Attachment D - JOLTS PWS.pdf

Attachment D - JOLTS PWS

J.1 BACKGROUND

J.1.1 JOB OPENINGS AND LABOR TURNOVER SURVEY

J.1.2 JOLTS DATA COLLECTION

J.2 SCOPE AND DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES

J.2.1 OBJECTIVE

J.2.2 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

J.2.3 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

J.2.4 GENERAL INFORMATION

J.3 TASKS

J.3.1 ADDRESS REFINEMENT

J.3.2 ENROLLMENT OF NEW SAMPLE

J.3.3 REFUSAL CONVERSION

J.3.4 ADDRESS REFINEMENT AND ENROLLMENT PERFORMANCE MEASURES

J.3.5 COLLECTION

J.3.6 COLLECTION PERFORMANCE MEASURES

J.3.7 EDIT RECONCILIATION

J.3.8 EDIT RECONCILIATION PERFORMANCE MEASURES

J.3.9 QUALITY CONTROL AND TRAINING

J.3.10 PROJECT MANAGEMENT

J.4 PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS AND DUTIES

J.4.1 PROJECT MANAGER

J.4.2 TASK MANAGER

J.4.3 DCC TASK SUPERVISORS

J.4.3 INTERVIEWER 3

J.4.3 INTERVIEWER 2

J.4.4 INTERVIEWER 1

J.5 DELIVERABLES SCHEDULE

J.6 PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY MATRIX

APPENDIX A: JOLTS FORMS AND DATA ELEMENTS

APPENDIX B: JOLTS SCHEDULE

APPENDIX C: JOLTS PERFORMANCE MEASURE CALCULATIONS

APPENDIX D: JOLTS CATI SYSTEM

APPENDIX E: JOLTS DATA COLLECTION WEBSITE OR INTERNET DATA COLLECTION FACILITY

APPENDIX F: GLOSSARY

APPENDIX G: BLS CONFIDENTIALITY AND SECURITY REQUIREMENTS

1605C5-24-Q-00008 Attachment 4 – JOLTS PWS

J.1 BACKGROUND

J.1.1 JOB OPENINGS AND LABOR TURNOVER SURVEY

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) collects data each month on employment, job openings, hires, and separations from a sample of nonfarm establishments through the Job Openings and Labor Turnover

Survey (JOLTS) program. The survey includes about 21,000 business and government agency worksites drawn from a sampling frame of roughly 11.3 million private and government establishments. The

JOLTS sample includes establishments located in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The JOLTS survey collects the following data elements from business and government establishments:

• Total Employment (TE)

• Job Openings (JO)

• Hires (H)

• Quits (Q)

• Layoffs and Discharges (LD)

• Other Separations (OS)

• Total Separations (TS)

For more information on the data collected by JOLTS, please see Appendix A - JOLTS Forms and Data

Elements.

The JOLTS program uses the data collected to produce monthly estimates of job openings, hires, and separations by industry at the national level and for total nonfarm at the Census region and state levels, including the District of Columbia. The JOLTS program produces both levels and rates for each of its published data series. Employment data collected by the JOLTS program is used to calculate rates but is not published separately. The JOLTS program uses three different reference periods. The reference period for employment is the pay period which includes the 12th of the month. The reference period for job openings is the last business day of the month. The reference period for hires, quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations is the entire calendar month.

JOLTS estimates for a given reference month are released approximately 22 business days after the end of that month.

JOLTS series are indicators of current economic trends in the U.S. & State labor markets each month including:

• The demand for labor (job openings)

• The effect of job matching and training programs (hires)

• Worker’s confidence in the labor market (quits)

• Indications of a contracting labor market (layoffs and discharges)

• Underlying dynamics of the labor market (hires and separations)

The JOLTS job openings series can be compared to the level of unemployment to create a measure of the number of unemployed persons per job opening. It can also be compared to the unemployment rate to look at structural versus cyclical changes in the labor market.

JOLTS series can also inform other areas of business, research, and policy:

• Monetary policy

• Public policy

• Economic research and planning

• Industry studies

For more information on JOLTS, please visit https://www.bls.gov/jlt/.

All glossary words are bolded the first time they appear in the document. Please see Appendix F –

Glossary.

J.1.2 JOLTS DATA COLLECTION

J.1.2.1 JOLTS DATA COLLECTION BACKGROUND

Each month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) collects data on employment, job openings, hires, and separations from a sample of establishments. JOLTS has a comprehensive program of new sample unit enrollment in the JOLTS Data Collection Centers (DCC). The DCCs perform sample address refinement, initial enrollment of each establishment via telephone, and collection for several months as needed via Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI).

After three months of CATI collection, the DCCs encourage respondents to self-report using the web collection site or Internet Data Collection Facility (IDCF). In addition, the DCCs conduct an ongoing program of refusal conversion. Nearly all refinement and initial enrollment, and about

30 percent of ongoing monthly collection occur by CATI at the DCCs.

JOLTS engages in continuous process improvement activities to improve quality and efficiency and when needed implements changes that may affect how data are collected or processed.

The BLS Internet Data Collection Facility (IDCF) allows respondents to complete their monthly data entry online on a secure website. The data are subject to a series of edit & screening checks before being transmitted to JOLTS. About 60 percent of JOLTS data are collected by web and 33 percent of JOLTS data are collected by CATI.

The JOLTS DCCs collect about 7% of their reports by other means such as email or fax, though the latter is generally discouraged and retained only for those respondents whose cooperation may be in jeopardy with other modes of collection.

Figure 1 shows the percentage of the reports collected by the various JOLTS collection methods.

https://www.bls.gov/jlt/

Figure 1. Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey data collection methods by percent

J.1.2.2 JOLTS SURVEY UNITS

The JOLTS survey consists of certainty unit and probability selected units. All sampled establishments with 5,000 or more employees, called certainty selections, are included in the sample with virtual certainty and remain in the sample as long as they remain at or above 5,000 employees. All remaining units are selected by probability and remain in the JOLTS survey for three years. All new probability selections and certainty selections are enrolled by the DCCs.

For more information on the JOLTS sample, please visit: https://www.bls.gov/jlt/jltsampl.htm.

J.2 SCOPE AND DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES

J.2.1 OBJECTIVE

The contractor shall provide the JOLTS program with survey data collection services at the Federal

Government Data Collection Centers (DCCs) in Atlanta, GA, and Kansas City, MO. Limited telework flexibility is available under conditions listed in section J.4.2.7. The contractor shall provide quality control, training, and project management to support contractor operations at the DCCs.

https://www.bls.gov/jlt/jltsampl.htm

The government retains responsibility for JOLTS survey methodology, procedures, and tools including:

• Sampling methodology and selection.

• Assignment of cases for enrollment and collection to the DCC.

• Data collection instruments, including all hardware and software.

• Policies and procedures for enrollment, collection, and refusal conversion.

J.2.2 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The period of performance for each task shall be for one (1) Base Period of 12 months and four (4) 12-month option periods.

a) Phase-In periods are not to exceed 45 calendar days.

b) The base periods will begin on July 26, 2024.

c) Kick-off meetings will take place shortly after award.

The government reserves the right to extend the term of this contract action at the prices set forth in

Section B in accordance with the terms and conditions contained in clause 52.217-9 entitled, “Option to Extend the Term of the Contract”.

J.2.3 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

J.2.3.1 JOLTS DATA COLLECTION CENTERS (DCC)

The DCCs are located in Federal Government facilities in Atlanta, GA and Kansas City, MO.

Limited telework flexibility is available under conditions listed in section J.4.2.7. Both DCCs are responsible for cases nationwide. All employees must live within commuting distance of their respective DCCs.

The DCCs are responsible for enrolling new sample units, known as cases, and the ongoing monthly collection of these cases. This work is primarily done using the government CATI and phone system. During the initial three months of collection by CATI, the DCC works to transition respondents to the government data collection website. Respondents that are unable or unwilling to provide data by web will be assigned to permanent CATI collection, email reporting, or to FAX in the rare event that FAX is their preferred method of reporting. The government will send web respondents, who fail to report reliably for three months, back to CATI collection.

*Hours of operation are subject to change.

DCC Address Hours of Operation*

Workstations

Atlanta, GA 61 Forsyth St., S.W.

Atlanta, GA 30303

6 am – 7 pm (Eastern)

Kansas City, MO

2300 Main St Room 11048 Kansas City, MO 64108

6 am – 7 pm (Central)

The total number of workstations, which includes cubicles and private offices available to contract staff at the DCCs, is in the chart above and represents the maximum number of staff that can work at each DCC. Interviewer workstations are cubicles and supervisory workstations are typically in private offices depending on availability. Level two and level three interviewers are not allowed to use private offices. If additional funding and equipment become available, the maximum number of staff may be increased at the government’s discretion.

For more information on the JOLTS production schedule, please see Appendix B - JOLTS Schedule.

J.2.4 GENERAL INFORMATION

J.2.4.1 KEY PERSONNEL

The contractor shall identify the key personnel that will be responsible for managing the contract. The Project Manager (PM) is considered key personnel for the contract. See section

J.4.1 for PM requirements. The PM shall be the single point of contact for the management of this contract. The PM reports to the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and the

Contracting Officer (CO) for compliance with all the requirements of this contract. The PM must be a full-time position dedicated to JOLTS.

The PM shall supervise and maintain a comprehensive management organization over staff working on this contract. A staff management plan delineating the lines of authority shall be maintained and provided to the COR on a quarterly basis. While the PM is the official point of contact for the management of this contract, administrative tasks are expected to be delegated to ensure the PM can focus on performance. The PM must meet with the COR and other program officials no less than once per month to discuss issues related to the administration of the contract and actual performance on respective tasks. The contractor shall not remove or divert key personnel unless written notice is provided at least 30 business days prior to the removal. Furthermore, a replacement for the key personnel must be approved by the CO at least 10 business days prior to the removal to ensure business continuity and transfer of institutional knowledge.

If any of the key personnel named in the contractor’s proposal, as accepted by the government, are unable to perform because of death, illness, resignation from the contractor’s employ, or other reasons, the contractor shall submit a written notice within 24 hours to the CO. A detailed explanation of the circumstances necessitating the proposed substitutions, complete resumes for the proposed substitutes, and any other information that the CO deems pertinent to approve the substitution shall be submitted to the CO as soon as possible, but no later than 30 days after this initial written notification. No substitution is to be made without prior written approval by the CO.

J.2.4.2 HOLIDAYS

The contractor shall not perform work on government holidays or non-workdays (including weekends) without prior written approval of the CO. Approved work performed on holidays or non-workdays shall be billable at regular rates.

The following is a list of government holidays:

• New Year’s Day

• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

• President’s Day

• Memorial Day

• Juneteenth National Independence Day

• Independence Day

• Labor Day

• Columbus Day

• Veterans Day

• Thanksgiving Day

• Christmas Day

J.2.4.3 UNSCHEDULED DISMISSALS

Unless requested by the government Data Collection Center Manager (DCC Manager) and approved by the CO, in the event that the government facility closes, on-site contractor personnel working under this contract shall be dismissed. In any situation regarding unscheduled dismissal and/or the closure of government offices, the contractor shall not be compensated for lost hours. In the event extraordinary conditions require continued contractor support when government offices are closed, at the specific request of the GTM, and with the approval of the CO, the contractor shall provide sufficient personnel to support. Such work shall be compensated at the normal contractual rate.

On occasion, the government facility remains open, but contractor staff are unable to work due to unforeseen circumstances (e.g., IT downtime, building maintenance issues). Should those situations arise, the DCC Manager has the discretion to offer contractor staff the opportunity to telework for the remainder of the day. Contractor staff who elect to work from alternate locations on those days will not be compensated for their commuting time from the federal government facility to the alternate work locations.

J.2.4.4 CONFIDENTIALITY AND SECURITY

The Contractor shall comply with the BLS Confidentiality and Security Requirements. Please see

Appendix G –BLS Confidentiality and Security Requirements. Contractor personnel with access to

BLS confidential information must become agents of the BLS by signing a BLS Agent Agreement and completing BLS confidentiality training.

The contractor shall safeguard all government equipment, information and property provided for contractor use. At the close of each work period, government facilities, equipment, and confidential materials shall be secured, whether onsite or in telework status.

J.2.4.5 CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL CONDUCT

Contractor personnel’s conduct shall not reflect discredit upon the government. The contractor shall ensure that personnel present a professional appearance. The contractor’s employees shall observe and comply with all local policies and procedures posted at each site concerning fire, safety, environmental protection, sanitation, security, and possession of firearms or other lethal or illegal weapons or substances. The contractor is responsible for ensuring that any contractor employees providing services under this contract conduct themselves and perform services in a professional, safe, and responsible manner. The contractor shall ensure no contractor employees conduct political related activities or events in any government or government-leased facilities.

J.2.4.6 DATA RIGHTS

The government has unlimited rights to all documents and materials produced under this contract. All documents and materials, to include the source codes of any software, produced under this contract shall be government owned and are the property of the government with all rights and privileges of ownership/copyright belonging exclusively to the government. All materials supplied to the government will be the sole property of the government and may not be used for any other purpose. This right does not abrogate any other government rights.

J.2.4.7 TELEWORKING

Telework flexibility is provided to the contractor. Only contractor staff with satisfactory performance shall be deemed eligible to telework. Contractor staff eligible to telework must conform to the requirements set forth by BLS.

The contractor shall submit a Telework Plan for BLS approval that identifies metrics for how the contractor will deem interviewers as eligible to telework and determine which staff should be on site within a given day. The Telework Plan shall ensure that on-site staff be representative of the contractor’s staff and at a minimum include recent hires, trainers, low-performers in need of support, high-performers to provide mentoring and training, and enough supervisors on site to monitor interviewers working in federal facilities. Individual contractor staff who lack an adequate work environment (e.g., no suitable off-site workspace, or personal residence having inadequate Internet connection) shall be permitted to work on-site. Contractor staff who are determined to be eligible for telework but have a preference to work on-site shall be permitted to work on-site. The PM and contractor management team must use productivity data to demonstrate that contractor staff in a telework status are as productive as when they are working on-site in federal facilities. Telework in any location other than the contractor staff’s residence must be approved by the DCC Manager.

Contractor staff deemed eligible to telework under a Telework Plan approved by the government must complete the DOL Telework training requirements prior to being permitted to work remotely. Telework-eligible contractor staff must be within commuting distance of their physical work locations and must be available to be recalled into the office by the contractor with one business days’ notice. Contractor staff on a telework status who experience hardware or technical issues that cannot be addressed remotely shall report to the federal facility to have equipment repaired no later than the next business day when they are scheduled to work following the determination that technical issues must be resolved on-site. The contractor shall not be compensated for commute times for teleworking staff bringing their government-furnished equipment for troubleshooting or repairs.

The government may, at its discretion, limit the number of contractor staff permitted in the office at a given time, in which case the Telework Plan should be used to determine which contractor staff will be in a telework status. The government reserves the right to review the

Telework Plan at its discretion and request changes. The government also reserves the right to rescind the Telework Plan and recall contractor staff into the office with five business days’ notice.

The government may, at its discretion, require that all contracting staff telework one day per specified period to ensure continuity of operations.

All teleworking sites must be documented and approved by the COR prior to use. All telework sites must meet the security requirements described in the BLS Confidentiality and Security Requirements.

J.2.4.8 GOVERNMENT-FURNISHED MATERIALS

J.2.4.8.1 FURNISHED BY THE GOVERNMENT

The government will provide office space for the Data Collection Centers that includes office furniture (desks, chairs, and office storage), information technology (computers, printers, monitors, keyboards, and internet connections), normal office supplies (pens, paper, staplers, etc.), fax machine, internet, and telephone access. The government will provide headsets for teleworking.

The government will not provide private desktop printers for the offices. The government will not provide additional equipment for home offices such as standing desks, additional keyboards, or monitors. The contractor shall be responsible for providing any equipment deemed necessary for reasonable accommodations approved for contractor staff.

The government will not provide office space for a project management office. The government will provide a laptop computer to the PM.

The government will retain title to all government-furnished property. All materials developed by the contractor under this contract shall become the property of the U.S.

Department of Labor.

The government-furnished property and the materials developed by the contractor under this contract shall only be used for the performance of this contract.

The government will maintain all facilities and equipment that shall be provided for use by the contractor. Additionally, the contractor shall ensure that its personnel do not misuse any government-furnished property.

The government will provide CATI software.

J.2.4.8.2 CONTRACTOR RESPONSIBILITY

If due to the default, negligence (whether of action or omission), or dishonesty of the contractor or its employees, or any combination of the prior activities, any government-owned or controlled property is lost or damaged as a result of the contractor’s performance of this contract, the contractor shall be responsible to the government for such loss or damage.

Any separating contractor staff shall return all equipment upon their last day to the data collection center including laptops, wired and wireless headsets and docking stations, and power cords for the laptops. After five workdays, if the equipment is not returned the contractor shall replace it or pay for the replacement cost. The government, at its option, may, in lieu of payment therefore, require the contractor to replace at its own expense, all property lost or damaged. The contractor shall not provide computer hardware or software without approval from the government. The contractor shall provide a plan on how to reimburse the government for equipment lost or damaged by contractor staff.

J.2.4.9 SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

The contractor shall abide by all applicable regulations, publications, manuals, and local policies and procedures. The contractor shall be familiar with and use the versions/revisions currently in effect. The contractor shall comply with the policies and procedures set forth in all such documents.

J.3 TASKS

The following tasks must be conducted within the guidelines of the BLS Data Integrity document. For more information, please see Appendix G (Data Integrity Document).

Task Sub-task Sub-task

Number

REFINEMENT ADDRESS REFINEMENT J.3.1

ENROLLMENT ENROLLMENT OF NEW SAMPLE J.3.2

ENROLLMENT REFUSAL CONVERSION J.3.3

ENROLLMENT ADDRESS REFINEMENT AND

ENROLLMENT PERFORMANCE

MEASURES

J.3.4

COLLECTION MULTI-MODAL COLLECTION J.3.5

COLLECTION COLLECTION PERFORMANCE

MEASURES

J.3.6

EDIT RECONCILIATION EDIT RECONCILIATION AND DATA

QUALITY

J.3.7

EDIT RECONCILIATION EDIT RECONCILIATION

PERFORMANCE MEASURES

J.3.8

QUALITY CONTROL AND TRAINING GOVERNMENT QUALITY

ASSURANCE

J.3.9.1

QUALITY CONTROL AND TRAINING CONTRACTOR QUALITY CONTROL J.3.9.2

QUALITY CONTROL AND TRAINING TRAINING J.3.9.3

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PHASE-IN OF WORK J.3.10.1

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROGRAM SUPPORT ACTIVITIES J.3.10.2

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PHASE-OUT OF WORK J.3.10.3

J.3.1 ADDRESS REFINEMENT

J.3.1.1 The government will provide enrollment panels, containing business establishments that need to be enrolled into the JOLTS survey each month. A business establishment consists of a single location of an Unemployment Insurance (UI) account. The government will cluster UIs by Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) and load the resulting cases into the government CATI system.

The contractor shall distribute cases to contractor staff using the government CATI system within 24 hours of the initial load of the new panel. For more information, please see

Appendix D – JOLTS CATI System.

J.3.1.2 The government will provide case registry information that will usually contain the business name, FIPS, UI, Reporting Unit Number (RUN), EIN, North American Industry

Classification System (NAICS) code, and address. Point of contact (POC) information, including name and phone number, is sometimes provided to the contractor.

The contractor shall verify and update case registry information, confirm that the business is still operating, and call the establishment to identify a POC who will receive an electronic or physical survey enrollment package. The contractor shall use the government CATI system telephone auto dialer for all outgoing calls. No calls can be made from non–government furnished equipment. While working onsite, contractor staff must use government-designated telecommunication methods and protocols unless otherwise approved by the government. The contractor shall enter the POC information into the government CATI system. The contractor shall use the government CATI system to print forms.

J.3.1.3 The government will provide electronic or physical enrollment materials as needed

The contractor shall prepare physical enrollment packages as needed, including cover letter, form, brochures, and pocket folder, for mailing by assembling materials and stuffing envelopes. The contractor shall prevent confidentiality breaches by verifying that inserts for each envelope are only for one POC.

The government will provide pre-paid postage envelopes for all enrollment packages. The contractor shall deliver completed enrollment packages to a designated onsite location for mail pick-up.

J.3.2 ENROLLMENT OF NEW SAMPLE

J.3.2.1 The contractor shall call the POC for the new enrollment case to verify physical address and/or email address. The contractor shall send POC and enrollment package and verify receipt. The contractor shall use the government CATI system telephone auto dialer for all outgoing calls. The contractor shall solicit survey participation, which will typically include the following steps:

• Explain the JOLTS survey

• Detail the scope of the survey request

• Answer respondent questions

• Verify UI number and RUN are correct for the Physical Location Address (PLA)

• Update respondent contact information

• Verify respondent email address

• Collect data for all JOLTS data elements that are available

• Determine if data are consistent with quarterly UI records, and

• Plan for future monthly collection

Survey enrollment typically requires multiple contacts to successfully convert a POC to a

JOLTS respondent. The contractor shall make the necessary number of contacts to complete enrollment. The contractor shall work to convert initial refusals to productive cases before marking initial refusals as final refusals. The contractor shall identify another POC or transfer the case to a different interviewer if necessary in order to convert an initial refusal into a productive case. The contractor shall not enroll respondents into the CATI system without the respondent’s verbal commitment to provide microdata. The contractor shall document the authorizing official’s name and their agreement to participate within the CATI application.

J.3.3 REFUSAL CONVERSION

The government and the contractor will identify previous refusal cases that should be re-attempted for refusal conversion. Typically this will be 6 months after initial refusal.

The contractor, working with the DCC Manager, shall distribute refusal conversion cases to contractor staff using the government CATI system. Interviewers should take the Refusal

Aversion Training prior to engaging in refusal conversion activities. The contractor shall attempt to obtain survey participation from the cases selected for refusal conversion by following the steps for address refinement and enrollment.

J.3.4 ADDRESS REFINEMENT AND ENROLLMENT PERFORMANCE MEASURES

J.3.4.1 QUALITY STANDARDS

J.3.4.1.1 The government will provide enrollment panels containing approximately 600 cases per month. The contractor must attempt contact with all respondents in enrollment panels.

J.3.4.1.2 The contractor shall perform address refinement duties on new cases within one calendar month and enrollment duties on new cases within a second calendar month.

J.3.4.2 ACCEPTABLE QUALITY LEVEL (AQL)

The following rates are calculated based on the number of months from when a new panel is provided to the contractor. For more information on the calculation of these rates, please see Appendix C- JOLTS Performance Measure Calculations.

Performance measure 1st month 2nd month 3rd month (JOLTS

1st closing)

Address refinement rate 98% 98% 100%

Enrollment rate 25% 85% 100%

Collection rate - - 80%

J.3.4.3 MONITORING METHOD

The contractor is expected to monitor their performance throughout the performance period to ensure that AQLs are being met. BLS will be monitoring concurrently by generating reports monthly which will be discussed with the contractor at the monthly meetings.

The contractor PM and supervisory team shall monitor address refinement, enrollment, and refusal conversion activities by analyzing reports detailing performance metrics at the individual and collective levels. The contractor is expected to remediate address refinement, enrollment, and refusal conversion issues as they are identified to increase the likelihood that acceptable quality levels are met.

The government will be monitoring performance concurrently and notifying the contractor PM of any potential issues they have identified.

The contractor PM will meet with the COR and Government Task Manager on a monthly basis to review address refinement, enrollment, and refusal conversion, discuss challenges, and identify improvements for future attempts.

J.3.5 COLLECTION

J.3.5.1 MULTI-MODAL COLLECTION

The contractor shall collect monthly JOLTS data utilizing approved program methods. The contractor shall collect data at the earliest time they are available from each respondent. The contractor shall collect these data according to the JOLTS production schedule with the goal of maximizing collection by JOLTS 1st Closing. The contractor shall collect data that were not available by JOLTS 1st Closing as soon as they become available, preferably before JOLTS 2nd

Closing.

The contractor shall work with respondents during the initial three-month CATI collection period with the goal of preparing the respondent for a successful transition to web reporting. The contractor shall use this three-month period to effectively train the respondent on providing accurate and timely data in preparation for moving the respondent to web reporting. The contractor shall work to minimize the number of respondents that transition to fax reporting, email reporting, or remain on permanent CATI, which should be reserved only for respondents that are unable or unwilling to submit data using the government data collection website.

The contractor shall ensure that respondent contact information remains current. If the respondent is no longer available at the establishment, the contractor shall identify and enroll a new respondent. The contractor shall verify the UI number and RUN for each case at least annually. The contractor shall document in the CATI system if the establishment has been part of a merger, acquisition or experienced any other major structural change.

The government will provide updates, when applicable, to FIPS, UI, and RUN information. These changes typically consist of updates to the UI number and RUN, or changes to NAICS industry code. When needed, the contractor shall confirm these updates with the respondent and ensure that data reported match the updated UI and RUN information.

J.3.5.1.1 CATI COLLECTION

J.3.5.1.1.1 The government will provide a CATI system designed specifically for JOLTS collection. The contractor shall use the government CATI system telephone auto dialer for all outgoing calls. For more information, please see Appendix D – JOLTS CATI System.

The government will email monthly reminders, based on the respondent’s preference, to CATI respondents specifying the previously agreed upon date for collection.

J.3.5.1.1.2 The contractor shall call respondents that have agreed to participate in the

JOLTS survey to collect all data elements for the current month and any missing data for previous months. The contractor shall enter data provided by the respondent into the government CATI system.

The contractor shall review and address edit & screening errors flagged by the National

Office or the CATI system. The contractor shall verify the data with the respondent and either correct it or address it by entering an appropriate comment code and documenting their activity in the notes section.

The contractor shall schedule with the respondent a date and time for collecting data for the subsequent month and enter this date and time into the government CATI system. The contractor shall attempt to schedule future collection so that data can be collected before the next month’s JOLTS 1st closing.

The government will provide a notes template used to record all pertinent information about all contacts with respondents. The contractor shall enter notes in the government

CATI system based on this template.

J.3.5.1.1.3 During the initial three-month period of CATI collection, the contractor shall prepare respondents for a transition to reporting data via the government provided

Internet Data Collection Facility (IDCF) or data collection website. The contractor shall collect and enter a valid email address into the government CATI system. The contractor shall provide detailed information to the respondent on entering data on the BLS data collection website.

Although respondents are eligible for self-reporting via web after three months, this period may fluctuate depending on the respondent’s reporting proficiency. Participants must report for three consecutive months without generating any screening errors or national office data verification requests. This could be the three consecutive months immediately after enrollment or three consecutive months later during their reporting tenure. Some JOLTS respondents have experience with JOLTS web reporting from prior requests. For these cases, the contractor shall determine if the respondent is capable of a conversion to web reporting on an accelerated schedule (i.e. prior to three months of

CATI reporting). Further, the contractor shall be responsive to those, both experienced and inexperienced in JOLTS web reporting, who would otherwise become final refusals if not converted to web reporting. In all cases, the contractor shall always ensure that a respondent has provided data by CATI for at least one month and fully understands the survey request before being converted to web reporting. The contractor shall work to minimize these accelerated web conversions and reserve them only for situations when it is a necessity to maintain a productive respondent.

The contractor shall collect data by fax, email, or permanent CATI from respondents who are unable or unwilling to report by web. For these cases, the contractor shall document in the case notes why the respondent will report by fax, email, or permanent

CATI and not by web.

J.3.5.1.2 WEB COLLECTION

J.3.5.1.2.1 The government will provide and operate an Internet Data Collection Facility

(IDCF) or data collection website. The government will provide all hardware, software and technical staff to support the data collection website. The government will develop updates, both major and minor, to the data collection website. For more information, please see Appendix E – JOLTS Internet Data Collection Facility.

During initial rollover of a unit to web collection, the government will email the respondent with the web letter embedded in the body of the email explaining the web process and a link to the instructions for web collection. For respondents who insist on receiving the instructions via mail, a traditional web rollover package may be sent to them. Note: these forms are used by web respondents as reference and not used for actual data submission.

The government will send monthly email reminders to web respondents. The current schedule for sending these emails is listed in the chart below. The government may alter this schedule in the future, based on either internal or external research, with the goal of improving web response.

The contractor shall place Non-Response Prompt (NRP) telephone calls to web respondents who did not submit data after receiving reminder emails. This should occur during the week leading up to JOLTS 1st closing. If the contractor is not able to speak with the respondent during the first call, the contractor shall place a follow-up call to the respondent to remind him or her to report by web. If the contractor is unable to speak to the respondent during a follow-up call, the contractor shall leave a voicemail reminder to report data. If the respondent offers to provide data by phone instead of by web, the contractor shall enter these data into the government CATI system. The contractor shall use the government CATI system telephone auto dialer for all outgoing calls.

J.3.5.1.3 FAX COLLECTION

J.3.5.1.3.1 The contractor shall offer fax collection only to avert a refusal. The government may, at its discretion, decide to discontinue fax collection during the term of this contract.

J.3.5.1.3.2 The contractor shall fax monthly reminders to fax respondents using the government CATI system. The contractor shall pick up faxes from fax machine(s) and/or print e-faxes received and distribute to assigned contractor staff. The contractor shall manually enter data into the government CATI system. The contractor shall review and address edit & screening errors flagged by the National Office or the CATI system. The contractor shall verify the data with the respondent and either correct or address the data by entering an appropriate comment code and documenting in the notes section.

J.3.5.1.3.2 All legacy fax reporters shall be retained and processed by the Atlanta DCC.

Any Kansas City DCC respondent requesting to submit data via fax should be transferred to the Atlanta DCC.

J.3.5.1.4 EMAIL COLLECTION

J.3.5.1.4.1 The contractor shall minimize the use of email collection and offer email collection to avert a refusal. The contractor shall follow all established rules and guidelines on the use of email for data collection provided by the government.

J.3.5.1.4.2 The government will email monthly reminders to email respondents.

J.3.5.1.4.3 The contractor shall assign senior staff or a manager to manually enter data using the CATI Batch Data Entry tool from emails received. This must be done within two days of receipt. The contractor shall review and address the edit & screening errors flagged by the National Office or CATI system. The contractor shall verify the data with the respondent and either correct or address the data by entering an appropriate comment code along with a note documenting their activity.

J.3.5.1.5 COLLECTION REMINDERS SCHEDULE

*Respondents can elect to not receive email reminders.

Sent to Timing

1st email reminder

All respondents (if requested)

Day prior to collection period beginning @ 12:30 pm

2nd email reminder Nonrespondents

Generally on the 5th day of the month @ 12:30 pm

3rd email reminder Nonrespondents

Monday prior to closing @

12:30pm

J.3.5.1.5.1 The government will be responsible for all email reminders.

J.3.5.1.5.2 The contractor must ensure that all data received via email are entered prior to the transmittal of the second and third reminders.

J.3.6 COLLECTION PERFORMANCE MEASURES

J.3.6.2.1 QUALITY STANDARDS

J.3.6.2.1.1 The contractor shall attempt to collect data for all cases before JOLTS 1st closing. The contractor shall attempt to collect data for all cases that did not provide data by JOLTS 1st closing before JOLTS 2nd closing.

J.3.6.2.1.2 The contractor shall attempt collection on all 21,000 DCC owned cases provided by the government.

J.3.6.2.1.3 The contractor shall attempt conversion on units identified by the government as refusal conversion units.

J.3.6.2.1.4 The contractor shall contact all NRP telephone cases provided by the government.

J.3.6.2.1.5 The contractor shall attempt collection on all delinquent cases provided by the government.

J.3.6.2.2 ACCEPTABLE QUALITY LEVEL (AQL)

The following rates are calculated based on the JOLTS closing schedule. For more information on the calculation of these rates, please see Appendix C- JOLTS Performance

Measure Calculations.

Performance measure 1st Closing rate 2nd Closing rate

Response rate 63% 68%

Collection rate 80% 85%

Item response rates

Job Openings 90% 90%

Hires 98% 98%

Quits 93% 93%

Layoffs and Discharges 93% 93%

Other Separations 93% 93%

Total separations (calculated as sum of Q, LD, and OS; or reported directly as TS) 96% 96%

Maximum Total Employment only reporting units 0.5% 0.5%

Maximum units that report total separations without Q, LD, and OS breakouts

4% 4%

Maximum refusal rate 25% 25%

Refusal conversion rate 25% 25%

*Units reporting only Total Employment (TE) with no other data elements (job openings, hires, quits, layoffs and discharges, other separations, total separations) will not count as respondents. The interviewer will attempt to collect additional data elements from these units for three months. After three months of employment-only reporting, these units will be considered refusals and dropped from collection. These refusals may be targeted for future refusal-conversion efforts.

J.3.6.2.3 MONITORING METHOD

The contractor PM and supervisory team shall monitor collection activities throughout the collection window by analyzing reports detailing performance metrics at the individual and collective levels. The contractor is expected to remediate collection issues as they are identified during the collection period to increase the likelihood that acceptable quality levels are met.

The government will be monitoring performance concurrently and notifying the contractor PM of any potential issues they have identified.

The contractor PM will meet with the COR and Government Task Manager on a monthly basis to review collection activities, discuss challenges, and identify improvements for future collection windows.

J.3.7 EDIT RECONCILIATION

J.3.7.1 EDIT RECONCILIATION AND DATA QUALITY

J.3.7.1.1 The government will provide a list of reports 3 or 4 times per month whose microdata failed edit & screening tests for any of the JOLTS data elements.

J.3.7.1.2 The contractor shall call respondents whose microdata failed these edit & screening tests. The contractor shall obtain corrected data when possible or assign explanatory comment codes and enter these data and notes into the government CATI system. This process is referred to as Edit Reconciliation (ER). The contractor should expect approximately 700 cases per month that require ER.

J.3.8 EDIT RECONCILIATION PERFORMANCE MEASURES

J.3.8.1 QUALITY STANDARDS

J.3.8.1.1 The contractor shall call respondents to address all cases that have been flagged for failing the edit & screening tests.

J.3.8.1.2 The contractor shall enter corrected microdata into the government CATI system or enter comment code and explanation in the notes or both.

J.3.8.1.3 The contractor shall run reports and programs on schedule.

J.3.8.2 ACCEPTABLE QUALITY LEVEL (AQL)

J.3.8.2.1 Minimum of 25% of system and program office edits cleared within 7 calendar days of occurrence or posting.

J.3.8.2.2 Minimum of 50% of system and program office edits cleared within 14 calendar

J.3.8.2.3 Minimum of 75% of system and program office edits cleared within 30 calendar

J.3.8.2.4 All 100% of system and program office edits cleared within 60 days of occurrence or posting. Government input may be needed to clear the edit.

J.3.8.3 MONITORING METHOD

The contractor PM and supervisory team shall monitor edit reconciliation activities by analyzing reports detailing performance metrics at the individual and collective levels.

The contractor is expected to remediate edit reconciliation issues as they are identified to increase the likelihood that acceptable quality levels are met.

BLS will be monitoring performance concurrently and notifying the contractor PM of any potential issues they have identified.

The contractor PM will meet with the COR and Government Task Manager on a monthly basis to review edit reconciliation activities, discuss challenges, and identify improvements for future attempts.

J.3.9 QUALITY CONTROL AND TRAINING

J.3.9.1 GOVERNMENT QUALITY ASSURANCE

The government will perform Quality Assurance (QA) activities to ensure data collection complies with JOLTS procedures and to ensure data integrity. The government will ensure the integrity of the data collected by confirming the interviewer contacted the respondent and by verifying the accuracy of the data collected. The government will perform case reviews and re-interviews. The government may monitor interviewer phone calls. The government will verify data entry, data code utilization, collection comments entered, proper use of collection procedures and systems, and employ additional QA activities as needed.

The government will use case reviews to review critical elements including:

• Notes

• UI number and RUN verification

• Contact information

• Data edits

• Data item collection, and

• Other elements as needed

The government will use re-interviews to review critical elements including:

• Data integrity

• UI number and RUN verification

• Reporting location

• Pay period verification

• Data accuracy

• Data elements collected, and

• Other elements as needed

The government will share results of these QA activities with the contractor. The contractor shall address all issues to the satisfaction of the government within five business days of notification by the government; if this is not possible, the contractor shall provide the DCC Manager a reasonable explanation.

The government will notify the contractor of concerns or issues identified by other methods.

The contractor shall address these issues to the satisfaction of the government within five business days of notification by the government; if this is not possible, the contractor shall provide the DCC Manager a reasonable explanation. The contractor shall resolve monthly action items provided by the government.

The contractor and the Government shall agree upon a Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan that summarizes the acceptable quality levels and stipulates penalties for AQLs that have not been met and incentives for AQLs that have been exceeded.

J.3.9.2 CONTRACTOR QUALITY CONTROL

The contractor shall actively engage in call monitoring to identify training needs, ensure data integrity policy compliance, correct deficiencies in interviewer performance, and identify successful techniques to share across centers. The contractor shall investigate and resolve the following issues, but not limited to:

J.3.9.2.1 The contractor shall investigate if the reported employment is not similar to the

EQUI Database (EDB) employment. The contractor shall review the reported employment and EDB employment and determine if there is an error. The contractor shall correct errors and notify the government within five business days of any issues that the government needs to resolve.

J.3.9.2.2 The contractor shall investigate if the UI and RUN has not been verified for the PLA by the interviewer. The contractor shall verify the UI and RUN are correct for the PLA. If the

UI and RUN cannot be verified as correct for the PLA, the contractor shall provide an explanation in the case notes in the government CATI system. If the respondent refuses or is unable to verify the UI and RUN are correct for the PLA, the contractor shall instead verify the EIN with the respondent.

J.3.9.2.3 The contractor shall verify that cases have either been moved to web collection; or email, fax, or permanent CATI after the initial five-month CATI collection period. The contractor shall verify that cases that are being reported by email, fax, or permanent CATI have sufficient justification for not being moved to web collection. Please refer to J.3.2.1.1.3 for discussion of transitioning CATI respondents to web collection.

J.3.9.2.4 The contractor shall perform re-interviews on cases where data falsification is suspected. During re-interviews, if the respondent indicates that he or she did not talk to an interviewer on the day indicated, the contractor shall immediately notify the government

DCC Manager of a potential falsification of data. During re-interviews, if the respondent indicates that he or she did not report data that is shown in the government CATI system, the contractor shall immediately notify the government DCC Manager of a potential falsification of data.

J.3.9.2.4.1 The contractor shall immediately begin an investigation, including a case review of the interviewer’s completed assignment.

J.3.9.2.4.2 The contractor shall document the cases in which falsification occurred, correct the data in the government CATI system, and provide these results to the government DCC Manager throughout the investigation.

J.3.9.2.4.3 The contractor shall evaluate the circumstances and consult with the DCC

Manager, CO, and COR. The CO will determine whether or not the interviewer should be removed from data collection activities.

J.3.9.2.5 The contractor shall provide the government with a Contractor Quality Control Plan that ensures data is in compliance with JOLTS procedures and ensures data integrity utilizing the surveillance and recording functions included in the telephone system software. A final quality control plan must be provided within 90 days following award.

J.3.9.3 TRAINING

The contractor shall certify new employees for the applicable new hire training modules before the new employees can independently collect data for each module topic that is relevant to their assigned work. The contractor shall provide email documentation that certifies a new contractor hire is capable of independently collecting data that comply with JOLTS procedures and data integrity guidelines. New employees are not authorized to collect data unsupervised until they have completed the data integrity training, signed the data integrity document, and completed the annual confidentiality training. Data collection before training is completed may be done with approval from the DCC manager.

The government will provide new hire training materials with four separate module certifications: Address Refinement, Enrollment, Data Collection, and Non-Response Prompting.

Each module involves 2-3 days of classroom training.

The contractor shall provide all training, using government provided or government approved training materials. All tasks must be completed in accordance with the training materials provided by the government whether it is new employee training or other training.

J.3.9.3.1 The contractor shall certify that new hires complete the Address Refinement module.