Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2240 of 16 December 2019 specifying the technical items of the data set, establishing the technical formats for transmission of information and specifying the detailed arrangements and content of the quality reports on the organisation of a sample survey in the labour force domain in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council (Text with EEA relevance)

Topic	Detailed topic	Variable identifier	Variable name	Codes	Labels	Filter	Filter labels	Minimum set of variables	Variable type
				Blank	Not stated
				999	Not applicable
06.Working conditions including working hours and working time arrangements	Working hours	HWUSUAL	Number of hours per week usually worked in main job	010, 015, 020.. 945, 950	Number of hours usually worked in the main job (x10)	EMPSTAT = 1	Persons in employment	Yes	Collected
				970	Hours worked vary from week to week
				Blank	Not stated
				999	Not applicable
06.Working conditions including working hours and working time arrangements	Working hours	ABSHOLID	Days of absence from main job due to holidays and leave	00, 05, 10.. 65, 70	Number of days of absence (x10)	EMPSTAT = 1	Persons in employment	No	Collected
				Blank	Not stated
				99	Not applicable
06.Working conditions including working hours and working time arrangements	Working hours	ABSILLINJ	Days of absence from main job due to own illness, injury or temporary disability	00, 05, 10.. 65, 70	Number of days of absence (x10)	EMPSTAT = 1	Persons in employment	No	Collected
				Blank	Not stated
				99	Not applicable
06.Working conditions including working hours and working time arrangements	Working hours	ABSOTHER	Days of absence from main job due to other reasons	00, 05, 10.. 65, 70	Number of days of absence (x10)	EMPSTAT = 1	Persons in employment	No	Collected
				Blank	Not stated
				99	Not applicable
06.Working conditions including working hours and working time arrangements	Working hours	EXTRAHRS	Overtime or extra hours worked in main job	000	No overtime or extra hours in the main job	WKSTAT = 1, 3	Persons present at work for at least 1 hour or who worked as a family worker in the reference week	No	Collected
				005, 010, 015, 020.. 945, 950	Number of hours of overtime or extra hours in the main job (x10)
				Blank	Not stated
				999	Not applicable
06.Working conditions including working hours and working time arrangements	Working hours	HWACTUAL	Number of hours actually worked in main job	000	Did not work in the main job in the reference week	EMPSTAT = 1	Persons in employment	Yes	Collected
				010, 015, 020.. 945, 950	Number of hours actually worked in the main job (x10)
				Blank	Not stated
				999	Not applicable
06.Working conditions including working hours and working time arrangements	Working hours	HWUSU2J	Number of hours per week usually worked in second job	010, 015, 020.. 945, 950	Number of hours usually worked in the second job (x10)	NUMJOB = 2, 3	Persons in employment with more than one job	No	Collected
				970	Hours worked vary from week to week
				Blank	Not stated
				999	Not applicable
06.Working conditions including working hours and working time arrangements	Working hours	HWACTU2J	Number of hours actually worked in second job	000	Did not work in the second job in the reference week	NUMJOB = 2, 3	Persons in employment with more than one job	No	Collected
				010, 015, 020.. 945, 950	Number of hours actually worked in the second job (x10)
				Blank	Not stated
				999	Not applicable
06.Working conditions including working hours and working time arrangements	Working time arrangements	SHIFTWK	Shift work in main job	1	Person usually does shift work	STAPRO = 3	Employees	No	Collected
				3	Person never does shift work
				Blank	Not stated
				9	Not applicable
06.Working conditions including working hours and working time arrangements	Working time arrangements	EVENWK	Evening work in main job	1	Person frequently works in the evening	EMPSTAT = 1	Persons in employment	No	Collected
				2	Person sometimes works in the evening
				3	Person never works in the evening
				Blank	Not stated
				9	Not applicable
06.Working conditions including working hours and working time arrangements	Working time arrangements	NIGHTWK	Night work in main job	1	Person frequently works at night	EMPSTAT = 1	Persons in employment	No	Collected
				2	Person sometimes works at night
				3	Person never works at night
				Blank	Not stated
				9	Not applicable
06.Working conditions including working hours and working time arrangements	Working time arrangements	SATWK	Saturday work in main job	1	Person frequently works on Saturdays	EMPSTAT = 1	Persons in employment	No	Collected
				2	Person sometimes works on Saturdays
				3	Person never works on Saturdays
				Blank	Not stated
				9	Not applicable
06.Working conditions including working hours and working time arrangements	Working time arrangements	SUNWK	Sunday work in main job	1	Person frequently works on Sundays	EMPSTAT = 1	Persons in employment	No	Collected
				2	Person sometimes works on Sundays
				3	Person never works on Sundays
				Blank	Not stated
				9	Not applicable
07.Participation in education and training	Participation in formal and non-formal education and training (4 weeks)	EDUCFED4	Participation in formal education and training (student or apprentice) in the last 4 weeks	1	Yes (includes students on holidays)	15 <= AGE <= 74	Everybody in the target population aged 15 to 74 years	Yes	Collected
				2	No
				Blank	Not stated
				9	Not applicable
07.Participation in education and training	Participation in formal and non-formal education and training (4 weeks)	EDUCLEV4	Level of the most recent formal education or training activity in the last 4 weeks	10	ISCED 1 Primary education	EDUCFED4 = 1	Persons who participated in formal education and training (student or apprentice) in the last 4 weeks	No	Collected
				20	ISCED 2 Lower secondary education
				34	ISCED 3 Upper secondary education — general
				35	ISCED 3 Upper secondary education — vocational
				39	ISCED 3 Upper secondary education — orientation unknown
				44	ISCED 4 Post-secondary non-tertiary education — general
				45	ISCED 4 Post-secondary non-tertiary education — vocational
				49	ISCED 4 Post-secondary non-tertiary education — orientation unknown
				54	ISCED 5 Short-cycle tertiary education — general
				55	ISCED 5 Short-cycle tertiary education — vocational
				59	ISCED 5 Short-cycle tertiary education — orientation unknown
				60	ISCED 6 Bachelor’s or equivalent level
				70	ISCED 7 Master’s or equivalent level
				80	ISCED 8 Doctoral or equivalent level
				Blank	Not stated
				99	Not applicable
07.Participation in education and training	Participation in formal and non-formal education and training (4 weeks)	EDUCNFE4	Participation in non-formal education and training in the last 4 weeks	1	Participating in at least one job-related non-formal education or training activity	15 <= AGE <= 74	Everybody in the target population aged 15 to 74 years	Yes	Collected
				2	Participating only in non-job-related/personal non-formal education or training activities
				3	Not participating in any non-formal education or training activity
				Blank	Not stated
				9	Not applicable
07.Participation in education and training	Participation in formal and non-formal education and training (12 months)	EDUCFED12	Participation in formal education and training (student or apprentice) in the last 12 months	1	Yes	15 <= AGE <= 74	Everybody in the target population aged 15 to 74 years	No	Collected
				2	No
				Blank	Not stated
				9	Not applicable
07.Participation in education and training	Participation in formal and non-formal education and training (12 months)	EDUCLEV12	Level of the most recent formal education or training activity in the last 12 months	10	ISCED 1 Primary education	EDUCFED12 = 1	Persons who participated in formal education and training (student or apprentice) in the last 12 months	No	Collected
				20	ISCED 2 Lower secondary education
				34	ISCED 3 Upper secondary education — general
				35	ISCED 3 Upper secondary education — vocational
				39	ISCED 3 Upper secondary education — orientation unknown
				44	ISCED 4 Post-secondary non-tertiary education — general
				45	ISCED 4 Post-secondary non-tertiary education — vocational
				49	ISCED 4 Post-secondary non-tertiary education — orientation unknown
				54	ISCED 5 Short-cycle tertiary education — general
				55	ISCED 5 Short-cycle tertiary education — vocational
				59	ISCED 5 Short-cycle tertiary education — orientation unknown
				60	ISCED 6 Bachelor’s or equivalent level
				70	ISCED 7 Master’s or equivalent level
				80	ISCED 8 Doctoral or equivalent level
				Blank	Not stated
				99	Not applicable
07.Participation in education and training	Participation in formal and non-formal education and training (12 months)	EDUCNFE12	Participation in non-formal education and training in the last 12 months	1	Participating in at least one job-related non-formal education or training activity	15 <= AGE <= 74	Everybody in the target population aged 15 to 74 years	No	Collected
				2	Participating only in non-job-related/personal non-formal education or training activities
				3	Not participating in any non-formal education or training activity
				Blank	Not stated
				9	Not applicable
08.Health: status and disability, access to, availability and use of health care and health determinants	Disability and other elements of Minimum European Health Module	GENHEALTH	Self-perceived general health	1	Very good	15 <= AGE <= 89	Everybody in the target population aged 15 to 89 years	No	Collected
				2	Good
				3	Fair (neither good nor bad)
				4	Bad
				5	Very bad
				Blank	Not stated
				9	Not applicable
08.Health: status and disability, access to, availability and use of health care and health determinants	Elements of the Minimum European Health Module	GALI	Limitation in activities because of health problems	1	Severely limited	15 <= AGE <= 89	Everybody in the target population aged 15 to 89 years	No	Collected
				2	Limited but not severely
				3	Not limited at all
				Blank	Not stated
				9	Not applicable
09.Income, consumption and elements of wealth, including debts	Income from work	INCGROSS	Gross monthly pay from the main job	00000000–99999998	Gross monthly pay from main job (8 digits), including the proportionally part of payments made on a higher than monthly periodicity (National currency)	STAPRO = 3	Employees	Yes	Collected
				Blank	Not stated
				99999999	Not applicable
09.Income, consumption and elements of wealth, including debts	Income from work	INCGROSS_F	Flag on gross monthly pay from main job	11	Gross income collected and no imputation for item non-response/inconsistency	STAPRO = 3	Employees	Yes	Technical
				12	Gross income collected and imputation for item non-response/inconsistency from the labour force survey (LFS)
				13	Gross income collected and imputation for item non-response/inconsistency from an administrative data source
				14	Gross income collected and imputation for item non-response/inconsistency from other data source(s)
				21	Net-to-gross conversion applied and no imputation (net amount available and no imputation for non-response/inconsistency)
				22	Imputed net income for item non-response/inconsistency from the LFS and net-to-gross conversion applied (net amount not available and imputation applied for the net value)
				23	Imputed net income for item non-response/inconsistency from an administrative data source and net-to-gross conversion applied (net amount not available and imputation applied for the net value)
				24	Imputed net income for item non-response/inconsistency from other data source(s) and net-to-gross conversion applied (net amount not available and imputation applied for the net value)
				25	Imputed gross income for item non-response/inconsistency (net amount not available and imputation applied directly for the gross value; no net-to-gross conversion applied)
				Blank	Not stated
				99	Not applicable
09.Income, consumption and elements of wealth, including debts	Income from unemployment allowances	REGISTER	Registration at a public employment service (PES)	1	Person is registered at a public employment service and receives benefit or assistance	15 <= AGE <= 74	Everybody in the target population aged 15 to 74 years	No	Collected
				2	Person is registered at a public employment service but does not receive benefit or assistance
				3	Person is not registered at a public employment service but receives benefit or assistance
				4	Person is not registered at a public employment service and does not receive benefit or assistance
				Blank	Not stated
				9	Not applicable
03b.Labour market participation	Labour market situation of migrants and their immediate descendants	HATCNTR	Country where the highest level of education was successfully completed	Not blank	Country where the highest level of education was successfully completed (SCL GEO alpha-2 code)	15 <= AGE <= 74	Everybody in the target population aged 15 to 74 years	No	Collected
				FOR	Foreign country but exact country of completion of highest level of education unknown
				Blank	Not stated
				998	No formal education or below ISCED 1
				999	Not applicable
03b.Labour market participation	Labour market situation of migrants and their immediate descendants	ESTQUAL	Recognition of formal qualifications obtained abroad	01	Has applied, formal qualification partially or fully recognised	HATCNTR ≠ COUNTRY AND 15 <= AGE <= 74	Persons aged 15 to 74 years who obtained their highest formal qualification abroad or in an unknown country	No	Collected
				02	Has applied, but formal qualification not recognised
				03	Has applied, procedure under way/outcome still pending
				04	Has not applied, because not needed
				05	Has not applied, because not aware of possibilities or procedures
				06	Has not applied, because of costs or complexity of the procedures
				07	Has not applied, because not possible to apply
				08	No, for other reasons
				09	No formal education or below ISCED 1
				Blank	Not stated
				99	Not applicable
03b.Labour market participation	Labour market situation of migrants and their immediate descendants	HATPAR	Educational attainment level of the respondent’s parents	1	Low (ISCED 0-2)	15 <= AGE <= 74	Everybody in the target population aged 15 to 74 years	No	Collected
				2	Medium (ISCED 3-4)
				3	High (ISCED 5-8)
				Blank	Not stated
				9	Not applicable
03b.Labour market participation	Labour market situation of migrants and their immediate descendants	JOBSATISF	Job satisfaction	1	Satisfied to a large extent	EMPSTAT = 1 AND 15 <= AGE <= 74	Persons aged 15 to 74 years in employment	No	Collected
				2	Satisfied to some extent
				3	Satisfied to a small extent
				4	Not satisfied at all
				Blank	Not stated
				9	Not applicable
03b.Labour market participation	Labour market situation of migrants and their immediate descendants	SKILLEQ	Skill equivalence new main and old main job	1	Higher now	EMPSTAT = 1 AND COUNTRYB ≠ COUNTRY AND 15 <= AGE <= 74	First generation immigrants or persons with unknown country of birth, in employment aged 15 to 74 years	No	Collected
				2	Lower now
				3	Same
				4	Did not work before migrating
				Blank	Not stated
				9	Not applicable
03b.Labour market participation	Labour market situation of migrants and their immediate descendants	DISCRIMI	Feeling of being discriminated against at work in the current job	1	No	EMPSTAT = 1 AND 15 <= AGE <= 74	Persons aged 15 to 74 years in employment	No	Collected
				2	Yes, mainly discrimination on the grounds of age
				3	Yes, mainly discrimination on the grounds of gender
				4	Yes, mainly discrimination on the grounds of foreign origin
				5	Yes, mainly discrimination on the grounds of disability
				6	Yes, mainly on other grounds
				Blank	Not stated
				9	Not applicable
03b.Labour market participation	Labour market situation of migrants and their immediate descendants	JOBOBSTA	Main obstacle to getting a suitable job	1	Lack of language skills in host country language(s)	COUNTRYB ≠ COUNTRY AND 15 <= AGE <= 74	First generation immigrants or persons with unknown country of birth, aged 15 to 74 years	No	Collected
				2	Lack of recognition of formal qualification obtained abroad
				3	Restricted right to work because of citizenship or residence permit
				4	Discrimination on the grounds of foreign origin
				5	No suitable job available
				6	Other obstacle
				7	No obstacles
				8	Have never looked for work/never worked
				Blank	Not stated
				9	Not applicable
03b.Labour market participation	Labour market situation of migrants and their immediate descendants	DURFIJOB	Time required to find the first paid job in the host country	01	Less than 3 months	COUNTRYB ≠ COUNTRY AND 15 <= AGE <= 74	First generation immigrants or persons with unknown country of birth, aged 15 to 74 years	No	Collected
				02	From 3 to less than 6 months
				03	From 6 to less than 12 months
				04	From 12 months to less than 2 years
				05	From 2 to less than 3 years
				06	From 3 to less than 4 years
				07	4 years or over
				08	Did not find a job
				09	Did not look for a job
				Blank	Not stated
				99	Not applicable
03b.Labour market participation	Labour market situation of migrants and their immediate descendants	PRKNLANG	Skills in the main host country language before migrating	1	Mother tongue	COUNTRYB ≠ COUNTRY AND 15 <= AGE <= 74	First generation immigrants or persons with unknown country of birth, aged 15 to 74 years	No	Collected
				2	Advanced (proficient user)
				3	Intermediate (independent user)
				4	Beginner (basic user)
				5	Hardly any or no language skills
				6	Was too young to speak any language at the time of migrating
				Blank	Not stated
				9	Not applicable
03b.Labour market participation	Labour market situation of migrants and their immediate descendants	LANGHOST	Current skills in the main host country language	1	Mother tongue	COUNTRYB ≠ COUNTRY AND 15 <= AGE <= 74	First generation immigrants or persons with unknown country of birth, aged 15 to 74 years	No	Collected
				2	Advanced (proficient user)
				3	Intermediate (independent user)
				4	Beginner (basic user)
				5	Hardly any or no language skills
				Blank	Not stated
				9	Not applicable
03b.Labour market participation	Labour market situation of migrants and their immediate descendants	LANGCOUR	Participation in course for the main host country language	1	Yes, general language course	COUNTRYB ≠ COUNTRY AND 15 <= AGE <= 74	First generation immigrants or persons with unknown country of birth, aged 15 to 74 years	No	Collected
				2	Yes, work-specific language course
				3	No, because language courses were not available or affordable
				4	No, because language skills were sufficient
				5	No, for other reasons
				Blank	Not stated
				9	Not applicable

ANNEX II

Flowcharts on the order of questions on employment and unemployment in the questionnaire

1.

The national questionnaire shall be structured according to the following flowcharts to ensure sufficient comparability between countries. The flowcharts only cover the labour status module of the questionnaire, which relates to the questions on labour status according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) definition (employment, unemployment or outside the labour market).

2.

The labour status module shall be at the beginning of the national questionnaire, after the questions on the demographic characteristics.

3.

Questions on main activity status (self-perceived) shall be collected after the labour status module. The main activity status shall be collected by interview and neither derived from other variables nor imputed from registers.

4.

A flowchart is the graphical representation of the information flows through the questions in the questionnaire. It aims to define the information and concepts to be covered but does not impose any constraint in terms of number, translation and wording of the questions. Notes to the flowchart are integral part of the flowchart.

5.

The flowcharts will not be amended for at least 5 years after the entry into force of this Regulation.

6.

The flowcharts contain different elements which are defined as follows:

• — A block represents a single set of information to be requested in the questionnaire by means of one or more questions. It contains the concepts on which information is to be collected. The concepts covered in one block can be asked in any country-defined order. It appears as a rectangular box:

Image omitted; see official source

• — A submodule represents a set of blocks covering the same matter. It appears as a rectangular box with rounded short sides:

Image omitted; see official source

• — An outflow represents the actual information collected in the block and the consequent flow towards other blocks. It appears as an arrow and a box:

Image omitted; see official source

• — A filter represents a set of information based on external data. Its outflows depend in this case on external information. It appears as a rhombus with its outflows:

Image omitted; see official source

• — An intermediate classification represents the intermediate result of the flow according to the ILO definition. It appears as an oval with light background and black text:

Image omitted; see official source

• — A final classification represents the final result of the flow according to the ILO definition. It appears as an oval with dark background and white text:

Image omitted; see official source

• — The end represents the end of the flows in the flowchart. It appears as a parallelepiped shaped box:

Image omitted; see official source

7.

In each block the number of questions asked to collect the requested information can be customised by Member States. However, the content of the information to be collected cannot be expanded, i.e. questions that are not directly related to the information requested or the concept covered in the concerned block cannot be introduced.

8.

The box in the outflow can contain one or more items, separated by semicolon, having the same end-flow. Every item must be reported in the questionnaire and can be represented by one or several possible answers. However, an item can be dropped if justified by the national context (national law or circumstances). The order of the items in the questionnaire cannot be changed unless specified in the flowchart. No new outflows can be added.

9.

Questions can be added at the end of each submodule, between submodules or after a (intermediate or final) classification element, when justified by the national context and when this has no significant impact on the labour status classification according to the ILO definition. By way of exception, questions can be added on small jobs or casual work and on the production of agricultural goods intended for sale or barter, if needed in a given national context to better fulfil the ILO definition of employment.

10.

The labour status module contains different submodules, each covering a particular strand of labour status according to the ILO definition. The information flows among the submodules are set out in a meta-flowchart that represents the entire labour status module.

11.

The meta-flowchart of the labour status module is defined as follows:

Image omitted; see official source

12.

The flowchart for the submodule ‘At work’ and its associated notes is defined as follows:

Image omitted; see official source

Notes:

BlockW1:

Work should be understood as any activity undertaken by persons to produce goods or to provide services for use by themselves or others. Work ‘for pay or profit’ refers to work carried out as part of a transaction in exchange for remuneration payable in the form of wages or salaries for time worked or work done, or in the form of profits derived from the goods and services produced through market transactions. The term ‘pay’ covers money or payment in kind, whether taxable or not.

Specifying ‘for pay or profit’ is the preferred option. Nevertheless, if justified in a given national context, alternative wording like ‘as paid employee or self-employed’ can be used as long as it describes the same concept. If the term ‘profit’ is too difficult to translate, asking more than one question can be used as a solution. As the least preferred option, if it is clear in a given national language that the goal is to identify those who worked for remuneration, the term ‘profit’ can be omitted and only the term ‘for pay’ kept.

Member States where Block W1 does not cover all types of jobs, in particular the small jobs or casual work and the production of agricultural goods intended for sale or barter, can include additional questions on these specific types of work.

BlockW2:

Work undertaken by a family worker is to be understood as being unpaid. If the work for a business owned by a family member is paid, then the outflow from BlockW1 should be ‘yes’.

Each Member State can choose whether it first asks about unpaid work done as family member or about absence. If the question about unpaid work done as family member is asked first, the question about absence is only mandatory for those who answer ‘no’ to this first question.

In contrast, if the question about absence is asked first, it should not only be checked whether those declaring not being absent from work were working as unpaid family workers in the reference week, but also whether those declaring an absence from work were working as such in the reference week. By way of exception, the ‘Absence from work’ submodule can be asked before the question on unpaid work done as family member, if relevant in a given national context. In this situation, the question on unpaid work done as family member will be asked only to all those classified as ‘not employed’ in the ‘Absence from work’ submodule.

13.

The flowchart for the submodule ‘Absences from work’ and its associated notes are defined as follows:

Image omitted; see official source

Notes:

BlockA1:

‘Parental leave’ is the interruption of work to bring up or look after a young child. It can be taken either by the mother or by the father. This category covers both persons on statutory parental leave (legal, if existing, or contractual) and the self-employed. In certain national contexts, special leave to take care of a child of young age (‘care leave’) can also be considered as parental leave.

The respondent should be in employment (employee, self-employed) at the beginning of the period of absence. If the parental leave period directly follows another period of absence, the status (i.e. in employment or not) at the beginning of the overall period should be considered. If the respondent was not in employment at the beginning of the period of leave, the absence cannot be considered as parental leave.

In case of consecutive periods of absence, the main reason of absence during the reference week should be chosen.

‘Seasonal work’ refers to a job situation where the economic activity (production of goods or provision of services) of the economic unit is completely halted for a recurring and a, more or less, specific period of the year. The interruption of the economic activity should not be related to any particular or exceptional situation (bad weather, lack of customers, etc.) but should relate to standard factors occurring at repeated and long periods of the year. In that sense, seasonal work alternates between a long period of work and a long period of leave, within a given year. In this situation, the period of leave is defined as the off-season period.

‘Job-related training’ for employees refers to any training where one of the three following statements is true:

• — the participation of the employee is required by the employer,

• — the training takes place inside normal paid working hours and not during any kind of leave,

• — the training is directly connected to the current job, and is paid by the employer or the employee continues receiving a remuneration from the employer.

For the self-employed, job-related training should be connected to their activities.

Block A2:

‘Any job-related income or benefit’ means any income or benefit the respondent would not be entitled to receive if they did not have a job at the moment of starting this period of absence, regardless of their employment status (employee or self-employed). If the person is entitled to receive this income or benefit but has chosen not to receive it, they should be considered as having received it.

The income or benefit can be paid by either the employer or the social security, or both. It includes any compensation of wages (e.g. job-linked parental leave allowance or social security contributions) but excludes benefits that the person would receive even without a job (e.g. family allowances). If the employer continues to pay the social contributions for the person taking parental leave, even if a salary is no longer being paid, the person should be considered as continuing to receive a job-related income or benefit.

Job-related income or benefit may not be proportional to the income received just before the beginning of this period of absence. A flat rate can be considered as a job-related income or benefit as long as the person is entitled to receive it because of the hold job. Consequently, the income or benefit can either be granted at a flat rate or as a percentage of the last salary.

An exception to Article 8 paragraph 2 and Article 9 paragraph 1 of this Regulation is that external information (rather than interview results) can be used as a data source for this Block A2 if the entitlement to a job-related income or benefit can be unambiguously determined.

An important factor to consider is whether the respondent has a guarantee that they can return to their job at the end of their parental leave.

Block A3:

If the respondent did not work during the reference week but was regularly engaged in work-related activities or duties (e.g. maintenance, renovation, etc.) during the off-season, they should be considered as being employed. However, administrative tasks are not considered as work-related activities or duties.

Block A4:

The ‘don’t know’ option is only proposed in proxy interviews.

The expected total duration only refers to the main reason for the absence. For example, for individuals on parental leave, the length of the absence should exclude the maternity/paternity leave.

The expected total duration of the absence, as evaluated by the respondent, should be recorded. The respondent may rely on a particular law or agreement, but will generally answer according to their self-perception.

If the respondent does not know if the total duration of their absence is shorter or longer than 3 months, they should consider the time between the beginning of the absence for that reason and the end of the reference week.

14.

The flowchart for the submodule ‘Second or multiple jobs’ is defined as follows:

Image omitted; see official source

15.

The flowchart for the submodule ‘Search for employment (for not employed persons)’ and its associated notes are defined as follows:

Image omitted; see official source

Notes:

Block S1:

The ‘don’t know’ option is only proposed in proxy interviews.

Block S2:

Having already found a job includes seasonal workers who are not at work during the reference week (off-season) but expect to return to their seasonal job at the end of the off-season.

The ‘yes and started working between reference week and interview date’ option is proposed only if the interview date does not directly follow the reference week.

Block S4:

The ‘don’t know’ option is only proposed in proxy interviews.

Block S5:

The list of options for the main reason for not looking for work includes:

• — no suitable job is available [it must remain in first position];

• — education or training;

• — own illness or disability;

• — care responsibilities;

• — other family reasons;

• — other personal reasons;

• — awaiting recall to work (lay-off) [can be dropped if irrelevant];

• — other reasons; or

• — don’t know.

Apart from first option, the order of possible responses can be decided by country according to national considerations. If the category ‘laid off workers’ does not exist in a country, the outcome ‘awaiting recall to work’ can be skipped in the national questionnaire.

‘Care responsibilities’ is limited to own children, partner children and to ill, elderly or incapacitated relatives. Persons caring for friends, for non-relatives or as volunteers should be classified in ‘other personal reasons’.

Block S6:

The list of options for the main reason for not wanting to work includes:

• — education or training;

• — own illness or disability;

• — care responsibilities;

• — other family reasons;

• — other personal reasons;

• — retirement;

• — other reasons; or

• — don’t know.

The order and split of possible responses can be decided by country according to national considerations.

‘Care responsibilities’ is limited to own children, partner children and to ill, elderly or incapacitated relatives. Persons caring for friends, for non-relatives or as volunteers should be classified in ‘other personal reasons’.

16.

The flowchart for the submodule ‘Active job search methods (for not employed persons)’ and its associated notes are defined as follows:

Image omitted; see official source

Notes:

Block M1:

The order of the questions is flexible. Member States can choose the number of questions in the sense that at the first ‘yes’ answer this Block M1 can be closed, but if a Member State wishes to go further and collect information on all nine methods it is free to do so. Member States can also split any required information into several questions.

The ‘asked friends, relatives or acquaintances’ option includes asking about job opportunities, asking for help in creating and updating a CV online or for help to prepare for a test or an interview.

The ‘contacted a public employment service’ option refers to the respondent’s job-search-related contacts, and not applying for unemployment benefits.

The information should be collected through closed questions. There should be no reclassification from open questions.

17.

The flowchart for the submodule ‘Availability to work (for not employed persons)’ and its associated notes are defined as follows:

Image omitted; see official source

Notes:

Block V1:

If the respondent already said that they found a job, this Block can be rephrased as ‘could start the job within 2 weeks from the reference week’.

Block V2:

The list of options for the main reason for not being available to start working within 2 weeks include:

• — education or training;

• — own illness or disability;

• — care responsibilities;

• — other family reasons;

• — other personal reasons;

• — other reasons; or

• — don’t know.

The order and split of possible responses can be decided by country according to national consideration.

If the respondent already gave an answer in Block S5, that answer can be copied in Block V2. In such a case, the two additional answer categories in Block S5 ‘no suitable job is available’ and ‘awaiting recall to work (lay-off)’ can be recoded in Block V2 as ‘other reasons’.

‘Care responsibilities’ is limited to own children, partner children and to ill, elderly or incapacitated relatives. Persons caring for friends, for non-relatives or as volunteers should be classified in ‘other personal reasons’.

18.

To reduce unnecessary burden, simplified rules are defined in the form of minimum required information to be asked by age group:

• — People aged 15 to 69 are interviewed using the whole ‘labour status module’ in all interviews/waves according the applied rotation scheme.

• — People aged 70 to 74 are asked about the whole ‘labour status module’ in the first interview/wave and in the following interviews/waves as long as they are classified as being in the labour force at the previous interview. People aged 70 to 74 and classified as being outside the labour force at the previous interview can either be re-interviewed or their answers can be copied from the last available interview.

• — People aged 75 to 89 are asked only about the submodules ‘At work’, ‘Absences from work’ and ‘Second or multiple jobs’ in the first interview/wave. From the second interview, people aged 75 to 89 can either be re-interviewed or answers can be copied from the last available interview or from external sources if more relevant in a given national context.

• — Persons who are unable to work due to long-standing health problems are asked about the whole ‘labour status module’ in the first interview/wave and in the following interviews/waves as long as they are classified as being in the labour force at the previous interview. Persons who are unable to work due to long-standing health problems and are classified as being outside the labour force at the previous interview can either be re-interviewed or theiranswers can be copied from the last available interview.

ANNEX III

Detailed arrangements and content of quality reports

1.

Member States shall transmit, for the labour force domain, quarterly accuracy reports and an annual quality report to the Commission (Eurostat).

2.

The quarterly accuracy reports shall contain basic information on the accuracy and reliability of the survey and describe changes in the basic concepts and definitions that affect the comparability over time. Member States shall transmit quarterly accuracy reports within 2 weeks after the defined quarterly labour force survey (LFS) data transmission deadlines.

3.

The annual quality report shall contain quality-related data and metadata and be transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat) within 3 months after the defined data transmission deadline for other LFS data.