Commission Regulation (EC) No 1726/1999 of 27 July 1999 Implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 530/1999 concerning structural statistics on earnings and on labour costs as regards the definition and transmission of information on labour costs

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1726/1999

of 27 July 1999

Implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 530/1999(1) concerning structural statistics on earnings and on labour costs as regards the definition and transmission of information on labour costs

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 530/1999 (1)  of 9 March 1999 concerning structural statistics on earnings and on labour costs and in particular Article 11 thereof,

(1) Whereas, in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 530/99 implementing measures are necessary concerning the definition and breakdown of the information to be provided and the appropriate technical format for the transmission of the results;

(2) Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion delivered by the Statistical Programme Committee established by Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom (²),

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Definition and breakdown of the information

In accordance with Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 530/1999, Member States shall provide information on the variables listed in Annex I to the present Regualtion.

To this end, the definitions of the variables are laid down in Annex II to the present Regulation.

Article 2

Technical format for the transmission of the results

The appropriate technical format to be used for the transmission of the results is laid down in Annex III to the present Regulation.

Article 2a

Transitional measures for the implementation of NACE Rev. 2

Member States shall transmit to the Commission (Eurostat) labour cost survey results referring to the calendar year 2008 according to both NACE Rev. 2 and NACE Rev. 1,1, where the latter is compulsory only for Table A and only at the NACE Rev. 1,1 section level.

Article 3

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

ANNEX I

LIST OF VARIABLES

Structural statistics on labour costs

For the variables listed below, either Table A only or all three tables must be provided. Mandatory delivery is indicated by ‘m’ and optional delivery by ‘o’. The transmission codes belonging to the different categories of qualitative variables or size classes of quantitative variables are set by Eurostat in an implementation paper.

Variable	Only A	A-C (1)
A. Number of employees
A.1  Total number of employees		m
A.11  Full-time employees (excluding apprentices)		m
A.12  Part-time employees (excluding apprentices)		m
A.121  Part-time employees converted into full-time units (excluding apprentices)		m
A.13  Apprentices		m
A.131  Apprentices converted into full-time units		m
B. Hours actually worked
B.1  Total hours actually worked		m
B.11  Hours actually worked by full-time employees (excluding apprentices)		m
B.12  Hours actually worked by part-time employees (excluding apprentices)		m
B.13  Hours actually worked by apprentices		m
C. Paid hours
C.1  Total hours paid	m
C.11  Paid hours for full-time employees (excluding apprentices)	m
C.12  Paid hours for part-time employees (excluding apprentices)	m
C.13  Paid hours for apprentices	m
D. Labour costs (for details see Figure 1 below)
D.1  Compensation of employees		m
D.11  Wages and salaries (for details see Figure 2 below)		m
D.111  Wages and salaries (excluding apprentices)		m
D.1111  Direct remuneration, bonuses and allowances		m
D.11111  Direct remuneration, bonuses and allowances paid in each pay period	m
D.11112  Direct remuneration, bonuses and allowances not paid in each pay period (2)	m
D.1112  Payments to employees’ savings schemes		m
D.1113  Payments for days not worked		m
D.1114  Wages and salaries in kind		m
D.11141  Company products (optional)	o
D.11142  Staff housing (3) (optional)	o
D.11143  Company cars (optional)	o
D.11144  Stock options and share purchase schemes (optional)	o
D.11145  Other (optional)	o
D.112  Wages and salaries of apprentices		m
D.12  Employers' social contributions (for details see Figure 3 below)		m
D.121  Employers' actual social contributions (excluding apprentices)		m
D.1211  Statutory social-security contributions	m
D.1212  Collectively agreed, contractual and voluntary social-security contributions	m
D.122  Employers' imputed social contributions (excluding apprentices)		m
D.1221  Guaranteed remuneration in the event of sickness (optional)	o
D.1222  Employers' imputed social contributions for pensions and health care (optional)	o
D.1223  Payments to employees leaving the enterprise (optional)	o
D.1224  Other imputed social contributions of the employer (optional)	o
D.123  Employers' social contributions for apprentices		m
D.2  Vocational training costs		m
D.3  Other expenditure paid by the employer		m
D.4  Taxes		m
D.5  Subsidies received by the employer		m
E. Information on units
E.1  Local units, universe		m
E.2  Local units, sample		m
(1)Tables C are relevant only to countries with NUTS 1 regions. (2)Except payments to employee savings schemes. (3)Except removal allowances.

Optionally, Member States may record more detailed data for the following variables (transmission to Eurostat only on request):

A.11 Full-time employees

A.12 Part-time employees

D.11112 Direct remuneration, bonuses and allowances not paid in each pay period

D.1113 Payments for days not worked

D.1211 Statutory social-security contributions

D.1212 Collectively agreed, contractual and voluntary social-security contributions

D.1223 Payments to employees leaving the enterprise

Figure 1

Labour costs and their main components

Figure 2

Disaggregation of the component ‘Wages and salaries’ (D.11)

Figure 3

Disaggregation of the component ‘Employers’ social contributions’ (D.12)

ANNEX II

DEFINITIONS OF THE VARIABLES

A. NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES

Employees are all persons irrespective of their nationality or the length of their working time in the country who have a direct employment contract with the enterprise or local unit (whether the agreement is formal or informal) and receive remuneration, irrespective of the type of work performed, the number of hours worked (full-time or part-time) and the duration of the contract (fixed or indefinite). The remuneration of employees can take the form of wages and salaries including bonuses, pay for piecework and shift work, allowances, fees, tips and gratuities, commission and remuneration in kind.

This definition of employees covers manual and non-manual workers and management personnel in the private and public sectors in economic activities classified to  Sections B-N and P-S of NACE Rev. 2 in enterprises with at least 10 employees (³).

The following list gives illustrative examples of categories of employees that are included:

—sales representatives, provided they are on the payroll and receive another form of remuneration in addition to any commission,

—paid working proprietors,

—apprentices,

—students and trainees (articled clerks, student nurses, research or teaching assistants, hospital interns, etc.) who have a formal commitment whereby they contribute to the unit’s production process in return for remuneration,

—interim or temporary workers (e.g. secretarial staff) recruited, employed and remunerated by employment agencies to work elsewhere, often for temporary periods (⁴); seasonal and occasional workers, if they have a formal or informal agreement with the enterprise or local unit and pre-defined working hours,

—employees for whom labour costs were incurred in the reference year but who were temporarily not at work because of illness or injury, holiday or vacation, strike or lock-out, educational or training leave, maternity or parental leave, reduced economic activity, suspension of work due to bad weather, mechanical breakdowns, lack of materials, fuels or power, or other temporary absence with or without leave,

—those working abroad if they continue to receive remuneration from the statistical unit,

—outworkers (⁵), including home workers and tele-workers, if there is an explicit agreement that such workers are remunerated on the basis of the work done: that is, the amount of labour which is contributed as an input into some process of production.

The following categories should be excluded:

—sales representatives and other persons who are wholly remunerated by way of fees or commission, are not on the payroll, or who are self-employed,

—owners, directors or managers whose remuneration wholly takes the form of a share in profits,

—family workers who are not employees (as defined above) of the enterprise or local unit,

—own-account workers,

—unpaid voluntary workers (e.g. those who typically work for non-profit institutions such as charities).

Reference ESA 95: 11.12 to 11.14

A.1   Total number of employees

This variable covers full-time employees (A.11), part-time employees (A.12) and apprentices (A.13)

Reference SBS: code 16130 (number of employees)

A.11   Full-time employees (excluding apprentices)

This covers employees (except apprentices) whose regular working hours are the same as the collectively agreed or customary hours worked in the enterprise or local unit, even if their contract is for less than one year. The number of employees required is the average monthly number of full-time employees employed in the reporting unit during the reference year.

A.12   Part-time employees (excluding apprentices)

This covers employees (except apprentices) whose regular working hours are less than the collectively agreed or customary hours worked in the enterprise or local unit, whether daily, weekly or monthly (half-day, three-quarter time, four-fifths time, etc.) The number of employees required is the average monthly number of part-time employees employed in the reporting unit during the reference year.

A.121   Part-time employees converted into full-time units

This conversion is to be carried out either directly by the enterprise or local unit making returns or by the collecting agency/national statistical institute on the basis of the normal working hours of full-time workers in this enterprise/local unit, using the method they consider most appropriate. The number of employees required is the average monthly number of part-time employees (converted into full-time units) employed in the reporting unit during the reference year.

Reference ESA 95: 11.32 to 11.34

A.13   Apprentices

This covers all employees, full-time or part-time, who do not yet fully participate in the production process and who work either under an apprenticeship contract or in a situation in which vocational training predominates over productivity. The number of apprentices required is the average monthly number employed in the reporting unit during the reference year.

A.131   Part-time apprentices converted into full-time units

This conversion is to be carried out either directly by the enterprise or local unit making returns or by the collecting agency/national statistical institute, using the method they consider most appropriate. The hours spent in training either in the enterprise/local unit or in educational establishments should be excluded. The number of apprentices required is the average monthly number of part-time apprentices (converted into full-time units) employed in the reporting unit during the reference year (⁶).

References ESA 95: 11.32 to 11.34; SBS: code 16140 (A.11 + A.121 + A.131 corresponds to the SBS variable ‘number of employees in full-time units’)

B. HOURS ACTUALLY WORKED

The statistics cover the total number of hours worked by all employees during the year. The total number of hours actually worked (B.1) is recorded separately for full-time employees (B.11), part-time employees (B.12) and apprentices (B.13).

Hours actually worked are defined as the sum of all periods spent on direct and ancillary activities to produce goods and services.

Hours actually worked include:

—hours worked during normal periods of work,

—periods of paid overtime, i.e. hours worked in addition to normal working hours, irrespective of the hourly pay rate applied (e.g. one hour worked at double the normal hourly pay rate should be entered as one hour),

—periods of unpaid overtime (⁷),

—time spent on tasks such as: work and site preparation; preparing, maintaining, repairing and cleaning tools and machines; making out receipts and invoices; writing up work cards and reports, etc.,

—time spent at the place of work during which no work is done owing to, for example, machine stoppages, accidents or occasional lack of work but for which payment is made in accordance with the employment contract,

—short rest periods at the place of work, including tea and coffee breaks,

—hours spent in training either in the enterprise/local unit or in educational establishments (this item is excluded for apprentices).

Hours actually worked exclude the following, however:

—hours paid but not worked, for example: paid holidays/vacation, public holidays, absence due to sickness, maternity leave, etc.,

—hours not worked and not paid, for example, during sickness and maternity, etc.,

—hours not worked (whether paid or not) during special leave for medical examinations, marriages, funerals, moving house, following an accident, etc.,

—main meal breaks (i.e. not short rest periods or refreshment breaks),

—hours not worked (whether paid or not) during short-time working, labour disputes, lock-outs, etc.,

—time spent by the employee travelling between home and place of work,

—hours spent by apprentices in training either in the enterprise/local unit or in educational establishments.

References ESA 95: 11.26 to 11.29; SBS: code 16150 (number of hours worked by employees)

C. PAID HOURS

This variable covers the total number of hours paid during the year. The total number of paid hours (C.1) is recorded separately for full-time (C.11), part-time employees (C.12) and apprentices (C.13).

The annual number of paid hours is defined as:

—normal and overtime hours remunerated during the year,

—any hours for which the employee was paid at a reduced rate, even if the difference was made up by payments from social-security funds,

—hours not worked during the reference period but nevertheless paid (annual holidays/vacation, absence due to sickness, public holidays and other hours paid, including time off for medical examinations, births, weddings, funerals, moving house, etc).

These calculations are to be carried out either directly by the enterprises or local units making returns or by the collecting agencies/national statistical institutes, using the method they consider most appropriate. The following models illustrate how hours actually worked and paid hours can be estimated, by making use of information that is available.

Suppose that information is available for the variables listed below:

(A.11)Average monthly number of full-time employees (a)Average annual normal contractual hours of a full-time employee, excluding overtime and main meal breaks (b)Average annual overtime (both paid and unpaid) of a full-time employee (c)Average daily number of contractual plus overtime hours worked by a full-time employee, excluding main meal breaks (d)Average annual number of days of holidays/vacation per full-time employee, granted by the employer (e)Average annual number of days of official public holidays per full-time employee (f)Average annual number of days of sickness and maternity leave per full-time employee (g)Average annual number of days of short-time working and labour disputes per full-time employee (h)Average annual number of other days not actually worked per full-time employee (e.g. special leave for medical examinations, births, marriage, funerals, moving house, following an accident, etc.).