Agency Information Collection Request: Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, OMB Control Number (3206-NEW)

91 FR 40599Agency Information Collection Request: Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, OMB Control Number (3206-NEW)

91 FR 40599Office of Personnel Management.

91 FR 4059960-day notice and request for comments.

91 FR 40599The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) offers the general public and other Federal agencies the opportunity to comment on a new Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) information collection request (ICR). OPM conducts this collection to satisfy statutorily required employee survey requirements.

91 FR 40599Comments are encouraged and will be accepted until August 31, 2026. This process is conducted in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.8(d)(1).

91 FR 40599You may submit comments on the Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. The general policy for comments and other submissions from members of the public is to make these submissions available for public viewing at http://www.regulations.gov as they are received without change, including any personal identifiers or contact information.

91 FR 40599Employee Viewpoint Survey Team, Attention: Makisha Brown, via electronic mail to EVS@opm.gov or via telephone at (202) 606-1800.

91 FR 40599As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, as amended 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2), OPM is soliciting comments for this new information collection request prior to seeking Office of Management and Budget approval. A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The Office of Management and Budget is particularly interested in comments that: 1. Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; 2. Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; 3. Suggest ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and 4. Suggest ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submissions of responses.

91 FR 40599Section 1128 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (Pub. L. 108-136, 5 U.S.C. 7101 note) requires executive agencies to conduct an annual employee survey and directs OPM to issue regulations prescribing the survey questions that must appear on all agency surveys to allow for comparison across agencies. The survey is the instrument through which agencies meet the statutory requirement to assess (1) leadership and management practices that contribute to agency performance and (2) employee satisfaction with leadership policies and practices, the work environment, rewards and recognition for professional accomplishment and personal contributions to achieving the organizational mission, opportunity for professional development and growth, and opportunity to contribute to achieving the organizational mission. OPM implemented this requirement through regulations at 5 CFR part 250, subpart C, to provide comparable governmentwide data and centrally administered the annual survey, the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), on behalf of agencies. Agencies participating in the FEVS satisfy the annual employee survey requirement by including the prescribed core survey questions, while retaining limited flexibility to add agency-specific items consistent with OPM guidance.

91 FR 40599In the Rules section of this issue of the Federal Register , OPM proposes to reduce the number of prescribed annual employee survey questions from 16 to 10, retaining the most probative items to better serve workforce planning needs. In addition, OPM will no longer centrally administer the survey on behalf of agencies. Instead, each agency will administer the survey to its employees. The survey consists of Likert-type, mark-one, and mark-all-that-apply items. The information collection consists of the responses provided by the employees who complete the survey. The OPM survey will be available to agencies as a common form. An agency will submit the resulting data for the prescribed questions to OPM and OMB once per year to enable governmentwide comparison. Should agencies add questions to the common form, agencies would be responsible for their own collections separate from the OPM common form and would need to seek their own OMB control number.

91 FR 40599Agency: Office of Personnel Management. Title: Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. OMB Number: 3206-NEW. Type of Review: New collection (Request for a new OMB control number). Frequency: Annually. Affected Public: Federal employees. Number of Respondents: 619,184 (annualized 3-year historical average from 2022-2024). Estimated Time per Respondent: 20 minutes. Total Burden Hours: 206,395 hours.