Denmark (3)
Title of the survey
Labour Cost Survey
Organization responsible
Danmarks Statistik.
Periodicity of the survey
Every four years. The latest survey was conducted in 1993, with
reference to 1992.
Objectives of the survey
The survey is carried out under the European Community Council
Regulation 1612/88, which requires member States to supply details
on the level and trends of employers' total labour costs. The survey
is set out to highlight the various aspects of labour cost, providing a
picture of the level and structure of labour costs for manual and
non-manual workers in industry, commerce, banking and insurance.
At the European Union level, the survey data are used by several
Directorates General, in reports on wage cost differentials, social and
employment reports, etc. and in determining the European Social Fund.
Main labour topics covered by the survey
Employment, hours of work and labour cost.
Reference period
Labour cost and hours of work: a whole calendar year.
Employment: number of persons on the payroll at the end of each month.
Coverage of the survey
Geographical
The whole country.
Industrial
Manufacturing; energy and water; construction; retail and wholesale
distribution, hotels and catering; insurance, banking and finance;
travel agencies and tour operators.
Establishments
Establishments with ten or more employees.
Persons
All employees, irrespective of the type of work or the number of hours
worked, i.e. all persons working under contract as paid employees in the
enterprise or establishment.
Occupations
Not relevant.
Concepts and definitions
Employment
The data relate to
employees, i.e. persons employed in the establishment under
contract, and are collected separately for manual workers and
non-manual workers.
Manual workers are those engaged in manual work in the
establishment, even if they are paid on a monthly basis, excluding
foremen and supervisory workers, even if they are paid on an hourly
or daily basis.
Non-manual workers comprise all other employees,
including foremen, supervisory staff, engineers, management
executives and managerial staff.
Labour cost
The expenditure borne by employers in order to employ workers,
comprising the following components, on which data are collected
separately:
- direct pay received for normal time worked plus overtime, and any
bonuses and gratuities regularly paid with each pay; this means gross
amounts, i.e. before deduction of taxes and employees' social security
contributions; excluding apprentices' pay;
- other bonuses and gratuities not paid regularly with each pay;
- payments for days not worked (paid annual holidays; holiday
bonuses; paid public holidays; other days not worked for which payment
is made on a statutory, contractual or voluntary basis (industrial
accident, moving house, etc.) and redundancy compensation;
- benefits in kind: food and drink (except for expenditure on
canteens), housing, heating, etc. provided free of charge or below
cost price; compensatory allowances for unused benefits are included;
- statutory social security contributions and family allowances paid
by the employer: sickness, maternity, disability, retirement and
unemployment insurance; guaranteed sick pay; insurance against
industrial accidents and occupational diseases; family allowances;
others;
- non-statutory payments made by employers under agreements or
contracts or voluntarily: insurance schemes operated by the enterprise
or the sector; supplementary retirement pension schemes; contractual or
voluntary guaranteed sick or accident pay (supplementary pay);
supplementary unemployment insurance; contractual family allowances and
other family benefits; other payments;
- other social expenditure (especially transport costs, canteens,
cultural and medical facilities, kindergartens and crèches);
- vocational training costs, including apprentices' pay;
- taxes regarded as labour costs, minus social subsidies intended to
reimburse labour costs.
Hours of work
Data are collected on the total number of hours worked by
all employees.
For manual workers, data are collected on hours actually
worked, i.e. the total number of ordinary and overtime hours
worked, including hours worked on Sundays, public holidays and at
night. Short breaks taken at the workplace and stoppages caused by
machine downtime, etc. are included. Breaks for meals, travel time
between home and the place of work, and paid and unpaid absences are
not included.
For non-manual workers, the data refer to the number of hours
theoretically worked according to collective agreements or the
normal practice in the enterprise or establishment. Also included are
paid periods of absence for sick leave or for statutory special leave
and special leave granted under collective agreements or on a voluntary
basis. Paid annual holidays, public holidays and all overtime hours
are excluded.
International recommendations
The definitions of labour cost and hours actually worked conform
to those contained in the international recommendations.
Classifications
Components of labour cost / compensation of employees
The results are classified according to the components listed above,
which correspond roughly to the major groups of the International
Standard Classification of Labour Cost (ISCLC-1966).
Industrial
Not available.
Occupational
Not relevant.
Others
- size of establishment;
- region;
- manual or non-manual workers.
Sample size and design
No information available.
Field work
No information available.
Data processing and editing
No information available.
Types of estimates
No information available.
Construction of indices
No information available.
Weighting of sample results
No information available.
Adjustments
No information available.
Indicators of reliability of the estimates
No information available.
Available series
No information available.
History of the survey
No information available.
Documentation
No information available.
Confidentiality / Reliability criteria
No information available.
Other information
Data supplied to the ILO for publication
Statistics on average hourly labour cost for wage earners (manual
workers) in manufacturing are published in Tables 22A and 22B of the
Yearbook of Labour Statistics, and on average monthly labour
cost for salaried employees (non-manual workers) in Table 22A.