Chapter 1 - Introduction
Two Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) programs, the Current Employment
Statistics (CES) and the Multiple Worksite Report (MWR), collect
employment and payroll data from employers1
throughout the United States.
The CES is a monthly survey of 300,000 non-farm
business establishments2 that estimates employment, hours, and earnings at
the national, state, and metropolitan area levels. It provides one of the
first indicators on the health of the economy.
The MWR is a quarterly survey of large employers used
to collect statistical information to supplement statewide data provided
by employers through State Unemployment Insurance (UI) Quarterly
Contribution Reports (QCRs).
Both the CES and MWR programs publish statistics on our nation's employment
and earnings. Collected monthly, the CES program uses its sample to provide current
estimates of monthly nonfarm employment, average weekly hours, and average hourly
and weekly earnings. CES data are very timely and are published on the first Friday
of the month following the reference period. As such, they are one of the earliest
indicators released regarding current economic conditions. Data are published
for the nation, States, and most large metropolitan areas.
The MWR covers about 98 percent of all nonfarm employees and 99 percent of those
in the private nonfarm sector. Collected quarterly, the MWR program is a
comprehensive and accurate source of monthly employment and quarterly gross wage
data, published by industry, at the national, State, and county levels.
One of the primary goals of BLS is to reduce the employers' reporting burden,
while providing timely, accurate economic information to those who need
it. To meet this goal, BLS has established an Electronic Data Interchange
(EDI) Center in Chicago, Illinois.
Traditionally, the collection of the CES and MWR data has been by mail.
The EDI Center, however, can facilitate collection of these data by
offering centralized electronic data reporting. This reduces the burden
for employers since they can generate electronic files directly from their
payroll system, eliminating the need for manual transcription, and can
send files covering all their locations to one place, the EDI Center,
rather than sending files separately to each State. Thus, employers can
reduce their points of contact from as many as fifty individual State
agencies, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands,
to just one, the EDI Center. While the initial
setup of these files by your firm will require a certain amount of
up-front work, the benefits of electronic data reporting will
substantially reduce your long-term workload.
For any prospective EDI reporter, the EDI Center also experiences some
initial setup work. When initially contacting the EDI Center, ask EDI Center
staff if your firm meets the initial size thresholds to qualify for EDI reporting.
These size thresholds focus on the prospective firm's total employment, number
of physical locations, and the number of States where the employer has locations.
While we prefer electronic data reporting, we can accept data files on
magnetic media such as cartridge, tape, diskette, or CD. Once the data have
been received and processed, the EDI Center transmits these data to the
State agencies.
Electronic data reporting also provides benefits to BLS and the States.
First, since data are received in electronic form, key-entry is eliminated
thus reducing collection costs. Second, electronic data reporting often
leads to more accurate data since manual transcription, (which can
potentially introduce data errors) has been eliminated. Finally, employers
are usually able to provide electronic data more quickly, which allows for
more timely information to be provided to users of economic data.
In short, electronic data reporting to the EDI Center provides
employers with an efficient, low-cost method of submitting employment and
payroll data while maintaining the high standards of quality and
confidentiality expected from BLS.
In its most basic form, EDI is simply the transfer of information
electronically from computer to computer. There are two major aspects of
this transfer. The first is the method, and the second is the
format. The information in this booklet will provide you with
guidelines for creating and transmitting data in a "flat file format" to
the EDI Center using the "direct" transmission method.
The method of file transfer is called "direct" EDI, and involves
the use of modems, phone lines, and appropriate communications software.
Using this method, the file transfer occurs directly between the
firm and BLS computers. The firm dials a toll-free number, logs onto a
bulletin board, and executes a file transfer. The EDI Center can accept
most common high-speed communications protocols. In addition, the EDI
Center can receive data 24 hours a day, offers toll-free file
transmission, and Help Desk services. Firms may also transmit their data
to BLS using standard File Transfer Protocol. To secure the data, BLS
requests that the file be encrypted. See Chapter 6, Data Transmission
Procedures, for additional details.
The format offered by the EDI Center uses a fixed record layout
in a standard ASCII file, which is referred to as a "flat file format."
This file can be created with most spreadsheet, database and word
processing software packages. In the EDI industry, this type of format
would be considered "proprietary" EDI, meaning simply that a format
specific to one of the partners was adopted as the standard format.
Contact the EDI Center before you begin programming and creating data
files. This provides us with the opportunity to discuss situations that
may be unique to your firm. When your firm is ready to begin reporting
data, please notify the EDI Center in advance. Also, to ensure that the
electronic or magnetic media reporting of data is accurate, one or two
test transmissions are required prior to discontinuing your current
method of reporting.
You may submit your data on various media. The EDI Center will assist
with your creation of a test cartridge, tape, diskette, or CD. If you need
any additional information, or have suggestions or comments, please contact
the EDI Center Manager toll free at 1-800-861-3804 ext 230 or via the Internet at EDICTR-CHI@bls.gov.
BLS currently offers EDI for the two programs, mentioned above. It is
both logical and cost-effective to begin by converting firms participating
in the MWR to EDI first, and then convert firms participating in the CES
program to EDI. In this way, we can insure the maximum level of
consistency and coordination.
Separate record layouts have been specifically developed for employee
leasing companies, currently known as professional employer organizations
(PEOs) and for businesses that provide payroll operations, currently known
as payroll provider firms (PPFs), for businesses that outsource their
payroll operations. Although the record layouts are very similar to the
general MWR layout described in Appendix B within this booklet, the differences
necessitate that a PEO or PPF have their own unique file formats. The unique
nature of the PEO and PPF reporting require additional data elements not
identified on the general MWR file format. See Appendix E for the EDI-required
PPF MWR file format.
Ongoing data quality is of utmost importance to BLS. Therefore we
require an overlap period which allows both programs to carefully
match your previously reported data with your new EDI reported data. This
will further allow us to insure the continuity of our data series.
For the MWR, we require a minimum of 1 quarter overlap period. For the
CES, we require a minimum of 3 months overlap. If we have substantial data
quality issues, we reserve the right to extend the overlap period.
Footnotes:
1
Since tax reporting and the preparation of payrolls is often contracted
out to service bureaus by employers, references in this booklet to
employers (or firms) include service bureaus as well.
2 Use
of the terms "establishments", "worksites", and "reporting units" are
synonymous throughout this document.
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Appendix A, B, C, D, E, F
Last Modified Date: September 27, 2005
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