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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 235 (Friday, December 6, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 96968-96970]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-28579]

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EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION

Agency Information Collection Activities: Existing Collection

AGENCY: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

ACTION: Notice of information collection--proposed revision of Local 
Union Report (EEO-3).

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), the 
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC or Commission) announces 
that it has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a 
request for a three-year PRA approval of revisions to the currently 
approved Local Union Report (EEO-3).

DATES: Written comments on this notice must be submitted on or before 
January 6, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent within 30 days of 
publication of this final notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 
Find this information collection by selecting ``Currently under 
Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Guerino, Director, Data 
Development and Information Products Division, Office of Enterprise 
Data and Analytics (OEDA), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 131 
M Street NE, Washington, DC 20507; (202) 921-2928 (voice), (800) 669-
6820 (TTY) or email at [email protected]. Requests for this notice in an 
alternative format should be made to the EEOC's Office of 
Communications and Legislative Affairs at (202) 921-3191 (voice), (800) 
669-6820 (TTY), or (844) 234-5122 (ASL Video Phone).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A notice that the EEOC would be submitting 
this request was published in the Federal Register on August 16, 2024, 
allowing for a 60-day public comment period, which ended on October 15, 
2024.\1\ The EEOC received one non-substantive comment during the 
public comment period, which was published on the www.regulations.gov 
website.\2\
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    \1\ See Notice of Information Collection 89 FR 66714 (Aug. 16, 
2024) at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/08/16/2024-18420/agency-information-collection-activities-existing-collection.
    \2\ Available at https://www.regulations.gov/document/EEOC-2024-0006-0002.
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I. Background

A. The EEO-3 Report

    Since 1967, the EEOC has required EEO-3 filers to submit workforce 
demographic data. Every labor organization subject to title VII of the 
Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended (title VII) \3\ is required to 
file the EEO-3 report, provided it has 100 or more members at any time 
during the 12 months preceding the due date of the report and is a 
``local union'' (as that term is commonly understood) or an independent 
or unaffiliated union. Labor organizations required to report are those 
which perform, in a specific jurisdiction, the functions ordinarily 
performed by a local union, whether or not they are so designated.
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    \3\ 42 U.S.C. 2000e, et seq.
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B. The 60-Day Notice: Request for Three-Year PRA Approval of Revisions 
to the EEO-3

    Pursuant to the PRA and OMB regulations found at 5 CFR 
1320.8(d)(1), the Commission published a Notice in the Federal Register 
on August 16, 2024, soliciting public comments during a 60-day period 
(``60-day Notice'') on the Commission's intent to seek three-year OMB 
approval of revisions to the currently approved EEO-3. In particular, 
in its 60-day Notice, the EEOC sought comments to: (1) Evaluate whether 
the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper 
performance of the Commission's functions, including whether the 
information will have practical utility; (2) Evaluate the accuracy of 
the Commission's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of 
information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions 
used; (3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
to be collected; and (4) Minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on those who are to respond, including the use of 
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology (e.g., 
permitting electronic submission of responses). The 60-day Notice 
comment period ended on October 15, 2024.
    Based on data from the most recent EEO-3 data collection reporting 
year (i.e., 2022), as well as ongoing updates by the EEOC to the EEO-3 
frame (i.e., filer roster or master list), the EEOC

[[Page 96969]]

anticipates the total number of filers submitting an EEO-3 report may 
increase to 5,999 per biennial collection. Accordingly, the burden 
estimates in this Notice are based on this revised estimate of the 
number of filers.

II. The Public Comments on the 60-Day Notice

    The 60-day Notice was published in the Federal Register on August 
16, 2024.\4\ The EEOC received one non-substantive comment during the 
public comment period, which was published on the www.regulations.gov 
website.\5\
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    \4\ Available at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/08/16/2024-18420/agency-information-collection-activities-existing-collection.
    \5\ Available at https://www.regulations.gov/document/EEOC-2024-0006-0002.
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III. Commission Decisions and Final EEOC Proposals to OMB

The EEOC Will Seek Three-Year Approval of Revisions to the Currently 
Approved EEO-3 Local Union Report

    After evaluating the one non-substantive comment received from the 
public during the 60-day comment period, the Commission has decided it 
will seek a three-year approval by OMB of revisions to the EEO-3 Local 
Union Report as described in this Notice.

IV. Formal Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

A. Overview of Information Collection

    Collection Title: Local Union Report (EEO-3).
    OMB Number: 3046-0006.
    Frequency of Report: Biennial.
    Type of Respondent: Labor organizations with 100 or more members 
\6\ that are local unions or independent or unaffiliated unions and 
meet certain criteria.
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    \6\ Labor organizations required to report are those which 
perform, in a specific jurisdiction, the functions ordinarily 
performed by a local union, whether or not they are so designated.
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    Description of Affected Public: Labor organizations with 100 or 
more members \7\ that are local unions or independent or unaffiliated 
unions and meet certain criteria.
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    \7\ Labor organizations required to report are those which 
perform, in a specific jurisdiction, the functions ordinarily 
performed by a local union, whether or not they are so designated.
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    Reporting Hours: 8,922 per biennial collection.
    Respondent Burden Hour Cost: $359,091 per biennial collection.
    Federal Cost: $378,002 per biennial collection.
    Number of Filers: 5,999 per biennial collection.\8\
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    \8\ This figure is based on the expanded frame of potentially 
eligible respondents and the response rate for the most recently 
completed EEO-3 data collection (the 2022 EEO-3 data collection).
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    Number of Responses: 5,999 per biennial collection.
    Number of Forms: 1.
    Form Number: EEOC Form 274.
    Abstract: Section 709(c) of title VII requires labor organizations 
to make and keep records relevant to the determination of whether 
unlawful employment practices have been or are being committed, to 
preserve such records, and to produce reports as the Commission 
prescribes by regulation or order.\9\ Pursuant to this statutory 
authority, the EEOC issued regulations prescribing the reporting and 
related record retention requirements for labor organizations.\10\ The 
regulations require every local union to retain the most recent report 
filed, to make records necessary for completion of the EEO-3, and to 
preserve them for a year (or if a charge of discrimination is filed, 
relevant records must be retained until final disposition of the 
matter). These recordkeeping requirements are part of standard 
administrative practices, and as a result, the EEOC believes that any 
impact on burden would be negligible and nearly impossible to quantify. 
Additionally, the regulations require labor organizations with 100 or 
more members at any time during the 12 months preceding the due date of 
the report, and that are a ``local union'' (as that term is commonly 
understood) \11\ or are independent or unaffiliated unions, to file 
executed copies of the EEO-3 report in conformity with the directions 
set forth in the form and accompanying instructions. Under this 
authority, such unions are required to report biennially \12\ the 
number of their members and applicants for membership by sex and race 
or ethnicity.
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    \9\ 42 U.S.C. 2000e-8(c).
    \10\ The EEOC's EEO-3 regulation is at 29 CFR part 1602 subparts 
F and G. The EEOC is responsible for obtaining OMB's PRA approval 
for the EEO-3 report.
    \11\ Labor organizations required to report are those which 
perform, in a specific jurisdiction, the functions ordinarily 
performed by a local union, whether or not they are so designated.
    \12\ Beginning in 1986, the EEO-3 report has been collected 
biennially in even-numbered years. Prior to 1986, the EEO-3 report 
was collected annually.
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    Please note that on March 28, 2024, OMB published revisions, the 
first since 1997, to its Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards 
for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and 
Ethnicity.'' See https://spd15revision.gov/. The revisions include, for 
example, using a single combined race and ethnicity question and adding 
Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) as a new minimum reporting 
category. Federal agencies, including the EEOC, are required to bring 
their data collections into compliance with these standards by March 
28, 2029. Because the EEOC's current EEO-3 PRA clearance expires 
January 31, 2025, the agency is not proposing updates to its collection 
of race and ethnicity data under this Notice in order to provide filers 
with sufficient notice of the revised standards and to give the EEOC 
sufficient time to implement the revisions across its EEO collections.
    These data are currently collected electronically by the EEOC 
through a web-based data collection application (i.e., portal) referred 
to as the EEO-3 Online Filing System (OFS).\13\ Filers must submit 
their data electronically to the web-based portal. The individual EEO-3 
reports are confidential.\14\ EEO-3 data are used by the EEOC to 
investigate charges of employment discrimination against local unions 
and to publish periodic reports on workforce demographics.\15\
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    \13\ EEO-3 filers may access the OFS through the EEOC's 
dedicated EEO-3 website at www.eeocdata.org/eeo3.
    \14\ All reports and any information from individual reports are 
subject to the confidentiality provisions of Section 709(e) of title 
VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-8(e), as 
amended (title VII), and may not be made public by the EEOC prior to 
the institution of any proceeding under title VII involving the EEO-
3 data. Any EEOC employee who violates this prohibition may be found 
guilty of a criminal misdemeanor and could be fined or imprisoned. 
The confidentiality requirements allow the EEOC to publish only 
aggregated data, and only in a manner that does not identify any 
particular filer or reveal any individual member's personal 
information. With respect to other Federal agencies with a 
legitimate law enforcement purpose, the EEOC gives access to 
information collected under title VII only if the agencies agree in 
writing to comply with the confidentiality provisions of title VII. 
In addition, section 709(d) of title VII (42 U.S.C. 2000e-8(d)) 
provides that the EEOC shall furnish upon request and without cost 
to State or local civil rights agencies information about employers 
in their jurisdiction on the condition that they not make it public 
prior to starting a proceeding under State or local law involving 
such information. The EEOC shares EEO-3 data with Fair Employment 
Practices Agencies (FEPAs) pursuant to Worksharing Agreements that 
impose obligations on the contracted FEPA with respect to 
confidentiality, privacy, and data security. On a case-by-case 
basis, the EEOC may share EEO-3 data with a FEPA that does not have 
a Worksharing Agreement, but only if that FEPA agrees to comply with 
confidentiality, privacy, and data security obligations similar to 
those imposed on FEPAs with Worksharing Agreements.
    \15\ Any reports the EEOC publishes based on EEO-3 data include 
only aggregated EEO-3 data that protect the confidentiality of each 
union's information, as well as the privacy of each member's 
personal information.
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B. Burden Statement

    The EEOC's Office of Enterprise Data and Analytics (OEDA) 
administers the

[[Page 96970]]

agency's data collections, including the EEO-3 data collection. Since 
OEDA's creation in 2018, the EEOC has undertaken several efforts to 
modernize the agency's data collections and improve the quality of data 
collected. OEDA also has streamlined functions, such as providing 
additional self-service options, resource materials, and an online 
support message center.
    As part of these ongoing modernization efforts, and in response to 
a recent GAO report \16\ which recommended that the EEOC improve its 
approach to routinely identify local unions required to file the EEO-3 
report, OEDA has undertaken measures to enhance the agency's EEO-3 
frame (i.e., filer roster or master list) of potentially eligible 
filers. By comparing the EEOC's 2022 EEO-3 frame to a list of active 
unions from the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Labor Management 
Standards (OLMS) Online Public Disclosure Room (OPDR) database,\17\ 
OEDA identified more than 5,000 local unions that may be eligible to 
file during the next biennial EEO-3 data collection. With the addition 
of these unions to the EEO-3 frame and considering response rates 
during the 2022 EEO-3 data collection, OEDA now estimates 5,999 
potential respondents to the agency's next EEO-3 data collection.\18\
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    \16\ U.S. Government Accountability Office, ``Workforce 
Diversity: Hispanic Workers Are Underrepresented in the Media, and 
More Data Are Needed for Federal Enforcement Efforts'', Government 
Accountability Office, Sept. 29, 2022, https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-104669.
    \17\ The OPDR database contains information on approximately 
20,000 unions in the United States. See https://olmsapps.dol.gov/olpdr/.
    \18\ This estimate covers local unions within the 50 United 
States and the District of Columbia, as well as the Commonwealth of 
Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the U.S. Possessions of 
American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and Wake Island. 
Please note that 5,999 respondents may ultimately turn out to be an 
overestimate. Following the initial enhancement of the EEO-3 frame, 
collection data may yield an unknown number of ineligible filers.
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    The EEOC has also updated its methodology for calculating the 
biennial burden of the EEO-3 data collection to better reflect the 
types of personnel responsible for preparing and filing these reports 
on behalf of their unions. Based upon job titles provided during the 
2022 EEO-3 data collection by individuals completing the report within 
the OFS, the EEOC has identified four specific job categories that 
account for the largest amount of time spent biennially on EEO-3 
reporting. These job categories include: (1) Secretaries and 
Administrative Assistants; (2) Administrative Services and Facilities 
Managers; (3) Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks; and (4) 
Executive-Level Staff.\19\
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    \19\ Hourly wage rates for these four job categories were 
obtained from the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor 
Statistics (BLS) Occupational Outlook Handbook. See https://www.bls.gov/ooh/. Please note that the actual job titles reported 
during the 2022 EEO-3 data collection were collapsed into these four 
BLS occupational categories.
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    Additionally, the OFS captures detailed information on when each 
filer starts and certifies their report. The EEOC used this information 
from the most recent EEO-3 data collection (i.e., 2022) to calculate 
more precise burden hour estimates.\20\ As shown in Table 1 below, the 
estimated average hour burden per report is 1.49 hours. The total 
estimated biennial respondent burden for all filers is 8,922 hours. The 
estimated average burden hour cost per report is $59.90, and the 
estimated total burden hour cost for all filers per biennial collection 
is $359,091.
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    \20\ The time estimates are based on the average time elapsed 
among filers who completed their reports during the same calendar 
day within the OFS.

                                            Table 1--Projected Burden for Each EEO-3 Biennial Reporting Year
                                                                       [N = 5,999]
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                                                          Percent in job   Median hourly     Hours per       Cost per      Total burden    Total burden
                   Staff job category                        category        wage rate        report          report           hours         hour cost
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Secretaries and Administrative Assistants...............            21.4          $21.19            0.33           $6.99           1,958         $41,490
Administrative Services and Facilities Managers.........            56.5           48.98            0.84           41.14           5,046         247,153
Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks............             5.1           22.05            0.09            1.98             546          12,039
Executive-Level Staff...................................             4.4           48.12            0.06            2.89             365          17,564
Other \a\...............................................            12.6           40.56            0.17            6.90           1,007          40,845
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    Total \b\...........................................  ..............  ..............            1.49           59.90           8,922         359,091
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\a\ The average hourly wage rate for the ``Other'' category was derived by taking the weighted mean average of the hourly wage rates of the four BLS job
  categories listed in the above table.
\b\ These estimates are based upon filers' use of the OFS to submit reports electronically because paper submissions are no longer accepted. Electronic
  filing remains the most efficient, accurate, and secure means of reporting for respondents required to submit EEO-3 data.

    Dated: December 2, 2024.

    For the Commission.
Charlotte A. Burrows,
Chair.
[FR Doc. 2024-28579 Filed 12-5-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6570-01-P
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