Iowa- Invitation letter to participate in web-based long-form survey

INVITATION LETTER TO IOWA EMPLOYERS-LONG FORM

[ON IOWA WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT LETTERHEAD]

[DATE]

[DEAR DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES]

Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) administers the Voluntary Shared Work (VSW) Program, an alternative to layoff during declines in business activities. Under VSW, work hours are reduced 20 to 50 percent and employees receive partial unemployment insurance benefits to cover reduced earnings. To inform us on how to better serve Iowa employers through the VSW program, I am asking you to complete a short 12-minute survey about your awareness of, experience with, and views about the VSW program.

For the survey to provide reliable information that will help IWD to improve its administration of the VSW program for Iowa employers, it is important that we receive input from your business. Your business was selected to participate in the survey because of your previous inquiry about the VSW program.

The survey is being administered by Westat, a social science research firm working with IWD under a contract funded by the U.S. Department of Labor. The Westat team worked with IWD to conduct the outreach project and will analyze the survey results. Your participation is voluntary and your answers will be kept private. You will never be identified in any report based on the survey. The results will help us understanding the perceptions and experience of employers, including how you first learned about the program, the application process, setting up a VSW plan, and using it.

Please access this online survey at [LONG-FORM SURVEY URL] using [USERNAME] as your user ID and [PASSCODE] as your pass code. If you have any difficulty accessing the survey, or have any questions, please contact [NAME] of Westat at XXX-XXX-XXXX or by email at [email protected]. Westat will also contact you by mail or telephone to confirm your participation in the survey.

I encourage you to take a few minutes to complete this survey. Your response will help us improve our employer outreach efforts and administration of the VSW program.

Sincerely,

[NAME OF ADMINSTRATOR]

Division Administrator

Unemployment Insurance Division

Iowa Workforce Development

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to this collection of information, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Your obligation to reply to this survey is voluntary. The public burden for this survey is estimated to be 12 minutes per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the necessary data, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments concerning this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information to the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Room XXXX, 200 Constitution Ave., Washington, DC.