SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

This information collection activity will be used to garner qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback in accordance with the Administration's commitment to improving service delivery. Qualitative feedback, in this context, is defined as information that provides useful insights on perceptions and opinions, but are not statistical surveys that yield quantitative results that can be generalized to the population of study. These collections will:

• Provide insights into customer or stakeholder perceptions, experiences, and expectations;
• provide an early warning of issues with service;
• focus attention on areas where communication, training, or changes, in operations might improve delivery of products or services;
• provide ongoing, collaborative, and actionable communications between the DOL and its customers and stakeholders. These collections will also allow feedback to contribute directly to the improvement of program management. Feedback collected under this generic clearance will provide useful information, but it will not yield data that can be generalized to the overall population.

This type of generic clearance for qualitative information will not be used for quantitative information collections that are designed to yield reliably actionable results such as, for example, monitoring trends over time or documenting program performance. Those sorts of data usages require more rigorous designs that address:

• The target population to which generalizations will be made;
• the sampling frame;
• the sample design (including stratification and clustering);
• the precision requirements or power calculations that justify the proposed sample size;
• the expected response rate;
• methods for assessing potential nonresponse bias;
• the protocols for data collection; and
• any testing procedures that were or will be undertaken prior fielding the study.

Depending on the degree of influence the results are likely to have, such collections may still be eligible for submission for other generic mechanisms that are designed to yield quantitative result. For additional substantive information about this ICR, see the related notice published in the Federal Register on August 26, 2020 (85 FR 52641).

This information collection is subject to the PRA. A Federal agency generally cannot conduct or sponsor a collection of information, and the public is generally not required to respond to an information collection, unless the OMB approves it and displays a currently valid OMB Control Number. In addition, notwithstanding any other provisions of law, no person shall generally be subject to penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information that does not display a valid OMB Control Number. See5 CFR 1320.5(a) and 1320.6.

DOL seeks PRA authorization for this information collection for three (3) years. OMB authorization for an ICR cannot be for more than three (3) years without renewal. The DOL notes that information collection requirements submitted to the OMB for existing ICRs receive a month-to-month extension while they undergo review.

Agency: DOL-OASAM.

Title of Collection: Department of Labor Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery.

OMB Control Number: 1225-0088.

Affected Public: Individuals or Households; State, Local, and Tribal Governments; Private Sector: businesses or other for-profits, farms, and not for profit institutions.

Total Estimated Number of Responses: 380,000.

Total Estimated Annual Time Burden: 38,000 hours.

Total Estimated Annual Other Costs Burden: $0.

Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3507(a)(1)(D).

85 FR 68598