Payroll_Data_RFI.pdf

Request for Information /Sources Sought

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Payroll Data

The Department of Labor (DOL) Bureau of Labor Statistics is conducting market research and seeks information and sources to purchase payroll data. This RFI/sources sought Notice 1625-

20-Payroll-Data is currently classified under the North American Industry Classification System

(NAICS) as 519190 All Other Information Services with a size standard of $27.5 million.

DISCLAIMER:

This Request for Information/Sources Sought Notice is issued solely for market research information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation. All information received in response to this Request for Information/Sources Sought that is marked as proprietary will be handled accordingly. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the

Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this Sources Sought Notice.

A. Statement of Objective (SOO)

The Office of Compensation and Working Conditions (OCWC) at the Bureau of Labor Statistics

(BLS) has a need for detailed compensation data with which to analyze, evaluate, and improve

BLS products. The OCWC seeks a contractor to provide payroll data that can support the studies described in the requirement below.

B. Historical Information

The OCWC’s mission is to provide timely, relevant, and accurate information on pay, benefits, workers safety and job requirements in an objective and accessible manner. It meets this mission, in part, through the National Compensation Survey (NCS), which is an establishment-based survey that provides comprehensive measures of (1) employer costs for employee compensation, including wages and salaries, and benefits, (2) compensation trends, and (3) the incidence of employer-sponsored benefits among workers. The NCS also collects data and produces estimates on the provisions of selected employer-sponsored benefit plans. The OCWC continually seeks opportunities to improve its offerings by incorporating alternative data sources, evaluating underlying assumptions and expanding data products.

In the current project, the OCWC seeks data to create new estimates of employment costs, which will allow the OCWC to evaluate NCS data and explore possible uses of payroll data to improve the NCS. An important consideration for the project is that NCS data are collected separately by establishment.1 Consequently, the project requires data identifying individual establishments.

1 The BLS defines an establishment as a single economic unit that engages in one, or predominantly one, type of economic activity. For private industry, the establishment is usually at a single physical location, such as a factory, office, or store. Note that a single employer may operate more than one establishment.

Work performed with the data will be unclassified. BLS will treat all personally identifiable data as confidential consistent with BLS Commissioner Order #1-06 and with the provisions of the

Confidential Information Protection and Survey Efficiency Act (CIPSEA).

CIPSEA Pledge. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, its employees, agents, and partner statistical agencies, will use the information you provide for statistical purposes only and will hold the information in confidence to the full extent permitted by law. In accordance with the

Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (44 USC 3561 et seq.) and other applicable Federal laws, your responses will not be disclosed in identifiable form without your informed consent. Per the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015, Federal information systems are protected from malicious activities through cybersecurity screening of transmitted data.

C. Requirement

BLS is seeking a vendor to provide payroll data that will allow BLS to evaluate the NCS’s employer-provided compensation data, analyze any discrepancies, and investigate potential improvements to the NCS.

The OCWC will conduct studies to evaluate the payroll data as a potential supplement to existing employer-provided data on occupation-level costs of wages/salaries and benefits.

The OCWC would prefer to purchase data to be used in perpetuity for BLS research but will consider alternate timeframes, such as a fixed period lease with options to re-access the data in subsequent years.

C. Instructions to Contractors

1. Please review the requirement and respond if you are an interested party.

2. Include both a capabilities statement and complete all sections of the Market Research

Questionnaire, Attachment 1 below. Your response should not exceed 25 pages.

3. Both large and small businesses are encouraged to participate in this market research. Joint ventures or teaming arrangements are encouraged and are up to each industry partner.

Multiple teaming arrangements are acceptable. Please express your intentions in the questionnaire and capabilities package. If applicable, please specify your small business classification in any response.

4. If you desire to participate in this market research request for information, you should reply via email with the corresponding questionnaire responses and your capabilities statement to

Michael DeAngelis – DeAngelis.Michael@bls.gov no later than December 19, 2019 at

12:00 pm Eastern. Proprietary information should be clearly marked. All submissions shall be submitted via e-mail. The naming convention for submission should include the company name and RFI Payroll Data, for example - ABCINCRFIDataInterns.docx. The email subject line shall be “Company Name RFI Payroll Data Response.” The electronic format may be in Microsoft word or compatible with Microsoft Office suite of software.

5. Questions about this requirement should be submitted no later than close of business on

December 12, 2019 at 12:00 pm Eastern. The email subject line shall be “Company Name

Payroll Data Questions.”

Attachment 1: Payroll Data Market Research Questionnaire:

A. Please review and respond to the following questions on size standard.

Please indicate your business classification for NAICS code 519190 All other

Information Services with a size standard of $27.5 million:

Small Business Other Than Small Business

If another NAICS code seem more suitable please provide and state classification.

If your business classification is Small Business, do you anticipate remaining under the size standard of $32.5 Million for the next two years?

Yes No

If your business classification is Small Business, do you qualify under any of the following certification programs and socio-economic categories?

HUBZone

Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB)

Women Owned Small Business (WOSB)

8(a)

B. Market Research Questions:

1. Describe your coverage of industries, establishments, and establishment sizes (establishment sizes from small (1-99 employees), medium-sized (100-499 employees) and large establishments (500+ employees)), and locations.

2. Can the vendor provide data on private employer-based wages and compensation at the establishment level, and if so, can the establishment be identified?

3. Can the data be supplied at the establishment location level?

4. Can the data be supplied at the employee level, or at what level can the data be supplied?

5. Can data be supplied for all occupations? Or can we specify sample selection procedures to draw a sample of occupations that you would then supply data for?

6. Can you supply historical data, and how far back?

7. Can you supply all pay records in the month? Or can you supply data to cover all pay records from the 12th of the month?

8. Can you supply datasets monthly? How many days after the 12th could the data be delivered to BLS?

9. What is the estimated cost for your dataset and documentation per year? Is there a difference in price between historical and current year data?

10. Would you sell the data for perpetual use or as an annual subscription?

11. What data elements could be provided from the lists below?

occupation, schedule (full time versus part time), job grade, union versus non-union status

FLSA exempt/non-exempt status

Base wage or salary

Straight time hours worked

Rate range for workers in an occupation

Supplemental pay

Overtime wages or salary

Overtime hours worked

Incentive/commission/production bonus

● Shift Differentials

● Non-production bonuses

Time based benefits

● Vacation

● Holidays

● Sick Leave

● Other Leave (includes personal days)

Retirement benefits

● Social security

● Medicare

● Defined benefit plans

● Defined contribution plans

Employee welfare benefits (employee and employer contributions)

● Health insurance (including medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug)

● Short-term disability insurance

● Long-term disability insurance

● Workers’ compensation insurance

● Life insurance

● State unemployment insurance

● Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA)

● Other benefits (e.g., wellness programs, retiree health, student loan repayment, etc.)