Austria (3)

Title of the survey

Labour Cost Survey in Industry (Die Arbeitskosten in der Industrie Österreichs)

Organization responsible

Bundeskammer der gewerblichen Wirtschaft.

Periodicity of the survey

Every three years.

Objectives of the survey

To measure labour cost for national and international comparison purposes. The results serve as a basis for negotiations with trade unions and government.

Main labour topics covered by the survey

Employment, hours of work, labour cost and establishment practices with regard to the systems of payment for time not worked, social security and pension schemes, payroll taxes, special compensation, etc.

Reference period

The calendar year.

Coverage of the survey

Geographical

The whole country.

Industrial

Mining and quarrying, and manufacturing. This corresponds respectively to tabulation categories C and D of the International Standard Industrial Classification of all economic activities (ISIC), Rev.3, 1990.

Establishments

Essentially all establishments with more than 140 employees. Lower thresholds are fixed in some industry groups, such 20 employees in sawmills, 35 in the paper industry, or 70 in the glass, metal or chemical industry.

Persons

Employees. Excluded are working proprietors, home workers, unpaid family workers and commission agents.

Occupations

Not relevant.

Concepts and definitions

Employment

Data refer to all employees, excluding casual workers.

Labour cost

Refers to the employer's total cost in employing labour and comprises:

payment for normal time worked;
premium pay for overtime, late shift and holiday work;
payment for time not worked (such as vacation, holidays, sickness, etc.);
special compensation (e.g. for holidays, Christmas, etc.);
severance and termination pay;
additional payments in respect of sickness;
cost of vocational training;
cost of legal contributions to social security and assimilated schemes;
cost of voluntary fringe benefits;
payroll taxes.

Hours of work

Data are collected on hours actually worked and hours paid for, as well as normal hours of work. Hours actually worked exclude hours paid for but not worked (for vacation, holidays, sickness, etc.), meal breaks and time spent on travel from home to work and vice versa.

International recommendations

The components of labour cost conform to the international guidelines. The concept of hours actually worked used in the survey conforms to the international recommendations.

Classifications

Components of labour cost / compensation of employees

Data on labour cost are classified by main components (see under Concepts and definition).

Industrial

The survey data are classified according to 21 groups of the Austrian Standard Industrial Classification. This classification can be linked to the International Standard Industrial Classification of all economic activities (ISIC), Rev.2, 1968, at the two- and three-digit levels, and to ISIC, Rev.3, 1990.

Occupational

Not relevant.

Others

Data on labour cost are classified by employee category (wage earners or salaried employees).

Sample size and design

Statistical unit

The reporting unit is the enterprise, which may consist of one or several establishments. In the latter case, separate information is collected with respect to each establishment.

Survey universe / sample frame

The sample is selected from the list of enterprises based on the results of the annual Industrial Census and updated on a continuous basis.

Sample design

The survey is based on a stratified sample design. Stratification is by industry group and size class. The sample is renewed every three years.

Field work

Data collection

Questionnaires are sent to enterprises in the spring following the reference year, by permanent staff from the Bundeskammer der gewerblichen Wirtschaft.

Survey questionnaire

Not available.

Substitution of sampling units

There is no substitution of sampling units in the case of total non-response (due to refusal, establishments which have closed down or moved with an unknown address, etc.).

Data processing and editing

Data are processed by computer and edited by machine. In the case of missing or inconsistent data, respondents are contacted by mail or telephone. A number of range and consistency checks are made manually and by computer. Missing data are finally dealt with by imputation.

Types of estimates

Total and average labour cost per year and per hour;
Structure of labour cost by components.

Part-time workers are converted to full-time equivalents (two part-time employees are equivalent to one full-time employee).

Construction of indices

None.

Weighting of sample results

The sample results are grossed up using the reciprocal of the sampling fractions in terms of employment in each stratum.

Adjustments

Non-response

Adjustments are made on the basis of the replies to the monthly Industrial Survey.

Other bias

No adjustments are made for any other bias.

Use of benchmark data

Not relevant.

Use of other surveys

Not relevant.

Indicators of reliability of the estimates

Coverage of the sampling frame

It is assumed to cover all enterprises within the scope of the survey.

Sampling error / sampling variance

Unknown.

Non-response rate

Approximately 15 per cent of the sampled enterprises and 5 per cent in terms of employees.

Non-sampling errors

Not available.

Conformity with other sources

Data on direct wages and salaries for hours worked from the Labour Cost Survey are checked against the results of the monthly Industrial Survey.

Estimates for non-survey years

Estimates are calculated by interpolation and extrapolation.

Available series

Average labour cost per employee, per wage earner and per salaried employee, and
Structure of labour cost by component and by industry.

History of the survey

The first Labour Cost Survey was carried out in 1960. It was then renewed in 1966, 1972, 1978, 1984, 1987 1990 and 1993. No major changes have occurred in its methodology.

Documentation

Bundeswirtschaftskammer: Die Arbeitskosten in der Industrie Österreichs (three yearly; Vienna). The survey results are published one year after the reference period. Results which are not shown in national publications can be made available upon request. Data can also be provided on diskette.

Confidentiality / Reliability criteria

The publication and release of data are subject to confidentiality rules, whereby tables may not reveal any of the particulars of individual establishments.

Other information

Data supplied to the ILO for publication

Statistics of average labour cost per hour in manufacturing, for wage earners and salaried employees separately, are published in Tables 22A and 22B of the Yearbook of Labour Statistics.