Commission Regulation (EC) No 1916/2000 of 8 September 2000 on 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 structure of earnings (Text with EEA relevance)

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 Regulation.

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 3

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following 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

1. Information about the local unit to which the sampled employees are attached

1.1. Geographical location of the local unit (NUTS-1)

1.2. Size of the enterprise to which the local unit belongs

1.3. Principal economic activity of the local unit (NACE (¹))

1.4. Form of economic and financial control

1.5. Collective pay agreement

1.6. Total number of employees in the local unit in the reference month (optional)

1.7. Affiliation of the local unit to a group of enterprises (optional)

2. Information on individual characteristics of each employee in the sample relating to the reference month

2.1. Sex

2.2. Age

2.3. Occupation ( ISCO-08)

2.4. Managerial or supervisory position (optional)

2.5. Educational attainment level (ISCED 2011)

2.6. Length of service in the enterprise

2.8. Type of employment contract

2.9. Citizenship (optional)

3. Information on working periods for each employee in the sample

3.1. Number of weeks in the reference year to which the gross annual earnings relate

3.3. Annual days of holiday leave

3.4. Other annual days of paid absence (optional)

4. Information on earnings for each employee in the sample**

(see also the figure below)**

4.3. Average gross hourly earnings in the reference month

5. Grossing-up factors

5.1. Grossing-up factor for the local unit

5.2. Grossing-up factor for the employees

Optionally, Member States may record more detailed information related to the categories of variable 2.8. They may also record data for the following components of variable 3.4.: Annual days of sick leave and Annual days of vocational training (transmission to Eurostat only on request).

Earnings variables of the SES

Text of image

Length of payment period

Annual

4.1.: Gross annual earnings in the reference year

Annual gross wages and salaries without annual bonuses/allowances and payments in kind

Annual bonuses and allowances

4.1.2.: Annual payments in kind

Bonuses and allowances paid in every pay period

4.1.1.: Bonuses and allowances not paid in every pay period

Monthly

4.2.: Gross earnings in the reference month

Monthly gross wages and salaries without bonuses and allowances, overtime and shift work payments

4.2.1.: Earnings related to overtime

4.2.2.: Special payments for shift work

Alternative breakdown of 4.2.:

Monthly net earnings

4.2.3.: Compulsory social contributions and taxes

Hourly

4.3.: Average gross hourly earnings in the reference month

= Mandatory variable

= Optional variable

= Derived variable (not explicitly mentioned by the Regulation)

ANNEX II

DEFINITION OF VARIABLES

1. Information about the local unit to which the sampled employees are attached

The compilation of structural statistics on earnings shall be based on local units and enterprises, as defined in Council Regulation (EEC) No 696/93 (²), and shall provide information on employees in enterprises with 10 or more employees classified by size and principal activity. Information for employees in enterprises with fewer than 10 employees is optional.  The statistics shall cover all activities defined in sections B to O and Q to T of the general industrial classification of economic activities within the European Communities (NACE (³)) in enterprises with at least 10 employees (⁴).

The region in which the local unit is located should be classified according to the nomenclature of territorial statistical units (NUTS, level 1).

The transmission codes for the different NUTS categories will be presented in an implementation paper to be distributed by Eurostat.

The size of the enterprise in terms of the number of employees should be assigned to one of the following bands: 1 to 9, 10 to 49, 50 to 249, 250 to 499, 500 to 999, and 1 000 or more employees. The size class 1 to 9 is optional.

The transmission codes for the size classes listed above will be presented in an implementation paper to be distributed by Eurostat.

The main economic activity of the local unit should be coded at the 2-digit level of NACE (division level).

The transmission codes for the different NACE categories will be presented in an implementation paper to be distributed by Eurostat.

This variable distinguishes only between the categories ‘public control’ and ‘private control’. The first category refers to any undertaking over which the public authorities may exercise, directly or indirectly, a dominant influence by virtue of their ownership of it, their financial participation therein, or the rules which govern it. A dominant influence (or control) on the part of the public authorities shall be presumed when these authorities directly or indirectly:

— hold the major part of the undertaking's subscribed capital (> 50 %), or

— control the majority of the votes attached to shares issued by the undertaking or can appoint more than half of the members of the undertaking's administrative, managerial or supervisory body.

The second category is defined analogously. Balanced public and private ownership (50/50 ‘shared control’) is very rare in practice. Such cases will not therefore be coded separately and should, if they occur, be treated as being under ‘private control’.

The transmission codes for the two categories of variable 1.4 will be presented in an implementation paper to be distributed by Eurostat.

Collective pay agreements covering the majority of employees in the statistical unit may fall into one of the categories listed below. If no collective agreement exists, this should also be indicated. The categories are as follows:

— an agreement at national level, or an interconfederal agreement, covering employees of more than one industry, and usually signed by one or more trade-union confederations and by one or more national employers’ organisations,

— an industry agreement setting the terms and conditions of employment for all or most workers and employees in an individual industry or economic sector,

— an agreement for individual industries in individual regions,

— an enterprise or single-employer agreement covering only those employees with the same employer, regardless of size. The agreement may cover only certain local units or groups of employees within the enterprise,

— an agreement applying only to the employees in one local unit,

— any other type of agreement not covered above,

— no collective pay agreement exists.

One of the above categories must be chosen (‘yes’ answer) if more than 50 % of the employees in the local unit are covered. Several categories may apply simultaneously.

Instead of directly asking for the type of collective agreement, the unit may be asked what collective provisions are applied and the type of collective agreement determined on the basis of the answers.

The transmission codes for the categories of variable 1.5 listed above will be presented in an implementation paper to be distributed by Eurostat.

This variable represents a head count of the total number of employees in the reference month (e.g. on 1 or 31 October) and covers all employees, including apprentices, paid trainees and students.

This variable is a binary variable (‘yes’/‘no’) and indicates whether a local unit belongs to a group of enterprises. The transmission codes for the two categories are set out by Eurostat in an implementation paper.

The group of enterprises is a statistical unit defined in Regulation (EEC) No 696/93. The group of enterprises should be considered at world level. In most cases the local unit belongs to an enterprise which is not controlled by any national or foreign group. If local units belong to an enterprise group, this is generally well known. A practical guideline that can be given to respondents is whether the accounts of the enterprise concerned are fully consolidated in the accounts of its group of enterprises.

2. Information on the individual characteristics of each employee in the sample relating to the reference month

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. The employees to be included in the sample are those who actually received remuneration during the reference month. Employees who did not receive remuneration in the reference month should be excluded.

The 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 to O and Q to T of NACE in enterprises with at least 10 employees (⁵).

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

— sales representatives, providing they are on the payroll and receive other forms 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 to 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 (⁶),

— 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 period 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 reporting unit,

— outworkers (⁷), including home workers and teleworkers 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 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).

The transmission codes for the two categories are set out by Eurostat in an implementation paper.

Only the year of birth is to be given here. The age is then calculated as the difference between the reference year of the survey and the year of birth.

The occupation is to be coded according to the International Standard Classification of Occupations, 1988 version ( ISCO-08) at the two-digit level and, if possible, at the three-digit level. The essential information for determining the occupation is usually the employee’s job title and a description of the main tasks undertaken in the course of his/her duties.

Trainees or students with an employment contract and apprentices are classified in the occupation for which they carry out their apprenticeship or training period. Foremen are also classified in the occupation in which they supervise.

The transmission codes for the categories of variable 2.3 are set out by Eurostat in an implementation paper.

This binary variable (categories ‘yes’/‘no’) indicates whether an employee has some form of managerial or supervisory function. The word ‘managerial’ is not identical to ‘supervisory’ because some managers do not supervise other employees. Further, employees who do have a ‘supervisory’ position do not belong exclusively to  ISCO-08, major group 1 (legislators, senior officials and managers). Many employees coded to group 2 (professionals) and group 3 (technicians and associate professionals) may have supervisory responsibilities. A supervisory position can occur in any of the  ISCO-08 groups, including manual workers.

Managerial functions are related to determining, formulating, implementing, directing or advising policies and activities of enterprises or institutions. They often include supervisory responsibilities.

A person is considered to have a supervisory position when he or she supervises the work of at least one person (other than apprentices). Typically such a person might have a job title/description of ‘foreman’ or ‘supervisor’ together with the name of the occupation.

The transmission codes for the two categories are set out by Eurostat in an implementation paper.

This variable concerns the highest level of education successfully completed, which the employee has received according to the International Standard Classification of Education, 2011 version (ISCED 2011). The expression ‘level successfully completed’ must be associated with obtaining a certificate or a diploma, when there is certification. In cases where there is no certification, successful completion must be associated with full attendance.

Groups of codes to be used are defined in the Implementing Arrangements of the SES survey:

The total length of service in the reference month should be based on the number of completed years of service. Any point of time during the reference month will suffice as a qualifying date (e.g. 1 or 31 October). The total length of service relates to the period since the employee joined the enterprise, which may have been in another local unit. Career breaks will not be subtracted. Where enterprises have been merged or there have been changes of ownership, the length of service is to be recorded as counted by the enterprise.

Size bands for variable 2.6 and transmission codes for the bands are set out by Eurostat in an implementation paper.

Full-time employees are those whose normal working hours are the same as the collectively agreed or customary hours worked in the local unit under consideration, even if their contract is for less than one year. Part-time employees are those who work fewer hours than the normal working hours of full-time employees.

The transmission codes for the two categories of variable 2.7 are set out by Eurostat in an implementation paper.

For a full-time employee, this share is always 100 %. For a part-time employee, the hours contractually worked should be expressed as a percentage of the number of normal hours worked by a full-time employee in the local unit (in an job equivalent to that of the part-time employee).

The following information on the type of employment contract is requested:

— indefinite duration,

— temporary/fixed duration (except apprentices, including trainees or students receiving remuneration),

— apprentice.

An indefinite duration contract of employment is a contract between the employee and the employer, for which the actual duration of the contract has not been agreed in advance.

An employment contract is regarded as temporary or of fixed duration if it was the intention of the employer and employee that the duration of the contract was to be determined by certain conditions such as a definite time schedule for the completion of the work, the completion of a certain task, or the return to work of an another employee who was currently being replaced. Trainees and students who are paid for their work belong to this category.

Apprenticeship contracts are specific fixed-duration contracts drawn up between the employer and the apprentice. The purpose of the contract is to enable the apprentice to acquire practical experience in a specific field.

The transmission codes for the three categories of variable 2.8 are set out by Eurostat in an implementation paper.

Citizenship is defined as the legal nationality of each person, and a citizen is a person who is a legal national by birth or naturalisation, whether by declaration, option, marriage or other means.

One of the following should be selected:

— resident with citizenship,

— resident with foreign citizenship,

— commuter from another country.

The transmission codes for the three categories of variable 2.9 are set out by Eurostat in an implementation paper.

3. Information on working periods for each employee in the sample

The following variables relating to time are used for calculating the number of hours paid. The latter are defined as:

— normal and overtime hours remunerated during the reference period,

— any hours for which the employee was paid at a reduced rate, even if the difference was made up of 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.).

Variable 3.1 refers to the employee’s working time actually paid during the year and should correspond to the actual gross annual earnings (variable 4.1). It will be used to gross up the actual gross annual earnings and the annual bonuses and allowances where the employee has worked for less than a full year, i.e. less than 52 weeks.

Part-time employees should be treated like full-time employees, irrespective of the hours worked. If a part-timer has been paid for a full year, insert ‘52’ weeks. If a part-timer has been paid for 6 months, insert ‘26’ weeks.