained by your outside service provider updated?

[ASK FOR THOSE REPLYING DTO Q18]

1. Daily

2. Weekly

3. Every two weeks

4. Monthly

5. Quarterly

6. Semi-annually

7. Annually

8. At the end of the current pay period

9. As needed

10. Other______________________________________________

11. Don’t know

12. No response

20. If the Bureau of Labor Statistics were to ask you to provide information about short term, temporary or on-call workers pulled from these records, when would the information be available for reporting?

1. Within a day

2. Within 2 weeks

3. Within a month

4. At the end of the quarter

5. In six months

6. At the end of the year

7. Other_______________________________________________

8. Don’t know

9. No Response

Now I would like to ask some general questions about the wages you pay your workers.

1. [Use wording in Column 1 … ask for all types of information first] …

Would your company be able to provide this information to BLS at some regular interval such as monthly, annually, quarterly or something else?

2. On a scale where a 1 means not at all difficult, and a 5 means extremely difficult, how difficult would it be for your company to provide this information? (if 3, 4, or 5, probe to find out why)

Type of Information [IF ANSWERING NO TO ALL COLUMN A, GO TO Q27 INTRO]	(A) Keep Track?		(B) Able to provide? (Yes to A)		(C) Diff-iculty? (Ra-ting)	Why?
	Yes	No	Yes	No	(Yes to B)	(Ask if 3,4 or 5)
Does your company maintain or follow a standard pay scale that would be used when filling job vacancies?
Does your company keep track of the starting wages of new employees?
Does your company keep track of the final wages of separated employees?

Comments -

24. How does your company keep track of the wages you pay your employees Does your company use…?

[Record all that apply][Read list]

IF RESPONDING ANY OR ALL OF A, B, OR C, ASK Q25 AS A FOLLOW UP

IF RESPONDING D, ASK Q25a AS FOLLOWUP

IF RESPONDING A, B, C OR D, ASK BOTH 25 AND 25a

1. Paper files

2. Internally developed and maintained electronic files, spreadsheets such as EXCEL, or payroll or HR software

3. Externally purchased software (please name____________________________)

4. An outside service such as ADP, Paychex, or other (please name_____________________)

5. Personal knowledge [Go to Q27 intro]

6. Something else?_______________________________________________[Go to Q27 intro]

7. Don’t know [Go to Q27 intro]

8. No Response [Go to Q27 intro]

25. How often is the information that is maintained within the company updated?

[ASK FOR THOSE REPLYING ANY OF A, B, OR C TO Q24]

1. Daily

2. Weekly

3. Every two weeks

4. Monthly

5. Quarterly

6. Semi-annually

7. Annually

8. At the end of the current pay period

9. As needed

10. Other_______________________________________________________

11. Don’t know

12. No Response

25a.How often is the information that is maintained by your outside service provider updated?

[ASK FOR THOSE REPLYING D TO Q24]

1. Daily

2. Weekly

3. Every two weeks

4. Monthly

5. Quarterly

6. Semi-annually

7. Annually

8. At the end of the current pay period

9. As needed

10. Other______________________________________________

11. Don’t know

12. No response

26. If the Bureau of Labor Statistics were to ask you to provide information about the wages you pay your employees, when would the information be available for reporting?

1. Within a day

2. Within 2 weeks

3. Within a month

4. At the end of the quarter

5. In six months

6. At the end of the year

7. Other_______________________________________________

8. Don’t know

9. No Response

Now we’re going to switch gears and talk a little bit about how you advertise for and recruit new employees

27. How does your company advertise to fill vacancies?

[Record all that apply][Read list]

1. Sign in the windows

2. Help wanted advertisements in newspapers or other print periodicals

3. Online recruitment services such as monster.com or CraigsList

4. Use of a headhunter/search firm

5. Word of mouth/employee referral

6. Job/recruitment fairs

7. Career centers

8. Professional conferences/trade associations

9. Unemployment offices

10. We do not advertise to fill vacancies

11. Other__________________________________________________

12. Don’t know

13. No response

27. Does your company increase recruiting efforts for job vacancies that are difficult to fill?

1. Yes

2. No [Go to Q33]

3. Don’t know [Go to Q33]

4. No Response [Go to Q33]

27. Which of the following activities does your company engage in to increase recruiting efforts?

[Record all that apply][Read list]

1. Increase search activity

2. Publication of vacancies in additional locations

3. Employing a headhunter or search firm

4. Providing signing bonuses

5. Increasing pay or benefits

6. Other__________________________________________________

7. Don’t know [Go to Q33]

8. No Response [Go to Q33]

27. How does your company keep track of these increased recruiting activities? Does your company use …

[Record all that apply][Read list]

1. Paper files

2. Internally developed and maintained electronic files, spreadsheets, payroll, or HR software

3. Externally purchased software (please name_______________________)

4. Personal knowledge [Go to Q33]

5. Something else?_______________________________________________[Go to Q33]

6. Don’t know [Go to Q33]

7. No response [Go to Q33]

27. How often is this information updated?

1. Daily

2. Weekly

3. Every two weeks

4. Monthly

5. Quarterly

6. Semi-annually

7. Annually

8. At the end of the current pay period

9. As needed

10. Other_______________________________________________________

11. Don’t know

12. No Response

27. If the Bureau of Labor Statistics were to ask you to provide information about your companies increased recruiting activities, when would the information be available for reporting?

1. Within a day

2. Within 2 weeks

3. Within a month

4. At the end of the quarter

5. In six months

6. At the end of the year

7. Other_______________________________________________

8. Don’t know

9. No Response

I have a few final questions for you.

33. Does your company track relevant departments as you recruit for and fill job vacancies? For example, departments could include strategic management, procurement, logistics & distribution; operations; product or service development; marketing & sales; customer service; general management; human resources management; or technology & process development?

1. Yes

2. No

3. Don’t know

4. No Response

34. On a scale where a 1 means not at all willing and 5 means extremely willing, how willing would your company be to provide information on recruiting for and filling job vacancies, short term, temporary and on-call workers, and wages to BLS?

_______ record rating [8=DK, 9=NR]

34. Why do you say that? [ ASK IF RATING A 1 or 2 for Q35]

[Do not read list][Record all that apply]

1. It is not company policy

2. It will take too much time or effort

3. Our records are not adequate to do this

4. We have no employees

5. Other _________________________________________________

6. Don’t know

7. No Response

34. If your company was asked to provide data to BLS on recruiting for and filling job vacancies, short term, temporary and on-call workers, and wages, how would you like to submit the data?

[Record all that apply][Read list]

1. Filling in the information online

2. Filling in a paper form and mailing it in

3. Filling in a paper form and faxing it

4. Over the phone as part of an interview

5. Over the phone using the phone key pad

6. Sending in output from a software package

7. Sending in an internally created spreadsheet, or

8. Something else_______________________________________________________

9. Don’t know

10. No Response

34. What other records or information does your company maintain that you think might help BLS in understanding how companies such as yours recruit for and fill job vacancies and what kinds of information they maintain?

________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for your help. Those are all the questions that I have.

DEFINITIONS

Full time employee: an employee who works more than 35 hours per week.

On-call worker: an employee with no set work schedule who is called in as needed.

Separated worker: a former employee who has left voluntarily, was laid off or let go