BLS Redesigns Its
Compensation
Surveys BY JOHN E, BUCKLEY

lor more than a century, BLS has conducted studies of wages primarily designed

to yield national and regional estimates for occupations unique to specific indus-

tries. After World War II, as the need for locality-based statistics became more
apparent, industry-specific studies were expanded to produce local labor market wage
data for jobs found in a variety of industries. In 1960, a statistically selected group of
localities was chosen from which data could be projected to represent all metropolitan
areas of the United States, excluding Alaska and Hawaii. Over the years, changes in
survey coverage were dictated mainly by Federal Government data needs and by
changes occurring in the economy.

Since 1991, the nationwide
program of locality pay surveys has
been used to support the implemen-
tation of the Federal Employees Pay
Comparability Act of 1990
(FEPCA). For the three decades
prior to FEPCA, the Bureau con-
ducted occupational pay surveys for
use by the Federal Government to set
national pay rates; FEPCA’s enact-
ment shifted the emphasis from
setting Federal white-collar pay on a
national basis to paying employees
locality-sensitive rates. To accom-
plish the requirements of the act,
BLS merged features of three
occupational wage programs—the
national White-Collar Pay Survey,
the Area Wage Survey, and the
Industry Wage Survey—into a single
Occupational Compensation Survey
(OCS) program.

John E. Buckley is an economist in the Divi-
sion of Compensation Data Analysis and Planning,
Bureau of Labor Statistics. Telephone (202) 606-
6204.

As part of an ongoing effort to
improve the timeliness, relevance,
and accuracy of data collected—and
also to reduce costs and respondent
burden—the Bureau’s compensation
survey is being further refined.

The new program, tentatively
entitled COMP2000, will combine
the current OCS with the Employ-
ment Cost Index (ECI) and the
Employee Benefits Survey (EBS)
programs. Currently, the OCS
program provides detailed occupa-
tional pay data with an emphasis on
Metropolitan areas. The ECI focuses
‘on total compensation costs and
wages at the national level, while
also providing, on an employer cost-
per-hour basis, separate estimates for
total compensation, wages and
salaries, and non-pay benefits. The
EBS program produces national
estimates of the incidence and
details of benefits such as paid leave
provisions, insurance, and pensions.
Details include such plan features as

19 Compensation and Working Conditions September 1996

health care deductibles and pension
benefit calculation factors.

Getting from here to there

Merging the three independently
conceived and divergent programs to
produce a unified whole presented a
challenge. For example, the ECI
accounts for total employer costs on
a per-hour worked basis; the OCS,
however, obtains straight-time
earnings for detailed occupations. In
addition, certain payments other
than straight-time earnings to
employees, such as hazard and
longevity pay, are not applied
uniformly among the programs.

In recent years, the ECI and EBS
programs made considerable
progress in resolving definitional
differences in the employee benefits
information collected by both
programs, Another effort is now
underway to resolve existing
differences in OCS and EC/EBS
concepts.



The following box highlights
some of the data elements currently
available from the OCS, ECT, and
EBS programs and expected prod-
ucts from COMP2000.

Because of its more efficient
sample design, COMP2000 is
expected to reduce respondent
burden, increase the availability of
compensation data for localities, and
provide the ability to link benefit
plan costs and plan details.

Albuquerque test. In February-
March 1996, BLS conducted the first
of six pilot surveys to test the new
survey concepts and methods. This
study of the Albuquerque, New
Mexico, Metropolitan Statistical
Area (MSA)' will help determine the
amount of occupational data avail-
able from a probability selection of
currently filled jobs in sampled
establishments, a technique used in
the ECI. However, the ECI is

designed to publish data only at the
national and regional level. The
OCS, on the other hand, surveys a
predetermined set of occupations—
jobs selected for their relatively high
incumbency in the labor market.
Using a predetermined set of survey
occupations, however, precludes
publication of estimates to represent
all workers; the probability selection
technique allows such estimates.
The OCS sample of establishments
is sufficiently robust to support
publication of metropolitan area
data. The Albuquerque test will help
determine how much data will pass
the Bureau's rigorous statistical
standards, while also safeguarding
the confidentiality of respondents’
information.

The Albuquerque pilot study also
will apply new techniques for
determining the work level of the
jobs selected. The leveling tech-
nique consists of determining what

‘Type of data

Wage data for broad occupational
groups (¢.g., blue-collar

National and regional
Locality

Wage data for selected jobs
(e.g., order filler)
‘National and regional
Locality

Benefits cost data
National and regional
Locality

Benefits incidence data
National and regional
Locality

Benefits details data

National and regional
Locality
sation costs data
National and regional
Locality
* Limited data.
able through the OCS.

Availability of Selected Data from OCS, ECI, EBS, and COMP2000

2 The COMP2000 program may not produce the multi-level occupational detail currently avail-

> Data are published on employee contributions to insurance and retirement plans.

ocs Ec EBS COMP2000
No Yes No Yes
No No No Yes
Yes Yes! No Yes?
Yes No No Yes
No Yes Yes3 Yes
No ‘No No Yes
No ‘No Yos Yes
Yes! No No Yes
No Yes Yes
Yes No Yes
No Yes No Yes
No No No Yes

point values are appropriate for each
of 10 work-factor measures.”
However, factor values are applied at
different points on the scale depend-
ing on the job selected. For ex-
ample, the leveling technique
assigns 50 points to the “knowledge”
factor for entry-level clerical
workers; for entry-level professionals
the value is 750 points for the same
factor. All of the factors, except
supervisory duties, come from the
USS. Office of Personnel
Management’s Factor Evaluation
System.’ This method was used in
hope of producing pay data for non-
Federal employees comparable with
that of General Schedule Federal
employees in grades 1 through 15.
Tf successful, this leveling technique
would replace the system of survey-
ing predetermined multi-level jobs.

The five remaining pilot studies
will be used to refine collection
procedures, concepts, or instructions
that the Albuquerque test discovered
to be inadequate, unclear, or needing
revision.* For example, in the
sampled Albuquerque establish-
ments, BLS field economists selected
from 4 to 20 occupations depending
on the size of the establishment.
The test may indicate not only that
20 from establishments with 1,000
or more employees are insufficient
(or too many) to obtain the goal of
producing optimum levels of
publishable data in a cost effective
manner, and with a minimum of
respondent burden, but also how
sample sizes should be adjusted for
future tests. The Albuquerque pilot
also will be used to uncover other
flaws, such as leveling procedures
that require revision.

The upcoming Allentown-
Bethlehem-Easton, Pennsylvania
survey will test the feasibility of
collecting data on variables that
affect earnings—length of service,
educational attainment, and job
certification requirements. Addi-
tionally, the training of Bureau field
economists in different data collec-
tion techniques is an integral part of
the six test studies, Before the new

Compensation and Working Conditions September 1996 20



program becomes fully operational,
most field economists will have had
the opportunity to work on one of the
test studies and benefit from training

1A metropolitan statistical area consists of a
core area containing a large population nucleus,
together with adjacent communities that have a
high degree of economic and social integration.

2The factors are knowledge, supervisory du-
ties, supervisory controls, guidelines, complexity,
scope and effect, personal contacts, purpose of
contacts, physical demands, and work environ-
ment. The knowledge factor, based on the nature

programs being developed as test
Tesults become available.

The results of all test surveys will
be published by BLS, and upcoming

—Endnotes—

and extent of information ot facts that workers
‘must understand to do acceptable work, is the most
important factor in terms of weight, often provid-
ing more than half of the points for determining
the levels. Supervisory duties (where applicable),
supervisory controls (how broadly or narrowly
work is assigned and controlled), guidelines (how
broad or narrow), ity of assignments, and
scope and effect of the work receive considerably

21 Compensation and Working Conditions September 1996

issues of Compensation and Working
Conditions will report in greater
detail the emerging COMP2000
program.

pervisory Grade Evaluation Guide provides super-
visory standards; the BLS pilot surveys will test
‘ways of incorporating OPM’s Guide for this factor.

“The five additional test areas are: Allentown-
Bethiehem-Easton, PA; New Orleans, LA; Ra-
leigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC; Rochester, NY;
and Salt Lake City, UT.