CEO Library

The executive summary of the An Introduction to the World of Work A Study of the Implementation and Impacts of New York City's Summer Youth Employment Program Final Report that examines the impacts of the nation’s largest summer youth jobs program — New York City’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) — on young people’s education, employment, and earnings.

Workers across the United States have a right to earn a living without risking their lives. Yet, in 2014, more than 4,800 American workers were killed on the job, and nearly 3 million suffered work-related injuries and illnesses. Previous research suggests that Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspections can reduce the risks workers face. However, for inspections to work as intended, OSHA needs employers to respond promptly when workplace inspections reveal unsafe conditions.

The mission of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is to ensure safe and healthy conditions for workers. OSHA estimates that work-related deaths and injuries have fallen by more than 65 percent since the agency’s creation in 1970. Still, in 2014, more than 4,800 American workers were killed on the job, and nearly 3 million suffered work-related injuries and illnesses.

The brief presents initial findings on the effects of an intervention designed to increase employer responsiveness to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Through a nationwide randomized controlled trial, researchers tested whether employers who were cited for health and safety violations would be more responsive if OSHA changed the way it issues and follows up on citations.

Infographic depicting high-level results of the Using Behavioral Interventions to Help Employers Resolve Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Citations Technical Report.

Webinar describing the high-level results of the Using Behavioral Interventions to Help Employers Resolve Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Citations Technical Report.

In 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) contracted with Mathematica Policy Research and ideas to explore the potential of using insights from behavioral science to improve the performance and outcomes of DOL programs. In this study, the DOL Behavioral Interventions (DOL-BI) team partnered with the Human Resources Division of DOL (DOL-HR) and the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) to explore whether low-cost, behaviorally informed emails would result in more DOL employees saving, or saving more, for retirement.

Preparing for retirement is important. For many workers in the United States, a comfortable retirement may depend on the savings decisions they make now. Failing to save today can have very real consequences as people age, reducing the comforts they get to enjoy during retirement and their ability to cope with health and financial shocks. Following broader Federal policy, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has sought effective strategies for encouraging its employees to increase their retirement savings.

The brief presents initial findings on the effects of an email designed to encourage U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) employees to increase their contributions to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)—a plan similar to 401(k) plans in the private sector—and take full advantage of the available employer match.

Infographic depicting high-level results of the Using Behavioral Interventions to Increase Retirement Savings Technical Report.

Webinar describing the high-level results of the Using Behavioral Interventions to Increase Retirement Savings Technical Report.

Finding a job after becoming unemployed can be challenging for many individuals. Even as the unemployment rate has decreased during the recovery from the 2007–2008 financial crisis, the average duration of regular unemployment insurance (UI) benefits remains high (15.6 weeks as of January 2017). In response, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) helps UI claimants find, apply for, and obtain new employment. DOL has long sought effective ways to encourage unemployed workers to engage in services that can help them get reemployed.

Finding a job after becoming unemployed can be challenging for many individuals. Even as the unemployment rate has decreased during the recovery from the 2007–2008 financial crisis, the average duration of regular unemployment insurance benefits remains high (15.6 weeks as of January 2017). The Department of Labor (DOL) has long sought effective ways to encourage unemployed workers to engage in services that can help them get reemployed.

The brief presents initial findings on the effects of an intervention designed to encourage Unemployment Insurance (UI) claimants to participate in their state’s Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment (REA) pilot program and persist in their job search. For the study, selected Michigan Works! agencies and the W.E. Upjohn Institute partnered with the U.S.

Infographic depicting high-level results of the Using Behavioral Interventions to Improve Take-Up of a Reemployment Program Technical Report.

Webinar describing the high-level results of the Using Behavioral Interventions to Improve Take-Up of a Reemployment Program Technical Report.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Behavioral Interventions (DOL-BI) project adds to a growing body of evidence indicating that relatively small changes in how programs operate can lead to striking improvements in their performance. In three trials that tested applications of behavioral science, the project team found substantial benefits for three DOL programs. The brief provides details on the design and findings of each trial. This brief focuses on the lessons learned by the team as it identified opportunities for behavioral trials and implemented each one.

The playbook was developed to give program administrators and managers at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and other social programs an overview of how they can use insights from behavioral science to improve the effectiveness of their programs and services. This playbook is a step-by-step guide on how to identify behavioral problems and use strategies informed by behavioral science.

Effective U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) programs often require people to take action to get the benefits offered, but people often fail to do so. The reasons can be varied: they aren’t motivated to participate or they intend to but get distracted, or they begin and then are deterred by seemingly minor operational hassles. Fortunately, behavioral scientists have developed many techniques to improve the effectiveness of program procedures–techniques that have been applied successfully in many DOL programs.

The way we write and structure documents can make them much more impactful. The checklist provides guidance before sending out an important communication. Make sure to review the checklist and see if there are edits you can make to improve it. While it may not always be possible to complete each item on the checklist, communications that incorporate more behavioral insights will have greater potential.

The podcast describes lessons learned from the Behavioral Interventions for Labor Related Programs Project, designed to test the use of behavioral science in U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) programs.

Worker moral hazard has been shown in some empirical studies to influence workers’ compensation insurance claims patterns. According to moral hazard theory, temporary help services workers would be expected to file a greater number of spurious claims than traditional, directly-hired employees as a result of greater safety information asymmetry between staffing agencies and the temporary help services workers they place in third party workplaces than between employers and their directly-hired employees.

The nature of the employer-employee relationship is drastically changing in the United States, with lead employers employing fewer workers directly and instead relying on intermediaries and contracting firms for providing labor services. In the paper researchers investigate the incidence and effects of outsourcing labor service jobs in food, cleaning, security and logistics (FCSL) to business service firms. They first provide long time series using Census and ACS data documenting large movements of FCSL jobs to business service firms, with an accelerating trend since the Great Recession.

In the paper the researchers analyze if the share of agricultural employment can contribute to strengthening employment resilience in Indian Country. They define Indian Country as all reservation territories within the contiguous United States. They construct employment data by sector for Indian Country based on Zip Code level data from 1990 to 2015. They analyze employment growth in Indian Country across recessions and recovery periods and find Indian Country generally to be less affected by recessions than the United States as a whole.

A crucial question for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other regulatory agencies in the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is the extent to which enforcement inspections lead to general deterrence—that is, improve compliance and performance at non-inspected workplaces. The magnitude and scope of spillovers has major implications for how OSHA should target its enforcement resources to maximize their impact on the health and safety of workers. However, identifying spillover effects of inspections entails overcoming several substantial empirical challenges.