APCO Comments to OMB on 2028 SOC Revision

On August 2, 2024, APCO submitted comments to the Office of Management and Budget urging the agency to reclassify Public Safety Telecommunicators (PSTs) from the current Office and Administrative Support Occupations category to the Protective Service Occupations category in the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC). This change to the upcoming revision of the SOC is essential to accurately reflect the critical, life-saving role 9-1-1 professionals play in our community.

View APCO’s government relations team recorded webinar explaining APCO’s strategy for providing input to OMB, how this effort relates to the 9-1-1 SAVES Act and what you can do to help ensure that OMB finally corrects this outdated classification.

Background

The Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) is one of several classification systems established by the federal government to ensure coordination of federal statistical activities. In its current version, 9-1-1 professionals are identified as “Public Safety Telecommunicators” and classified as “Office and Administrative Support Occupations.”

The occupations in the SOC are classified at four levels: major group, minor group, broad occupation, and detailed occupation.

43-0000 Office and Administrative Support Occupations

43-5000 Material Recording, Scheduling, Dispatching, and Distributing Workers

43-5030 Dispatchers

43-5031 Public Safety Telecommunicators

 

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) coordinates the SOC. In 2017, OMB revised the SOC changing the detailed occupation name from “Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers” to “Public Safety Telecommunicators” but rejecting suggestions to reclassify them as “Protective Service Occupations.”

In June 2024, OMB initiated a multi-year revision process for the 2028 SOC.

For more information about the SOC, click here.

(The SOC does not have a direct legal relationship to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Reclassification in the SOC would not, by itself, open the door for different treatment under FLSA.)

View the latest status update for reclassification efforts.

APCO’s Suggested Revisions

Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus Co-Chairs’ Letter to OMB

OMB’s Interim Decision

APCO’s Latest Comments

Additional Data Sent to OMB

Final Decision for 2018 SOC

APCO Member Message on Increasing Recognition of 9-1-1 Professionals by Aligning Job Descriptions With the Protective Nature of the Work

FCC Chairwoman Letter to OMB

Congressional Efforts

APCO Template for Member Comments on SOC Revision

In June, OMB announced the beginning of a multi-year process to revise to Standard Occupational Classification (SOC). As part of this process, OMB is seeking comments from the public on the current SOC classifications. APCO has created a downloadable template for interested members to use to file comments with OMB in support of reclassifying Public Safety Telecommunicators as a Protective Service Occupation.