Cook Islands

Title of the survey

Survey of Employment, Wages and Salaries.

Organization responsible

Statistics Office.

Periodicity of the survey

In principle, annual (except certain years - see under "History of the survey").

Objectives of the survey

To obtain information on the number of employees, their industry, occupation, age, residential status, wages and salaries, and whether employed in the private or public sector. The survey results are used by the government in the formulation, evaluation and monitoring of labour market policies.

Main labour topics covered by the survey

Employment, earnings, wage rates and hours of work.

Reference period

The four-week period ending on a specific date in September of each year (the 26th, or the 30th, etc.).

Coverage of the survey

Geographical

The whole country.

Industrial

All branches of economic activity, except household services. Agriculture is not fully covered. Since 1993, household economic activities are also covered.

Establishments

Establishments of all types and sizes, which have paid employees.

Persons

Employees.

Occupations

All occupations are covered as long as they are being paid during the survey period. Although data are collected on individual occupations, they are published at the major occupational group level.

Concepts and definitions

Employment

Employees include wage earners and salaried employees; working proprietors and directors; apprentices, trainees and workers on probation; piece workers; commission agents; workers from temporary work agencies; casual, temporary, seasonal and part-time workers; persons temporarily absent from work because of paid vacation or holiday; sickness or accident; persons temporarily present on payroll during notice period preceding retirement, resignation or dismissal. Excluded are home workers, unpaid family workers and persons temporarily absent from work because of unpaid vacation, temporary or indefinite lay-off, industrial dispute or temporary military service; or any other reasons, whether authorised or not. Three categories of employees are separately identified:

wage employees, who are paid weekly (i.e. wage earners),
salary employees, who are paid fortnightly (i.e. salaried employees), and
casual employees, who receive casual payments.

Earnings

Data refer to gross earnings paid during the survey reference period, defined as total wages and salaries, before any deductions are made by the employer. They include the following components, which are separately identified:

ordinary time earnings, which include pay for normal time worked or work done as well as remuneration for time not worked (paid annual vacation, public holidays, paid sick leave, long service leave and other time off with pay),
overtime earnings, for work performed outside normal working hours,
allowances and other earnings, such as premium pay for holiday work, shift work and night work, incentive pay (production bonuses, etc.), allowances (house rent allowance paid directly by employer, transport, laundry and family allowances) and bonuses paid regularly.

Excluded from earnings are payments in kind and irregularly paid bonuses and gratuities.

Wage/salary rates

Data are collected on hourly rates of pay of casual employees. For this category of employees, hourly rates of pay usually include a loading in lieu of holiday and sick pay.

Hours of work

Data are collected on normal hours of work during the survey reference period. They correspond to the hours of work stipulated by the establishment for each occupation and beyond which any any time worked is remunerated at overtime rate. Overtime hours are excluded. Information is also collected on whether employees have worked normal hours during the survey period, or whether they worked more or less than their normal hours of work. Employees who are on paid holiday, leave, etc. are considered as working and receiving normal pay for normal hours of work. Employees are classified as full-time (30 or more hours) or part-time workers (less than 30 hours) on the basis of their normal hours of work during the reference period.

International recommendations

The concept of earnings used in this survey covers only regular payments for time worked and not worked. Irregular bonuses and premia, as well as the value of payments in kind, are excluded. The concepts of wage rates and that of normal hours of work conform to the international guidelines.

Classifications

Industrial

The survey results are classified according to the Cook Islands Standard Industrial Classification, which is linked to the International Standard Industrial Classification of all economic activities (ISIC), Rev.2, 1968 at the one-digit level.

Occupational

The survey results are classified according to the Cook Islands Standard Occupational Classification System (KNOCS) which is adapted from the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-1968).

Others

Data on employment and earnings are classified by sector (public and private), employee category (wage, salary and casual employees), type of work (full- and part-time), sex, age group, ethnic origin and island.

Sample size and design

Statistical unit

The establishment, classified according to its industrial activity.

Survey universe / sample frame

This consists of the Register of the Department of Inland Revenues, which is updated with the use of the telephone directory to suit the purposes of the survey.

Sample design

The survey is based on a complete enumeration of establishments.

Field work

Data collection

Questionnaires are mailed or delivered by staff from the Statistics Office to all establishments. Where help is needed by the respondents, enumerators provide the required assistance.

Survey questionnaire

This collects information on the establishment's main activity, the person to be contacted if queries arise, and, in tabular form, the following data on each employee:

name or code number,
occupation (description of employee's major activity),
sex,
ethnic origin: CIM (Cook Islands Resident-Maori) or CIO (Cook Islands Resident-Non Maori) or OTH (other: expatriate),
year of birth,
ordinary time earnings,
overtime earnings,
allowances and other earnings,
hours worked,
hourly rate for casual employees,
whether it was normal pay for a normal or usual duration of work,
employee status (whether the employee started or ceased employment during the reference period), and
employee category.;

Explanatory notes as well as definitions for each of the types of data to be reported form part of the questionnaire.

Substitution of sampling units

Not applicable.

Data processing and editing

Data are coded manually and then processed by computer. Editing is done by office staff and inconsistent or missing data are clarified by telephone or enumerator's visit.

Types of estimates

Totals of employment and four-weekly earnings, and average weekly earnings. Statistics on hours of work are not published. The data that are collected are used for verification of pay and pay rates, and to determine the employment status of the person (i.e. full- or part-time).

Construction of indices

None.

Weighting of sample results

Not relevant.

Adjustments

Non-response

None.

Other bias

None.

Use of benchmark data

Not relevant.

Seasonal variations

None.

Indicators of reliability of the estimates

Coverage of the sampling frame

The coverage of the Register is considered to be complete.

Sampling error / sampling variance

Not relevant.

Non-response rate

Not available.

Non-sampling errors

Not available.

Conformity with other sources

No information available.

Available series

Published tables include number of employees, four-weekly and average earnings statistics by income groups, and cross-classified by

private and public sector and island,
employee type, sex, industry and occupation,
ethnic origin, age and island,
employee status, sex and island.

History of the survey

The survey was first conducted on 30 March 1979. It was carried out in 1980, 1982, 1984 and 1985, with reference to the month of March. It was discontinued between 1986 and 1988 because of major undertakings such as the Population Census and the Parliamentary Elections in which the Statistics Office was heavily involved. The survey resumed in 1989 and again in 1990, with reference to the month of September. The 1993 survey also referred to the month of September. Questions were extended to include the educational level of the employees, the type of training taken and the legal status of the establishment. The scope of the survey was also extended to include all household economic activities.

Documentation

Statistics Office: Survey of Employment, Wages and Salaries (Raro Tonga); published about one year after the end of the survey reference period.

Confidentiality / Reliability criteria

Statistics are collected under the Statistics Act, 1966; the information provided is strictly confidential and restricted to the Statistics Office. In addition, data are published or released only in the form of aggregates.

Other information

Data supplied to the ILO for publication

Statistics of average weekly earnings of employees, in non-agricultural activities, manufacturing, mining and quarrying, construction, and transport, storage and communication, are published in Tables 16, 17A, 18, 19 and 20 of the Yearbook of Labour Statistics.