Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

OEWS Survey Respondents
PRINT:Print
OEWS OEWS Program Links

Instructions

There are several ways to submit your response to the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) Report electronically.

Recommended submission methods

  • If you are reporting for an establishment with fewer than 20 employees, fill out our online data entry spreadsheet
  • If you are reporting for an establishment with 20 or more employees, upload or email a spreadsheet or other data file.

Submission instructions by method

For establishments with fewer than 20 employees:

For establishments with 20 or more employees:

Enter your data into our online spreadsheet

Note: To ensure the security of your data, your session will time out after 30 minutes. This includes time spent entering occupations and wages. If you are entering data into our online form, make sure you have collected your employee occupation and wage information before logging in. If you are uploading a file, make sure it is ready before logging in.

  1. Go to https://idcfoews.bls.gov. Log in with your unique IDCF number, located above the mailing address on your OEWS data request.
  2. Follow the instructions to enter your contact information and answer questions about the location specified after “Report for” in the mailing address on your data request.
  3. Read the reporting and data entry instructions, then enter your occupation and wage data into the OEWS data entry spreadsheet. You can type your information in manually or copy and paste from a spreadsheet. There is a comment field at the bottom of the page in case you have anything to add about your data.
  4. Click “Continue” at the bottom of the page. Our system will flag potential errors in yellow or red. Correcting errors now may prevent a follow up phone call in the future, but you can proceed without changing errors highlighted in yellow by clicking “Continue” a second time. Errors in red must be corrected before you can proceed.
  5. Review the data you entered, and use the “Edit” button to return to the previous page and make changes. You can download a copy of your data as an Excel file on this page.
  6. Click “Submit Data to BLS” to complete the submission. You will receive a confirmation email; please save this email in case there are questions about your submission.

Create or generate a spreadsheet

If your establishment has 20 or more employees, we recommend uploading or emailing a spreadsheet or report from your payroll system. We prefer Excel files (.xlsx), but can accept almost any file format except executable (.exe) files. Many payroll systems will produce an electronic report with the information we need, but please remove information like employee names and Social Security numbers. You can also download our Excel template or create your own spreadsheet.

For the pay period that included the reference date specified in the data request, please provide the specific job title, a brief description of duties, and the wage rate for each employee at the location specified after “Report for” in the mailing address on your OEWS data request. Report hourly wage rates for part-time employees, and hourly wage rates or annual salaries for full-time employees.

Note: If your establishment is a primary, secondary, or post-secondary school, please see Extra Instructions for Schools.

Here is an example of the type of spreadsheet we are requesting:

Submit your file

Once your file is ready, you can upload it or email it to your state office.

Upload a data file

Note: To ensure the security of your data, your session will time out after 30 minutes. This includes time spent entering occupations and wages. If you are entering data into our online form, make sure you have collected your employee occupation and wage information before logging in. If you are uploading a file, make sure it is ready before logging in.

  1. Go to https://idcfoews.bls.gov. Log in with your unique IDCF number, located above the mailing address on your OEWS data request.
  2. Follow the instructions to enter your contact information and answer questions about the location specified after “Report for” in the mailing address on your data request.
  3. On the file upload page, scroll down and use the “Browse” button to select your data file. Multiple files can be attached, but the total size cannot exceed 30 MB.
  4. Click “Send” to submit your file. Click “Continue” on the next page to send yourself a confirmation email.

Email a data file


  1. Send your file to the secure email address on your OEWS data request. This is the address that begins with "OEWS" and ends with "@idcfmail.bls.gov". Please include your IDCF number in the email.
  2. You will receive an email confirming your submission; please retain this for your records. Your state office will contact you if they have questions or need more information.
    Note: If sending your spreadsheet via email, the Bureau of Labor Statistics strongly recommends that you encrypt your attachment and avoid including any sensitive information in the body of the email message.

Extra Instructions for Schools

If your establishment is a school, please upload or email a file. Many payroll and personnel systems will produce a report with the information we need. You can also create a simple spreadsheet. Do not include employee names or Social Security numbers. Only list each employee once.

Primary and Secondary Schools

  • For teachers (primary or secondary educators), specify the grade level and indicate if they teach special education or career, technical, or vocational education.
  • For teachers or substitute teachers being paid on a daily basis, report the daily wage and the number of hours in their workday.
  • For faculty who work less than full-time but receive an annual salary, report the salary and whether they are employed half-time, three-quarters time, one-third time, two-thirds time, etc.

Post-Secondary Schools

  • For professors or adjunct teachers (post-secondary educators), include the subject taught or department. For adjunct teachers, please list the per-credit pay rate.
  • For full-time faculty being paid an annual salary, report their annual salary.
  • For faculty who work less than full-time but receive an annual salary, report the salary and whether they are employed half-time, three-quarters time, one-third time, two-thirds time, etc.

Once you have created your file, you can submit it by following the instructions on how to upload or email a file.

 

Last Modified Date: July 19, 2022