Note to Reviewer - MWRweb Letter (2015)

August 11, 2015

MEMORANDUM FOR: Reviewer of 1220-0134

FROM: RICHARD L. CLAYTON, Chief

Division of Administrative Statistics and Labor Turnover

Bureau of Labor Statistics

SUBJECT: Proposal to Pilot Targeted MWRweb Letter to Florida Employers

On May 15, 2013, the Multiple Worksite Report (MWR) / Report of Federal Employment and Wages (RFEW) was approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) with clearance expiring on May 31, 2016. The purpose of the MWR/RFEW is to collect employment and wages data for each establishment of a multi-establishment employer on a quarterly basis. Moreover, these reports aid in the development and maintenance of business identification information by establishment for multi-establishment employers.

The MWR/RFEW is critical to the operation of the QCEW program since multi-establishment employers account for over 41% of the total employment and wages data collected. In addition, the expanded use of these data to study the job creation and job destruction process requires that they be updated each quarter as opposed to another longer time period, such as annually.

Electronic and web-based filing can significantly reduce costs for large and mid-sized employers. MWRweb is a reporting option that offers a secure website for non-Federal employers to submit employment and wages data, to update administrative fields and physical location addresses, and to add new worksites in an easy-to-use, interactive manner. All eligible States now participate in MWRweb. Web-based collection has reduced the associated costs of printing forms, postage, and processing returned forms. As of the 4th Quarter of 2014, approximately 1.4% of employers file the MWR. However, nearly one-third of MWR data is collected through MWRweb (32.06%).

This memorandum details a new approach to emphasize cost-effective online data collection for multi-establishment employers.

MWRweb-Only Letter

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity has expressed interest in a pilot program that has the potential to decrease printing, mailing, and processing costs as well as to reduce respondent burden.

Beginning with the initial mailing of MWR forms for 3^rd Quarter 2015 data collection, a specific group of Florida employers would receive an MWRweb letter rather than the standard MWR form. The letter will include a Web-ID and password along with instructions for reporting online. The targets of the letters are approximately 1,100 employers that fall into either of the following categories:

1. Employers that have not responded for the past 4 quarters;

2. Employers that have not responded by completing a paper MWR form or via MWRweb for the past 4 quarters, but have provided a listing of their worksites’ data by mail or by fax.

The web letters are intended to encourage these employers to report on the web and would be used only for the first mailing. If the employers opted not to report on the web, or if there were no responses to the web-only letter, respondents would be mailed a paper MWR form for the second (follow-up) mailing. Respondents are asked to furnish the same information as they have in the past. We are simply emphasizing the cost-effective online response option. Ultimately, respondents are given the choice of reporting information via the website or by paper form, whichever they find most convenient.

We anticipate that these employers will utilize MWRweb in greater numbers when the online reporting option is emphasized through the web-only letter. We hope that many respondents will provide their data via MWRweb, thus obviating the need for mailing a paper form. This will save paper, postage, and their associated costs and burden.

If you have any questions about this request, please contact Richard L. Clayton at 202-691-6515 or e-mail at [email protected] or Emily Thomas at 202-691-6441 or e-mail at [email protected].