Case Studies

Survey Design and Policy Development

The Challenge

The Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration (DOL/ETA) tasked HeiTech Services to evaluate the Domestic In-season Agricultural Wage Survey and make recommendations for improving the survey process based on current resources and policy objectives. Three different DOL/ETA programs utilize the survey to ensure that the prevailing wages of domestic farm workers in a local area are not undercut by the recruitment of temporary workers from foreign countries or from other regions of the United States.

There were three primary reasons why a major reevaluation of the survey was necessary. First, the wage survey procedures presumed a higher level of funding than had actually been the case for several years. Second, there had recently been a number of legal challenges to wage findings. Third, Congress was actively considering major legislative changes affecting domestic and foreign farm workers that would place more reliance on the agricultural wage surveys and require that they be conducted more expeditiously.

The Strategy

HeiTech Services developed a knowledge model using historical documents to define the program's operating environment, identify all the entities involved, and map the general flow of information. HeiTech Services then contacted all 50 states to collect data on how the wage surveys were currently conducted and elicit ideas on how the process could be improved. After collecting data from a representative sample of the states, HeiTech Services proposed to the DOL/ETA clients the necessity for conducting a thorough examination of actual wage survey documentation to better determine issues with the current procedures and the viability of proposed solutions.

After the clients agreed with the revised approach, HeiTech Services collected (and developed a database for analyzing) all documentation involving agricultural wage surveys over a five-year period. Once the major issues surrounding the current wage survey were initially defined, HeiTech Services conducted a comprehensive statistical evaluation of trends in historical wage surveys and developed a report containing these preliminary findings and recommendations.

The Result

Based on its research and analysis, HeiTech Services developed a series of proposals for addressing the major issues with the current wage survey methodology - and refined these proposals through extensive discussions with ETA and DOL's Office of the Solicitor. Through an effective husbanding of resources, HeiTech Services was able to extend the period of performance (without any increase in cost) to allow additional review cycles to further fine-tune the proposed procedures.

Through this process of negotiation, HeiTech Services developed a draft Federal Register notice to propose (and seek comments on) the revised survey procedures. The notice proposed major changes to the survey, including its timing and conduct, the characterization of agricultural industries and activities, the methodology for developing a target sample, procedures for collecting wage data, and the methodology for calculating prevailing wage rates. HeiTech Services also developed a comprehensive industry/activity matrix and revised forms for reporting information from agricultural employers and the states.