Switzerland (3)
Title of the survey
Enquête générale sur les salaires et traitements (General Survey
on Wages and Salaries).
Organization responsible
Office fédéral de l'industrie, des arts et métiers et du travail
(OFIAMT), division Economie et Statistiques, section Statistiques
des salaires.
On 1 March 1995, responsibility for all wages statistics was
transferred to the Office fédérale de la statistique (OFS).
Periodicity of the survey
Annual, in October.
Objectives of the survey
To record wage levels and differentials according to worker
category and class of economic activity, and to identify trends in
remuneration from employment.
The results of the survey are used in public, scientific,
economic, and economic policy fields.
Main labour topics covered by the survey
Earnings.
Reference period
One pay period in October for wage earners paid by the hour; the month
of October for wage earners and salaried employees paid by the
month. If the enterprise is closed in October because
of vacations, end of season, etc., the reference period is a pay
period in the month of September. In hotels and catering,
the data refer to the month of July.
Coverage of the survey
Geographical
Whole country.
Industrial
The survey covers industry, crafts, construction,
energy, wholesale and retail trade, financing and insurance,
transport and communication, hotels and catering, as well as the
federal public administration, post, telephones and
telecommunications (PTT) and the federal railway system (CFF).
Excluded from the survey coverage are certain services such as
education, public health, research, social work, religious
organizations, recreational and cultural services, domestic
service, as well as agriculture (however, horticulture and
forestry are covered). Cantonal and local government services
are also excluded.
Establishments
Establishments of all types and sizes in the
public and private sectors.
Persons
All workers employed on a full-time basis who were
paid a wage or salary during the reference month. Excluded are
working proprietors and directors, family workers not engaged
under a contract of employment, voluntary workers and trainees,
as well as commercial travellers and representatives not working
exclusively for the enterprise.
Occupations
The data are not collected according to occupation
but according to the workers' skill levels (see under Concepts
and definitions: Employment). However, the survey provides
information on average hourly and monthly earnings in certain
occupations and in specific industries (e.g. gardeners and
florists in horticulture, cabinetmakers or interior decorators in
carpentry, opticians, pharmacists and hardware shop keepers,
various occupations in transport, etc.).
Concepts and definitions
Employment
Workers employed full-time are all workers (including
young persons and apprentices) engaged on a full-time basis by
the enterprise concerned during one pay period in the month of
October (July for hotels and catering) who were
paid a corresponding wage or salary. Persons working on short
time are taken into account provided that the reduction of
working hours is the result of the economic situation
in the enterprise.
A distinction is made between wage earners (production
workers) and salaried employees (administrative, technical and
sales workers) and in each of these two categories, between
sexes.
A distinction is made between wage earners paid by the hour or week, on
the one hand, and those paid by the month, on the other. A distinction
is also made between adults, young persons under the age of 19,
apprentices and other groups. Adult wage earners are further subdivided
into:
- skilled workers: workers who have completed an
apprenticeship, are engaged in an occupation that they have
learnt or in an equivalent activity, and who are assigned to
particularly difficult jobs, involving varied responsibilities or
fields (specialized workers, independent professional workers,
foremen, etc.);
- semi-skilled workers: workers who cannot perform their
activity without first having undergone a period of training,
generally of several months' duration, and who are assigned to
tasks that are regularly repeated, less difficult and involving
less responsibility (production workers, specialist workers,
assistant professional workers, etc.);
- unskilled workers: those whose activity requires no
particular vocational training or merely a brief initiation, and
who are employed in auxiliary work (labourers, builders' mates,
assistants, etc.).
Among salaried employees, a distinction is made between
adults, young persons under the age of 19, apprentices,
commercial travellers and representatives employed on a full-time
basis and other groups. Adult employees are subdivided
according to professional qualifications into the following
categories:
- category 0: senior management such as directors, managers,
senior executives. (The survey concerns the number of employees
in this category and their gross salaries, so as to provide a
better definition of category 1, but these employees'
remuneration is not included in the survey results.)
- category 1: qualified employees working independently,
possessing certificates of completed apprenticeship or studies
(agents, branch managers, accountants, technicians, foremen,
senior sales workers, etc.);
- category 2: employees not working independently, but
possessing certificates of apprenticeship or special skills, such
as draughtsmen, laboratory assistants, accountants' assistants,
sales assistants, shorthand typists, etc.);
In categories 1 and 2, a distinction is made between
commercial, technical and sales workers.
- category 3; employees such as office assistants,
storekeepers, delivery men, caretakers etc., whose activity does
not require any specific vocational training.
- commercial travellers and representatives working full-time
for the enterprise.
In certain activities, such as hotels and catering,
the common designations or the categories of occupations and
wages laid down in the collective agreements are used as a basis
for classifying wage earners and salaried employees, instead of
the categories mentioned above.
Excluded from the survey are:
- seasonal workers and home workers,
- part-time workers paid by the hour, and working generally
fewer than 20 hours a week,
- part-time workers paid by the month and working, in
general, fewer than 156 hours a month or, on average, fewer than
36 hours a week,
- workers who, as beneficiaries of allowances (invalidity
insurance, military insurance, etc.) were paid a reduced wage
or salary,
- workers paid by the month, who, because of sickness, injury,
military service, suspension or dismissal, were not paid for
the entire month.
Earnings
The data on earnings refer to gross earnings.
These comprise the following components:
- agreed wages or salaries, including cost-of-living allowance
and social welfare benefits (family, child, household
allowances, etc.). Wages and salaries include payment for normal
hours of work and for time not worked, such as annual leave,
vacation, public holidays;
- fringe benefits such as gratuities, thirteenth month,
profit-sharing bonuses, retainers, etc.
- bonuses and supplementary payments for piece work, overtime,
shift work, night work, Saturday work, etc.
- payments in kind, in particular food and drink, free or
subsidized housing.
The contributions paid by employees to the statutory
insurance schemes (old age and survivors (AVS), invalidity
insurance (AI), loss-of-earnings insurance in the case of
military service (APG), unemployment insurance (AC), pension
fund, insurance against non-occupational injury, etc.) are
considered as integral components of gross earnings. On the
other hand, account is not taken of vacation and public holiday
indemnities, if they are paid in addition to the wage (in the
form of vacation stamps).
Payments in kind are taken into account on the basis of
their value to the beneficiary (not their cost to the employer).
The value of food and housing is calculated at AVS rates.
Gross earnings of commercial travellers and representatives
comprise the fixed rate and commissions for the reference month,
but do not include payment of expenses.
All components of earnings that are not paid for the pay period are
included proportionately. As regards
gratuities, amounts paid in the previous year may be taken into account.
Excluded from gross earnings are payments not related to the
professional activity engaged in during the reference period,
such as payments of arrears, expenses, distribution of work
clothes, etc.
The total of gross wages of wage earners paid by the hour, the
day or the week should correspond to the number of hours paid for,
as defined below.
The data on gross earnings are obtained from the total of
wages paid for a pay period and the number of workers paid during
that period, or of hours paid for. They are classified
by category (wage earners and salaried employees), sex and skill
level.
Wage/salary rates
Not relevant.
Hours of work
The survey covers normal hours of work per week for wage
earners and salaried employees as well as hours paid for.
For wage earners paid on an hourly basis, the hours
paid for comprise, in addition to normal weekly hours of work,
the hours actually worked (including overtime) and the hours lost
but paid for, for example, on statutory public
holidays, paid vacation, paid breaks during working hours, as well
as leave granted for personal reasons or reasons associated with
the enterprise (works assembly, works outing, visits to the
doctor, family events, etc.). Hours not worked because of
sickness, injury, military or civil defence service are included
in the number of hours paid for if the employer continues to pay
the worker the full wage.
As regards wage earners and salaried employees paid by the
month, hours paid for include the normal hours of work and
overtime hours paid for the month of October. Lost hours not paid for
(because of unpaid absence) and hours not worked and not paid for
(because of short-time work) are identified separately and
deducted from the total of hours paid for.
International recommendations
The definition of gross earnings adopted for the survey complies with
the international recommendations on earnings.
The concept of hours of work used in the survey corresponds to the
concept of hours paid for. The data on employment, gross earnings and
hours of work all have the same coverage.
The survey does not provide statistics on hours of work, but
the data on hours paid for are used in the calculation of gross
hourly earnings.
Classifications
Industrial
The data on earnings are classified according to the
Nomenclature générale des activités économiques, 1985. There is some
correlation between this classification and the
International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic
Activities (ISIC), Rev. 2, 1968.
Occupational
Not relevant.
Others
The data on earnings are classified:
- according to employee category (wage earners and salaried
employees);
- by sex;
- according to skill level.
Sample size and design
Statistical unit
The sampling unit is the enterprise. The unit
of observation is the group of employees
within the enterprise.
Survey universe / sample frame
The sample frame is the Federal
census of enterprises which is generally conducted
every ten years. The survey is currently based on the 1975 census.
Sample design
The survey is conducted on a non-exhaustive basis
using judgement sampling. The October
1992 survey covered about 51,000 enterprises employing about 1.21
million wage earners and salaried employees.
Field work
Data collection
The data are collected by means of questionnaires
mailed to the selected enterprises. Over 30 forms are used,
according to employee category and industry. A letter explaining
the objectives of the survey is sent with the questionnaire,
as well as a set of instructions relating to:
- use of the questionnaire;
- survey reference period;
- workers covered or excluded;
- hours of work;
- gross earnings;
- number of establishments employing the workers to whom the
data relate.
The questionnaires should be returned to the OFIAMT by 15 November
of the year in question.
Survey questionnaire
The purpose of the questionnaires is to collect information on the
amount of wages and salaries paid by employers in respect of groups of
employees (wage earners and salaried employees by sex and skill level),
the total hours paid for and the number of workers in each group.
Substitution of sampling units
Not relevant.
Data processing and editing
The questionnaires are first checked
manually. Then the responses are processed by computer and
plausibility checks are applied. Non-response is
followed up by reminder letters or telephone calls.
Types of estimates
- average hourly and monthly earnings per worker, by employee
category, sex and branch of economic activity;
- trends in nominal and real wages and salaries by employee category
(percentage changes from the previous year).
The average earnings by employee category are calculated for the
different groups of economic activity. The hourly earnings of wage
earners are obtained by dividing the total of their gross earnings by
the corresponding number of hours paid for. The monthly earnings of
salaried employees are obtained by dividing the total of their gross
earnings by the corresponding number of salaried employees. The data
for an enterprise therefore appear in the results in proportion to the
hours paid for in the case of wage earners or in proportion to the
number of salaried employees.
Construction of indices
Indices of average earnings by employee category, sex and branch of
economic activity are compiled every year. The weights are derived from
the census of enterprises (currently that of 1975).
Weighting of sample results
Average earnings and earnings indices are calculated using fixed weights
derived from the census of enterprises. The changes in the earnings and
the indices are, in general, directly inferred from the weighted average
earnings.
Adjustments
Non-response
Not relevant.
Other bias
Not relevant.
Use of benchmark data
Not relevant.
Seasonal variations
Not relevant.
Indicators of reliability of the estimates
Coverage of the sampling frame
Since the survey is
based on the 1975 census of enterprises,
the sampling frame only partially
reflects the population covered by the survey, in terms of
the number of enterprises, the number of employees and branches of
economic activity (see also under History of the survey).
Sampling error / sampling variance
Not relevant.
Non-response rate
About 20 per cent.
Non-sampling errors
Not available.
Conformity with other sources
Not relevant.
Available series
- average earnings by branch of economic activity, employee
category and sex;
- trends in earnings (in absolute figures for the last available year,
annual rates of change and percentage changes from the previous year) in
nominal and real terms, by employee category, sex and branch of economic
activity;
- annual earnings indices in nominal and real terms, by sex.
History of the survey
The October survey on wages dates back to 1942.
In 1969, the distribution of economic activities and
their weights were adapted to the results of the 1965 census of
enterprises. New weighting patterns were adopted on the basis of
the 1975 census of enterprises, and the computer
programme for data processing was revised.
As a result of a decision of 4 September 1985, the Federal Council
decreed a programme to revise economic and social statistics, which
included, among other things, the compilation of statistics on the
structure and levels of wages. A new survey is currently being
developed. It should lead to the following improvements:
- collection of individual data on wages and salaries,
- extension of the survey to the parts of the services
sector and the public services not previously covered,
- extension of the survey universe to include persons
employed part-time and managers,
- inclusion of variables relating to the individual, the job,
the enterprise and the workplace,
- compilation of a single questionnaire applicable to all data
suppliers;
- coverage of activities instead of individual occupations,
- use of classifications compatible with those used within the
European Communities,
- updating of the sample design,
- re-examination of the possibility of computerizing all
stages of the survey (data collection, processing
and dissemination).
A pilot survey on wage structure was conducted in the Canton of Geneva
in October 1991, then extended to the whole country in 1994. Since
then, it has been conducted every six months.
On 1 March 1995, responsibility for all wages statistics was transferred
from OFIAMT to the Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS).
Documentation
Département fédéral de l'économie public: La Vie
économique (monthly; Berne).
OFIAMT: Enquête sur les salaires et traitements versés en
octobre 19.. (annual; ibid.).
Office fédéral de la statistique: Annuaire statistique de
la Suisse (annual; ibid.).
For more comprehensive methodological information , see:
Département fédéral de l'économie publique: Off-print of
La Vie économique, No. 8/89: Evolution des salaires et durée
du travail.
OFIAMT: Modernisation de l'enquête sur les salaires et
traitements in La Vie économique No. 9/92 (op cit.).
idem: Enquête pilote sur les salaires dans le canton de
Genève: Premiers résultats et brefs commentaires in La Vie
économique, No. 12/92 (op cit.).
Confidentiality / Reliability criteria
Not available.
Other information
Data supplied to the ILO for publication
Data on average hourly
earnings of adult wage earners in non-agricultural
activities, manufacturing, mining and quarrying, construction,
transport, storage and communication, and horticulture,
are published in Tables 16
to 21 of the Yearbook of Labour Statistics.