Supporting Statement: OFCCP Help Desk Telephone Survey

Request for Approval under Department of Labor Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery

OMB Control Number: 1225-0088

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: OFCCP Help Desk Telephone Survey

PURPOSE:

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Labor. The purpose of OFCCP is to enforce, for the benefit of job seekers and wage earners, the contractual promise of affirmative action and equal employment opportunity required of those who do business with the Federal Government. Covered federal contractors and subcontractors (hereafter collectively referred to as “contractors”) are prohibited from discriminating in employment on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability or protected veterans’ status. Additionally, contractors are prohibited from taking discriminatory actions, including termination, against applicants and employees for attempting to learn if they are victims of pay discrimination and, in certain instances, sharing pay information with their co-workers.

OFCCP provides a nationwide toll-free “Help Desk” telephone line to stakeholders and the public to answer questions about the agency’s regulations and worker protections. In order to improve this service, the agency is proposing to collect feedback from Help Desk callers by offering them the option to participate in a brief, 2-minute survey at the end of their call. The survey will ask callers who wish to participate eight questions regarding their call and customer service experience. The survey results will enable OFCCP to evaluate the quality and accuracy of customer service delivered through the Help Desk. The survey will be voluntary, as the callers will be able to opt out.

The survey will not impose a significant burden to respondents and the results will not be disseminated to the public. OFCCP is not requesting public input on this information collection request as it is covered under the approval of OMB Control No. 1225-0088.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

The target audience for the telephone survey includes:

1. Individuals or households who work for federal contractors and community-based organizations.

2. Employer representatives, such as human resource professionals, lawyers and consultants who work for federal contractors or prospective contractors.

3. Individuals or households from the general public.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [x ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [ ] Small Discussion Group

[] Focus Group [ ] Other: ______________________

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to respondents who have called the OFCCP Help Desk telephone line.

Name: Christopher Seely, OFCCP Branch Chief of Regulatory, Legislative, and Policy Development

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X] No

2. If Yes, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [X] No

BURDEN HOURS:

The survey will be offered to every caller who contacts the OFCCP Help Desk, which receives a monthly average of 260 telephone calls.¹ While OFCCP knows the categories of respondents, it cannot predict how many callers will choose to participate in the survey. In 2012, the Pew Research Center conducted a study that indicated a response rate of 9% for telephone surveys.² Therefore, the survey will be administered for all callers on a continuous basis to account for gathering a large enough number of respondents for adequate sample size.

Category of Respondents	Estimated No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Estimated Burden
Individuals or Households	3,120	2 minutes	104 hours
Totals	3,120	2 minutes	104 hours

FEDERAL COST:

The estimated annual cost to the Federal Government is $3,124.08. This estimate reflects the cost of third-party vendors and the time of the federal staff based on the GS-13 federal salary schedule in Washington D.C.³

OFCCP estimates a program analyst in Washington, D.C. will spend approximately six hours each quarter reviewing responses to this information collection and drafting a report that will summarize the results.

The typical program analyst who will be assigned to the Help Desk and carry out the duties related to the survey described above is GS-13, Step 4, on the federal salary schedule, with an hourly salary of $48.57 x 24 hours a year (six hours per quarter) = $1,165.68.

The annual cost of obtaining service for telephone survey through a third-party vendor will cost $1,958.40. There will be a one-time implementation cost for Spanish translation of the survey of $1,425.

The total federal cost estimate: $1,165.68 + $1,958.40 + $1,425 = $4,549.08.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The Selection of Your Targeted Respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe?

[ ] Yes [x] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ X ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ ] Yes [X] No

1 This average is based on the number of calls OFCCP received in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2016.

2 Assessing the Representativeness of Public Opinion Surveys Overview. Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. May 15, 2012.

3 See, “Salary Table 2016-DCB Incorporating The 1% General Schedule Increase And A Locality Payment Of 24.78% For The Locality Pay Area Of Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA,” available at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/pdf/2016/DCB_h.pdf (last accessed November 2, 2016).

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