Belgium (1)

Title of the survey

Enquête semestrielle sur les salaires (six-monthly survey on wages) Enquête semestrielle sur la durée du travail (six-monthly survey on hours of work)

Organization responsible

The Institut national de statistique (INS) is responsible for organizing and conducting the survey. The results are published under the responsibility of the INS and the Statistical Office of the European Communities (EUROSTAT).

Periodicity of the survey

Six-monthly, in April and October.

Objectives of the survey

To follow trends in wages and hours of work.

Main labour topics covered by the survey

Earnings and hours of work.

Reference period

For earnings in the service sector: the months of April and October, for both wage earners and salaried employees. For earnings in industry: one pay period in the reference month (April and October), which does not include public holidays, days of leave nor compensatory rest days. For hours of work: a pay period corresponding to one or more complete working weeks during the months of April and October.

Coverage of the survey

Geographical

Whole country.

Industrial

Industry (i.e. mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity, gas and water, as well as construction) and the services (wholesale and retail trade, financing and insurance).

Establishments

Private sector establishments and enterprises employing ten persons or more.

Persons

Wage earners in industry, and wage earners and salaried employees in the services.

Occupations

Occupations are not taken into account.

Concepts and definitions

Employment

A distinction is made between wage earners and salaried employees. Wage earners are defined as all manual workers employed in the establishment or enterprise as a whole, having a contract of employment and registered as such with the Office National de la Sécurité Sociale (national social security office) (ONSS). The following categories are included: production workers; maintenance workers; foremen and supervisors generally engaged in manual work; manual workers paid by the month; manual workers engaged in warehouses, packing and dispatch; manual workers not engaged in production (messengers, caretakers, daily cleaners, drivers); part-time, seasonal and casual workers; shift workers and those providing continuous service; fitters working outside the establishment; workers below the age of legal majority; workers who, for personal reasons or because of a reduction or stoppage of work, have worked only part of the period. Excluded from wage earners are foremen and supervisors not engaged in manual work; totally or partially disabled workers; home workers; workers under contract of apprenticeship with the enterprise and young trainees engaged under the terms of a social programme designed to reduce unemployment; workers who, because of sickness or other reasons, have not performed any work during the survey period. In principle, therefore, only workers who have worked during part of the survey are taken into account. Salaried employees are all employees not counted as wage earners, employed in the establishment and with a contract of employment. They include clerical employees, managers, foremen and supervisors. They also include administrative staff as well as technicians and persons employed in the commercial or sales services (provided they have a contract of employment). Excluded from the category of salaried employees are: the president and managing director of the enterprise and active members of the board of directors; employees under apprenticeship contracts with the establishment; assistants; home workers; persons working entirely or partly on a commission basis; managers who are majority shareholders; employees who did not work at all during the reference month and who were not paid in full by the employer (as a result of a long illness, recent recruitment, lay off, etc.) and employees engaged on a part-time basis, i.e. whose contract of employment stipulates that the work may be performed either on a half-day basis or during a few days of the week, or during one or two weeks in the month. Data are collected separately on the number of wage earners and salaried employees who have freely chosen part-time employment as defined above. These persons are classified according to the number of hours to be worked per week under the terms of the contract binding them to the enterprise.

Earnings

Data are collected on the gross monthly earnings of wage earners and the gross monthly salaries of salaried employees, before any deductions at source by the employer for tax, social security contributions or fines payable by the worker. Gross monthly earnings of wage earners and gross salaries of salaried employees are defined as all payments to wage earners and salaried employees for work carried out during the reference period, including overtime pay and bonuses paid with each monthly pay packet. Gross earnings comprise the hourly, daily or weekly contractual wage; piece rates, job rates, output rates; extra payment for shift work or normal continuous work; wages for hours not worked as a result of a reduction in weekly working hours; punctuality, regularity and seniority bonuses; premiums for dangerous, dirty or unhealthy work; premiums for overtime, night work or work on Sundays. The gross monthly salaries of salaried employees comprise in particular collectively agreed or non-obligatory children's allowances and statutory, contractual or non-obligatory vacation pay. Excluded from gross earnings and salaries are: benefits in kind, bonuses, end-of-year gratuities and profit sharing bonuses not paid each pay period, double vacation pay, removal indemnities, allowances for personal assistance, employers' legal and non-statutory contributions, legal and non-statutory family allowances, compensation for wear and tear on work clothes and personal tools, removal and accommodation costs, wages for hours not worked by wage earners, in cases where the worker is absent (sickness, leave). In the survey on the earnings of wage earners in industry, individual data are collected on the earnings of a sample of wage earners. In the survey on the earnings of employees in the services, data on earnings are collected separately for all wage earners and all salaried employees, working full-time and part-time, and for each category by sex.

Wage/salary rates

Not relevant.

Hours of work

The surveys collect data on hours actually worked by wage earners and on normal hours of work per week for wage earners and salaried employees. Hours actually worked correspond to the hours actually worked and include normal hours of work, overtime hours, hours on night work and on Sundays. In the six-monthly survey on weekly hours of work, the total number of hours actually worked is registered separately for: The survey on the earnings of wage earners in industry collects data on the total number of hours actually worked (to the nearest hour) by each worker selected for the sample. Normal or collectively agreed hours of work refer to the normal working hours for the majority of wage earners and salaried employees employed on a full-time basis, as determined by collective agreements or the internal regulations of the establishments. If the number of weekly working hours varies from one week to another, the enterprise indicates the average hours of work per week, expressed in hours and minutes.

International recommendations

The concept of wages and salaries used corresponds to the concept of regular earnings contained in the international recommendations, except that payments in kind are excluded from gross earnings. The definition of hours actually worked corresponds to the international definition, which includes short inactive periods at the work place (slack periods, meal breaks, etc.). It also includes hours devoted to trade union activities at the workplace.

Classifications

Industrial

The data relating to earnings and hours of work are classified in accordance with the Classification of economic activities of the European Communities (NACE), Rev.1, 1990. The NACE, Rev.1 is based on the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC), Rev.3, 1990.

Occupational

Not relevant.

Others

The data are also classified according to worker category, size of establishment and region. The data on earnings are classified by sex.

Sample size and design

Statistical unit

The statistical unit is the establishment in industry and the enterprise in the services. In the survey on the earnings of wage earners in industry, the final sampling unit is the wage earner.

Survey universe / sample frame

The sampling frame comprises the register of establishments of the ONSS. This register includes all establishments and enterprises in the sectors covered by the survey, for which registration is compulsory.

Sample design

The design varies according to the survey. In the survey on the earnings of wage earners in industry, establishments and wage earners are selected by random sampling. This is designed so as to cover a sufficient number of wage earners to obtain representative figures for each industry. The establishments are stratified by industry group, for each of which a separate sampling fraction is used. Large establishments (200 workers or more) are all included in the sample with a specified proportion of their wage earners. A selection of medium-sized establishments (50 to 199 workers) is included with a specified fraction of their wage earners. A selection of small establishments (10 to 49 workers) is included; these supply information on each of their wage earners. In the first two cases, the establishment is asked to provide individual data for wage earners whose names, in alphabetical order, follow the first name beginning with a letter selected at random, which is different for each establishment, until the required number has been covered. The sample contains only eight per cent of the wage earners employed in 2,500 establishments, out of a total of about one million wage earners employed in nearly 14,000 establishments. In the survey on the monthly wages and salaries of salaried employees in industry and the services, the sample design is as follows:

Field work

Data collection

The survey is conducted by mailed questionnaire and supplemented with telephone calls to establishments in the event of missing or incorrect data, as well as reminder letters to establishments that have not returned the questionnaire by the required date.

Survey questionnaire

Different questionnaires are sent out according to whether the survey concerns an establishment or an enterprise, and according to industry. The questionnaire relating to wage earners in industry states the percentage of the establishment's wage earners on whom individual data are to be provided, as well as the initial of the surname of the first wage earner to be registered. The data concern the person's name or number, sex, year of birth, total number of hours actually worked during the pay period selected (which should not include public holidays or days of leave), gross wage, and information on the duration and reasons for absence. The purpose of this is to distinguish between wage earners who have not been absent more than two hours a week, those who have been absent because of short-time work, and those who have been absent more than two hours a week for personal reasons, such as resignation, dismissal, recruitment, sickness, accident and half-time work schedule. The questionnaire relating to salaried employees in industry seeks information on the number of employees in full-time and in part-time employment, by sex and, for each of these categories, on the total amount of gross monthly salaries. The questionnaire for workers in the services covers the number of workers (wage earners and salaried employees in wholesale and retail trade, salaried employees only in other services) and the total amount of gross monthly remuneration. A distinction is made between persons working full-time and part-time, and by sex. Persons working part-time are subdivided according to the number of weekly hours of work required of them under the terms of their contract with the enterprise. The questionnaire for the six-monthly survey on weekly hours of work is in two parts on the one sheet. One part concerns wage earners; information is requested on: The other part concerns salaried employees and requests information on: These questionnaires are accompanied by detailed instructions on definitions and calculation methods.

Substitution of sampling units

Not relevant (see also Adjustments for non-response).

Data processing and editing

A certain number of operations are carried out manually. Among these are the preparation of lists of enterprises and establishments, and of questionnaires, with an indication of the instructions on the total number of wage earners to be selected and on the letter of the alphabet to be used as a sample basis, the reception and initial editing of questionnaires (number of wage earners, missing codes, calculation of the average monthly wage per employee in each establishment, etc.), reminder letters, calculation of average weekly working hours in each establishment, average monthly wage, etc. Computerized processing is carried out in respect of the editing of establishment identification data, calculation, checking and comparison, by establishment, of average gross hourly earnings, calculation of the weighted average monthly wage by economic activity and by enterprise and sex, and the production of the results.

Types of estimates

In industry, the averages for wage earners are those for workers who were not absent more than two hours per week. The gross hourly earnings per wage earner are obtained by dividing the total gross earnings by the number of hours worked during the pay period. For salaried employees in industry, the averages are established for persons employed on a full-time basis only. The average gross monthly salary per establishment, for men and women separately, is obtained by dividing the total amount of monthly salaries paid to all salaried employees of an establishment by the number of employees concerned. The same procedure is applied in estimating average earnings in the services. However, part-time workers are included, after having been converted to full-time equivalents. Average weekly hours of work per wage earner are obtained by dividing the number of hours actually worked by the each wage earner (present or registered) in each establishment during the reference period, by the number of working days during the period, and by multiplying the result by five, i.e. the number of working days in a normal week. For all the statistics, workers whose wages or salaries were reduced because of absence for all or part of the reference period are not included.

Construction of indices

Indices are calculated in respect of average gross hourly earnings of wage earners in industry and average gross monthly salaries of salaried employees in industry. These indices are compiled using as fixed weights total employment based on the results of the survey of wage structure and distribution (currently, that of 1978/1979).

Weighting of sample results

In industry, the data compiled at the establishment level are extrapolated to the survey universe using two coefficients: one enables the expansion from the sample of employees to all employees in the establishment; the other enables the expansion from the establishments observed to all establishments covered by the sampling frame. Then for each industry group at three-digit level of the NACE, average gross hourly earnings are calculated, for men and women aged 21 years and over, and for men and women below the age of 21. These averages are obtained by dividing the total of gross hourly earnings of the wage earners concerned by the number of wage earners of each corresponding sex and age group. All these data are then aggregated using current weights so as to obtain, for each industry group, the average gross hourly earnings for all men, all women, and for men and women of all ages together. For employees in industry, the data at the establishment level for men and women are extrapolated to the universe and aggregated with a view to presenting the results for each sex and for men and women combined at the level of NACE industry classes. These aggregates are calculated using current employment weights. To expand from the industry group level to industry classes and divisions, a fixed weighting is used, which reflects the estimated number of employees per sector. The same procedure is used for weighting average wages in the services.

Adjustments

Non-response

No adjustments are made in the case of non-response, since enterprises are legally obliged to reply to the questionnaire under the provisions of a royal decree enacted in 1974. In principle, six months after the reference period, all establishments should have sent the INS completed questionnaire relating to the six-monthly survey on wages and hours of work.

Other bias

Not relevant.

Use of benchmark data

Not relevant.

Seasonal variations

None.

Indicators of reliability of the estimates

Coverage of the sampling frame

Complete, in principle. Registration with the ONSS is compulsory for enterprises and establishments.

Sampling error / sampling variance

The standard error is not calculated.

Non-response rate

Not relevant. The INS tries to reduce non-response to a minimum by maintaining close contact with establishments: written and telephone reminders, visits by enumerators to collect information, etc.

Non-sampling errors

Not known.

Conformity with other sources

Not relevant.

Available series

The following series are published every six months:

History of the survey

The annual earnings surveys held in October of each year have been conducted since 1952. The current six-monthly survey started in April 1961 and, since that date, has supplied data on earnings and hours of work in industry, on the basis of a series of definitions that have changed very little since that time. In 1964, the survey was adapted to the new harmonized statistics of earnings established by EUROSTAT. In October 1966, slight modifications were introduced with the adoption of a new sampling frame and the NACE industrial classification. Fresh modifications were introduced in 1972 with the extension of the survey to include salaried employees in industry and workers in the energy sector. The results are published according to the new classification of economic activities - the general Classification of Economic Activities of the European Communities (NACE), Rev.1. In 1978, the system was supplemented by six-monthly wage surveys in the wholesale and retail trades, credit institutions and insurance companies.

Documentation

Ministère des Affaires Economiques, Institut National de Statistique: Statistiques Sociales (quarterly; Brussels). Statistical Office of the European Communities (EUROSTAT): Earnings - industry and services (twice a year, Luxemburg). Methodological information is also available in: idem: Harmonized earnings statistics - National survey methodology (ibid., 1992). The data are also available on diskette and magnetic tape.

Confidentiality / Reliability criteria

No data are published with respect to cells with fewer than four establishments.

Other information

Data supplied to the ILO for publication

The following series are published in the Yearbook of Labour Statistics: in non-agricultural activities, mining and quarrying, manufacturing and construction. The six-monthly data are published in the corresponding tables of the Bulletin of Labour Statistics.