SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Under the PRA of 1995, Federal agencies must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. This request for comment is being made pursuant to Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA.

With respect to the following collection of information, VHA invites comments on: (1) whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of VHA's functions, including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) the accuracy of VHA's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or the use of other forms of information technology.

Title: VA All Employee Survey (AES), 10-200.

OMB Control Number:2900-NEW. www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRASearch. (Once at this link, you can enter the OMB Control Number to find the historical versions of this Information Collection).

Type of Review: New collection.

Abstract: Legal authority for this data collection is found under 5 CFR part 250, subpart C, stating that executive agencies must conduct an annual employee survey to assess leadership, management practices, and employee satisfaction. This section authorizes the collection of data, the goal of which is to improve agency efforts toward the mission to provide health care services and benefits to Veterans. The regulation is mandated by Public Law 108-136, Section 1128, which addresses Other Federal Government Civilian Personnel Matters and Employee Surveys.

The All Employee Survey (AES) is an annual, voluntary, census survey of the VA workforce. Data will be used to support a range of VA efforts from action planning to serving as a feedback tool from employees to leadership. The aggregate data from ten required questions in the “AES Core Items” section of the survey will be reported by VA to OPM as part of their Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS). OPM has directed that all Federal agencies will report the compiled results of these ten questions for the FEVS. Additional assessments targeted at specific VA employee groups are included in the AES to measure concepts such as patient safety, nursing practice environment, high reliability systems, and other areas of importance to the agency. AES responses are both confidential and anonymous. VA employees are given a workgroup code that is not specific to any person. Workgroup-level scores are only reported if at least five people respond to ensure that no responses can be attributed to individual employees.

Affected Public: Federal Government.

Estimated Annual Burden: 176,000 hours.

Estimated Average Burden per Respondent: 30 minutes.

Frequency of Response: Once annually.

Estimated Number of Responses: 352,000.

Authority:44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.

91 FR 57451