FR27_20220131_omb

Supporting Statement for the
New Hire Information Collection
(FR 27; OMB No. 7100-0375)
Summary
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), under authority
delegated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has extended for three years, with
revision, the New Hire Information Collection (FR 27; OMB No. 7100-0375). This information
collection provides for the electronic collection of certain personnel information from new hires
using a secure web-based portal, the “New Hire Portal,” before the first day of employment of a
new hire. As part of the onboarding process for new hires, a Human Resources (HR) professional
at the Board identifies the necessary information that must be collected from the new hire, which
is dependent upon whether the person will be starting as a full- or part-time employee, including
a Governor or Board officer (Regular Hire) or starting as an intern (Intern Hire), or whether the
Regular Employee is transferring from another federal agency (Federal Transfer). The new hire
is then sent an e-mail asking him or her to provide the information described below through the
New Hire Portal prior to their official start date.
The Board revised the FR 27 by removing the direct deposit section from the New Hire
Portal and asks the respondent to provide that information after their New Employee Orientation
(NEO).
The estimated total annual burden for the FR 27 is 415 hours, and would remain the same
with the revisions.
Background and Justification
Prior to March 2019, a new hire was asked to fill out a number of personnel forms in
hardcopy format and instructed to bring these forms to their first day of employment. These
forms were collected during or after NEO. With the implementation of the New Hire Portal, the
Board now collects such information electronically from new hires using the New Hire Portal
before their official start date. Collecting such information in advance allows for a smoother
onboarding process by ensuring that the information needed to process certain benefits, tax
withholdings, payroll documentation, computer log-in access, building access, and other
personnel information is received by the time the new hire starts as an employee. In addition,
when a new hire electronically provides information on one section of the New Hire Portal, the
portal automatically pre-populates any other sections containing duplicative information. Thus,
instead of the new hire providing his or her name, home address or other personnel information
several different times on various hardcopy forms, such information is automatically populated
across all of the relevant sections of the New Hire Portal after this information is initially
provided for the first section of the portal (e.g., the Fingerprint Card Information section and the
Federal W-4 Tax section of the portal is automatically populated using the same home address
the new hire first provided under the “New Employee Data” section of the portal).

Description of Information Collection
The New Hire Portal is broken out into different sections and each section corresponds to
the hardcopy forms that new employees previously filled out and provide to the Board during or
after the first day of NEO. Thus, the information collection involves a new hire electronically
providing this personnel information and filling out the applicable sections of the New Hire
Portal before their first day of orientation. The sections of the portal that each new hire is asked
to complete electronically depends upon the type of position that the new hire has been offered at
the Board. Details about the information collected in each section of the portal, including the
purpose for collecting such information, are described below.
Information Collected for All New Hire Types
•

New Employee Data Section
This section of the New Hire Portal was created to capture relevant data elements for new
hires. HR staff collect pertinent new hire information in order to verify data elements
previously collected during the application/recruiting process, and collect additional
information not collected during the hiring process.
Data collected includes, but is not limited to, the following information about the new
hire:
Date of Birth

Social Security
Number

Education
Information
Ethnicity
Race

Gender
Birthplace

Citizenship Status

Used for identity verification purposes for the employee’s
personnel records; used for employee retirement and benefits
calculation; used for input into the Visitor Registration system
(building security purposes); and used to populate the Fingerprint
Card Information section as part of the background investigation.
Used for identity verification purposes for the employee’s
personnel records; used for employee retirement and benefits
information; used for input into the Visitor Registration system
(building security purposes); and to populate the Fingerprint Card
Information section as part of the background investigation.
Voluntarily provided (not required to complete the hiring process)
and will be added to individual’s personnel file if it is provided.
Voluntarily provided (not required to complete the hiring process)
and used for equal employment opportunity (EEO) reporting.
Voluntarily provided (not required to complete the hiring process)
and used for EEO reporting; also used to populate the Fingerprint
Card Information section to conduct a background investigation.
Required for certain employee health and benefits information; and
used for EEO reporting.
Used to verify citizenship and eligibility to work in the US; and
used to populate the Fingerprint Card Information section to
conduct a background investigation.
Used to verify citizenship and eligibility to work in the U.S.

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Citizenship
Country
Prior Service
Marital Status

Used to verify citizenship and eligibility to work in the U.S.; and
used to populate the Fingerprint Card Information section, as part
of the background investigation.
Used to determine if credit for prior service is applicable; and used
in the Prior Service Section for salary offset purposes.
Used to determine applicability of spousal benefits; and used in the
Federal Transfer Dependent Information section.

Additional information, such as the new hire’s current address and emergency contact(s),
is also collected in the New Employee Data section. Although the new hire is required to
provide the name and contact information of one “primary” emergency contact, providing
a “second” emergency contact is done on a voluntary basis. The new hire can also
voluntarily provide an alternative mailing address different from his or her current
address. A new hire can also voluntarily provide the name of any relatives employed at
the Board and their relationship to the new hire under this section.
•

Fingerprint Card Information Section
In order to verify an employee’s identity for security and building access purposes,
information is requested to populate a Fingerprint Card (such as eye color, hair color,
height, and weight). Before or during NEO, a pre-populated Fingerprint Card is provided
to each respondent and, at this time, the respondent provides their fingerprints to
appropriate staff in the Division of Management for security screening purposes.

•

Direct Deposit Section
This section collects information needed to set up a new employee’s direct deposit
payroll information, so that the Board can deposit paychecks and other earnings (such as
reimbursement for official Board travel or academic assistance). Some information (such
as the employee’s name) is automatically populated from the “New Employee Data”
section.
Information Collected Only from Regular Employees

•

Prior Service Section
This section collects information about the new hire’s record of prior service with a
Federal government agency, in the Federal Reserve System, in the Peace Corps, in
VISTA, or on active duty military. Only new hires who indicate they have prior service
in the “New Employee Data” section of the portal complete the Prior Service section.
Some information (such as social security number and birthdate) is populated from the
“New Employee Data” section. This information is collected to validate prior service at
these other federal agencies or organizations. New hires are obligated to provide this
information for employee benefits purposes (e.g., to determine if credit for prior service
is applicable; and to determine if the new hire is already retired, and therefore, considered
a potential rehired annuitant, which may require a salary offset).

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Information Collected Only from Regular Employees who are also Federal Transfers
•

Federal Transfer Dependent Information
For new hires who are transferring from a federal agency (Federal Transfers), this section
captures personal information about their dependents, so that health insurance benefits for
their dependents continue based on the benefits elections at the prior federal agency.
Some information (such as the new hire’s social security number and birth date) is
populated from the “New Employee Data” section in order to validate the new hire’s
identity. Marital status and marriage date are also collected to ensure health insurance
benefits are properly continued, as well as the birth date of the Federal Transfer’s spouse
and/or children. Such information about the Federal Transfer’s spouse and children is not
required to complete the hiring process at the Board, but it is required to retain health
insurance benefits.
Respondent Panel

The FR 27 panel comprises individuals who are new hires to the Board, but have not yet
become employees.
Information not Subject to PRA and/or Used to Populate Another Federal Agency’s OMBApproved Forms
In addition to the information detailed above, new hires provide information in the New
Hire Portal that is used to populate some information that is already cleared under the PRA by
other federal agencies. Specifically, information collected in the New Hire Portal for use on the
Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Program form was previously cleared under
the PRA by the Office of Personnel Management (OMB No. 3206-0136). Therefore, this
information was not part of the Board’s PRA review for the New Hire Information Collection. In
addition, respondents provide information in the New Hire Portal that is used for the FEGLI
form and for the “Designation of Beneficiary Unpaid Compensation of Deceased Employee”
form, and respondents hired as Governors or Board officers also provide information in the New
Hire Portal for use on the “Executive Death and Dismemberment Benefit for Officers and
Governors” form. However, these three forms require a “wet signature” and are not collected
until the respondent’s first day of employment at the Board. Accordingly, this information is not
subject to the PRA because the respondent is a federal employee when the information is
collected by the Board.
Information collected to populate the State tax form (if the new hire selects DC, VA, or
MD in the New Employee Data section) is a state, rather than a federal, information collection
and is thus not subject to the PRA. Because the information collected for use on the federal or
state tax forms is not subject to PRA clearance by the Board, if there are changes to these tax
forms that require corresponding changes be made to the State Tax form sections of the New
Hire Portal, such changes would be considered non-material changes and not considered
revisions requiring review under the PRA.

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Revisions to the FR 27
The Board removed the Direct Deposit section from the New Hire Portal and asked the
respondent to provide that information after their NEO. After NEO, the respondent will be an
employee of the Board, and the information requested will no longer be subject to the PRA.
Time Schedule for Information Collection
The information collection process for new hires is expected be completed and submitted
by all hires prior to, or by, their scheduled start date of employment with the Board. This
information is collected through the New Hire Portal only once - after an applicant has been
offered and has accepted an employment position at the Board.
Public Availability of Data
No data collected by this information collection is published.
Legal Status
The FR 27 is authorized pursuant to sections 10(3), 10(4), 11(l), and 11(q) of the Federal
Reserve Act, which provide the Board broad authority over employment of staff and security of
its building (12 U.S.C. §§ 243, 244, 248(l), and 248(q)). In addition, Executive Order 9397
(November 22, 1943) authorizes Federal agencies to use an individual’s social security number
to identify individuals in agency records. Providing information collected as part of the New
Hire Information Collection is voluntary. However, if certain information requested as part of the
New Hire Information Collection is not provided by the new hire, the hiring process cannot be
completed.1
Generally, information collected as part of the New Hire Information Collection will be
kept confidential from the public under exemption 6 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA),
which protects information that “would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal
privacy” (5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(6)). However, the release of information such as the educational
history of the new hire or the start date of employment would not likely constitute a clearly
unwarranted invasion of personal privacy and may be disclosed under the FOIA.
Determinations regarding disclosure to third parties of any confidential portions of the
information collection that are considered exempt under the FOIA will be made in accordance
with the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. § 552a(b)). Relevant Privacy Act statements are provided when a
1

The voluntary provision of the following information is optional and is not required to complete the hiring process:
education information (e.g., name of educational institution, major, degree, year of graduation), race, ethnicity, and
the identity of and relationship to any relatives who are also employed at the Board. Although a new hire is required
to provide the name and contact information of one “primary” emergency contact, providing a “second” emergency
contact is optional and is not required to complete the hiring process. A new hire can also voluntarily provide an
alternative mailing address, if it is different from his or her current address. Lastly, although not required to
complete the hiring process, information on dependents is required to obtain certain benefits (such as continuing
health insurance benefits for the child or spouse of a new employee who is transferring from another federal
agency).

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respondent logs in to the portal and before the respondent is asked to provide any information.
The Board may make disclosures in accordance with the Privacy Act’s routine use disclosure
provision, which permits the disclosure of a record for a purpose which is compatible with the
purpose for which the record was collected (5 U.S.C. §§ 552a(a)(7) and (b)(3)).
Such routine uses are listed in specific systems of records notices, which apply to this
information collection and which can be found in: (1) the System of Records Notice for
BGFRS-1, FRB - Recruiting and Placement Records, located at:
https://www.federalreserve.gov/files/BGFRS-1-recruiting-and-placement-records.pdf, (2) the
System of Records Notice for BGFRS-4, FRB - General Personnel Records, located at:
https://www.federalreserve.gov/files/BGFRS-4-general-personnel-records.pdf, (3) the System of
Records Notice for BGFRS-7, FRB - Payroll and Leave Records, located at:
https://www.federalreserve.gov/files/BGFRS-7-payroll-and-leave-records.pdf, (4) the System of
Records Notice for BGFRS-24, FRB - EEO General Files, located at:
https://www.federalreserve.gov/files/BGFRS-24-eeo-general-files.pdf, and/or (5) the System of
Records Notice for BGFRS-34, FRB - ESS Staff Identification Card File, located at:
https://www.federalreserve.gov/files/BGFRS-34-ess-staff-identification-card-file.pdf
Consultation Outside the Agency
There has been no consultation outside the Federal Reserve System.
Public Comments
On May 25, 2021, the Board published an initial notice in the Federal Register (86 FR
28107) requesting public comment for 60 days on the extension, with revision, of the FR 27. The
comment period for this notice expired on July 26, 2021. The Board did not receive any
comments. The Board adopted the extension, with revision, of the FR 27 as originally proposed
On November 4, 2021, the Board published a final notice in the Federal Register (86 FR 60821).
Estimate of Respondent Burden
As shown in the table below, the estimated total annual burden for the FR 27 is 415
hours, and would remain the same with the revisions. The Board fills approximately 444
positions per year. The estimated average hours per response for the information collection
process using the New Hire Portal is 1 hour for new hires who are offered a Regular Employee
position, 45 minutes for new hires who are Interns, and an additional 5 minutes if the Regular
Employee is also a Federal Transfer. These reporting requirements represent less than 1 percent
of the Board’s total paperwork burden.

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Estimated
number of
respondents
312
122
10

FR 27
Regular Hire
Intern Hire
Federal Transfer
Total

Annual
frequency
1
1
1

Estimated
Estimated
average hours annual burden
per response
hours
1
312
0.75
92
1.08
11
415

The estimated total annual cost to the public for the FR 27 is $11,205 2.
Sensitive Questions
Sensitive information (i.e., height, weight, eye color and hair color) is collected for use
on the Fingerprint Card Information section. Such information is necessary for security purposes.
Sections 10(3) and 11(q) of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. §§ 243 and 248(q)) give the
Board authority over its buildings and the ability to collect information necessary to protect and
safeguard the premises, grounds, property, personnel, and operations conducted by or on behalf
of the Board or a Reserve Bank, which allows for the collection of this information for building
security purposes.
This information collection gathers sensitive information on an applicant’s race, gender,
and ethnicity. The Board uses this information to comply with federal EEO recordkeeping and
reporting requirements, other legal requirements, as an input to its self -analysis of hiring
practices, and preparing statistical reports.
If a new hire has a social security number, the solicitation and collection of the new hire’s
social security number is used in various sections of the portal to validate the new hire’s
credentials for certain benefits and security authorizations. The social security number is also
used to ensure the accuracy of data involving the specified new hire. Sections 10(4) and 11 of the
Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. §§ 244, 248(q) and 248(l)) give the Board the authority to
recruit, examine, and evaluate a new hire’s qualifications for employment with the Board, as
well as authority for the security of its buildings. Executive Order 9397 (November 22, 1943)
authorizes Federal agencies to use an individual’s social security number to identify individuals
in agency records.
Estimate of Cost to the Federal Reserve System
The total annual cost to the Federal Reserve for printing and processing the Onboarding
sections is estimated to be $188,900.

2

The average consumer cost of $27 is estimated using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Occupational
Employment and Wages, May 2020, published March 31, 2021, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.t01.htm#.

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Use of Information Technology
All responses are collected electronically. Respondents who have been selected for the
relevant positions access the secure New Hire Portal on an electronic device (such as a desktop
computer, laptop, tablet, or mobile device). Submission instructions are provided electronically,
as well.

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