Using the Current Population 

Survey to Answer DOL-Relevant 

Questions: Applications in R

Samuel Rowe

U.S. Department of Labor 

Chief Evaluation Office – Data Analytics Team

September 23, 2019

*Views expressed are for the author only and do not represent the views of the U.S. 

Department of Labor or the Chief Evaluation Office
Overview

• Introduction to DOL Chief Evaluation Office (CEO)

• Data Exchange and Analysis Platform (DEAP)

• Estimating FLSA Coverage and Exemptions

• Program Relevant Questions

• Policy Relevant Questions
Introduction to CEO

• Chief Evaluation Office (CEO)

• CEO is an independent evaluation office, located organizationally in the Office of the 

Assistant Secretary for Policy

• Collaborative work between CEO and other DOL agencies to identify priority research 

questions to the agencies and the department

• Most questions come through the DOL Evaluation Plan

• https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OASP/legacy/files/CEO-FY-2018-EvaluationPlan.pdf

• CEO Analytics Team (CEOAT)

• Some questions are more consultative and do not require large 3rd party evaluations

• Agencies ask questions CEOAT that are relevant to administering their program to 

build capacity and be data-informed

• Provide support and build capacity for the agencies
Data Exchange and Analysis Platform (DEAP)

• Analysis platform available to all DOL employees

• Server access to clustered file system to host large data sets

• Hub and spoke architecture to promote collaboration, not silos

• Provides Dockerized containers for open-source tools: R, Python, Julia

• R Studio or Jupyter Notebooks for R

• Free of charge for DOL users – funded by CEO and OCIO partnership

• Access via web browser – but requires DOL provided GFE

• Platform to answer program and policy relevant questions agencies

• Upload admin data into agency secure tenants

• Access public use data

• Work collaboratively with the different agencies, not silos

• Visualize results
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

• Fair Labor Standards Act

• Created in 1938

• Amended multiple times over the years

• Affects employees in private sector employment and in federal, state, and 

local government employment

• Establishes

• Minimum Wage

• Time-and-a-half overtime pay

• Prohibits child labor 

• Recordkeeping

• Enforced by DOL Wage and Hour Division

• https://www.dol.gov/whd/flsa/
Methodology to Estimate FLSA 

• Inputs

• Current Population Survey – Monthly Public Use Micro Data

• Coverage Estimates

• Estimate coverage from 500K and remove self-employed

• Exemptions Estimates

• Binary Exemptions – ex: 13(a)(5) Fisherman exemption

• Probabilistic Exemptions – ex: 13(a)(1) EAP exemption

• Wage violation estimates

• Establish さregular rateざ – hourly pay plus tips and commission

• Outputs

• CPS micro data augmented with FLSA exemptions and violations estimates
Program Relevant Questions

• Lead with a Question

• Agencies lead with a question, not tools

• Provide results, which can lead to new questions

• Iterative Process

• Follow up on additional questions

• Example Potential Questions

• How many workers are covered by the FLSA?

• How many workers are covered non-exempt for minimum wage?

• Are the proportions of FLSA coverage consistent across industries or states?

Program Relevant Questions

• What is the overall trend in FLSA violations?

• Aggregate violations by different groups:

• Which state has the highest prevalence for minimum wage violations?

• What occupational group has the highest violations?

• What are the trends over time?

• What are their characteristics associated with estimated FLSA 

violations?

• CPS household and individual characteristics

• Match with additional external data for establishment characteristics





Policy Relevant Questions

• Who is potentially affected by a proposed rule change?

• What are their earnings?

• What are their worker characteristics?

• How many individuals are exempt under the Executive, 

Administrative, and Professional exemption?

• What is the trend over time?

• What if a proposed rule changed the salary level test?

Future Work

• Generalized Variance Functions

• Estimating and incorporating standard errors for employment coverage and 

violations

• Factors and Correlates of FLSA violations

• Ask descriptive research on factors and correlates for FLSA violations

• R Shiny and R Shiny Server

• Visualization dashboards for collaborative work via web browsers
Contact

• Samuel Rowe, PhD

• Rowe.Samuel.t@dol.gov

• (202) 693-5990