Which statement describes the required fields on the employee census?

• A. Everything but vision and dental
• B. All fields
• C. First name only
• D. Name and address

Answer: (A)

In census data collection, you want to capture the essential identifying and job-related information needed to administer payroll, taxes, and reporting. Fields that pertain to benefits elections, like vision and dental, are usually not part of the census record and are considered optional for this purpose. That’s why a statement that all fields are required except for vision and dental best describes the typical census requirements: basically everything needed to identify and classify the employee, without including benefit-specific choices. A first name alone or just name and address wouldn’t give enough information for payroll and HR systems, and insisting on all fields would wrongly include benefit data that isn’t part of the census.