Finland (1)

Title of the survey

Wages of industrial workers and salaries of industrial employees Wages for building construction workers

Organization responsible

The Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers is responsible for collecting and processing the data. The results are published by Statistics Finland.

Periodicity of the survey

For wages of industrial and construction workers: every even quarter. For salaries of industrial employees: December of each year.

Objectives of the survey

Main labour topics covered by the survey

Earnings and hours of work.

Reference period

The whole quarter for hourly paid employees, and the month of December for monthly paid employees.

Coverage of the survey

Geographical

The whole country.

Industrial

Mining and quarrying, manufacturing and electricity, gas and water (major divisions 2, 3 and 4 of the International Standard Industrial Classification of all economic activities (ISIC), Rev.2, 1968), and private sector construction (i.e. major division 5 of ISIC, Rev.2).

Establishments

All types and sizes of establishments belonging to the Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers (i.e. organized firms).

Persons

Employees (wage earners and salaried employees). Working proprietors, working directors, and unpaid family workers are excluded.

Occupations

All occupations are covered.

Concepts and definitions

Employment

Employees are persons present on the payroll during the reference period. They include hourly paid employees (wage earners), monthly paid employees (salaried employees) and piece workers, who are separately identified. They also include apprentices, trainees and workers on probation, commission agents, home workers and casual workers (who are identified separately in construction), full- and part-time workers, as well as persons temporarily absent from work because of paid vacation or holiday, who are not identified separately. Excluded from employees are workers sub-contracted from other companies or firms, workers from temporary work agencies, persons temporarily absent from work because of unpaid leave, temporary or indefinite lay off, industrial dispute, sickness or accident, etc. and young workers below the age of 15.

Earnings

For hourly paid employees, the data relate to gross earnings for normal working time plus overtime. For monthly paid employees, they refer to gross earnings for normal hours of work. For hourly paid employees (i.e. wage earners), gross earnings cover pay for normal time worked or work done, premium pay for overtime, shift, night or holiday work, commissions paid to sales and other personnel, incentive pay (production bonuses, etc.), regular bonuses, and remuneration for time not worked on public holidays. The following are excluded: remuneration for time not worked on annual leave, vacation, etc. and other time off with pay, bonuses and gratuities paid irregularly and earnings in kind. Cost-of-living, house rent, transport and family allowances paid directly by the employer are also excluded. For monthly paid employees (i.e. salaried employees), gross earnings cover pay for normal time worked, premium pay for shift, night or holiday work, commissions paid to sales and other personnel, cost-of-living benefit, irregularly paid bonuses and gratuities (year-end, seasonal and similar bonuses, and profit-sharing bonuses) and the value of earnings in kind in the form of food and drink, free or subsidized housing and car benefits. Pay for sick leave or training is included in regular worktime earnings for salaried employees. The following are excluded: remuneration for time not worked on annual leave, vacation etc., on public holidays and other time off with pay, house rent, transport and family allowances paid directly by the employer.

Wage/salary rates

Not relevant.

Hours of work

Data are collected on hours actually worked for hourly paid employees, and on normal hours of work for monthly paid employees. Hours actually worked include paid hours worked during normal periods of time; paid overtime; time spent at the place of work for the preparation of the workplace, repairs, maintenance, preparation and cleaning of tools, preparation of receipts, time sheets and reports, etc.; inactive periods at the workplace while waiting or standing by due to mechanical or electrical breakdown, lack of supply of materials or clients, or bad weather; time spent at the workplace during which no work is done but for which payment is made under a guaranteed employment contract; time corresponding to short rest periods at the workplace, including tea and coffee breaks; and study or training periods. Hours paid for but not worked, for paid vacations, public holidays, sick leave, maternity or parental leave, personal leave, military or related service, civil responsibilities, study leave and professional training, etc. are excluded. Normal hours of work are fixed mainly by collective agreements.

International recommendations

Two concepts of hours of work are used in this survey: normal hours of work for monthly paid employees, and hours actually worked (including overtime) for hourly paid employees. These two concepts conform to the relevant international guidelines. The definition of earnings follows these two concepts: earnings refer to direct wages and salaries for time worked or work done, usually during regular working hours. They exclude remuneration for time not worked but paid for.

Classifications

Industrial

The data on earnings are classified according to the Standard Industrial Classification of Finland (SIC-88), on the basis of the activity of the establishment in which workers are employed. The SIC is linked to the International Standard Industrial Classification of all economic activities (ISIC), Rev.2, 1968.

Occupational

Earnings and hours data are classified according to individual occupations and occupational groups.

Others

The survey results are also classified according to:

Sample size and design

Statistical unit

The sampling and reporting unit is the establishment. The unit of observation is the individual employee.

Survey universe / sample frame

This consists of the Register of the Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers, which covers all establishments that are members of the Confederation. The coverage of the Register is as follows:

Sample design

The survey is a complete enumeration of all establishments of all types and sizes covered by the Register.

Field work

Data collection

This takes place just after the reference period, by means of mailed questionnaires or automatic data transfer, under the responsibility of the Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers.

Survey questionnaire

Available in Finnish and Swedish only.

Substitution of sampling units

Not relevant.

Data processing and editing

Data are first processed by computer, then the resulting error list is checked manually. Responses are coded manually or by computer, according to the type of data. Inconsistent data are checked by telephone. Both range and consistency checks are made. Missing data are obtained through reminders. If the reference period presents abnormal circumstances (e.g. strike, lockout, public holiday, fire, flood, etc.), the relevant data are omitted.

Types of estimates

The estimates consist mainly of totals and averages, per hour, day or month. Some distributions are also calculated. Part-time workers are counted as individuals, on the same basis as full-time workers. However, the estimates of average earning per hour take into account their hours actually worked (for hourly paid employees) or their normal hours of work (for monthly paid employees).

Construction of indices

The wage and salary index is calculated as a fixed-weight index of the Laspeyres type by dividing wage and salary earners into 127 groups in the so-called official index. Their average earnings are determined from a total of 389 base series which are compiled in each sector by industry and occupational group. An earnings index is calculated for each group in the official index by dividing the average earnings by the average earnings of 1990 for the corresponding group and multiplying this figure by a hundred. Salary and wage earner group indices are united by weighting each group index with the group's total earnings weight. The total earnings weight is based on the indices of the base year 1990.

Weighting of sample results

Not relevant.

Adjustments

Non-response

There is no adjustment for non-response.

Other bias

In industry (except construction) changes in industrial classification are adjusted mainly by using parallel statistics.

Use of benchmark data

Benchmark data are not used.

Seasonal variations

The data are not adjusted for seasonal variations.

Indicators of reliability of the estimates

Coverage of the sampling frame

The Register covers all establishments which are members of the Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers.

Sampling error / sampling variance

Not relevant.

Non-response rate

Not available, but very low.

Non-sampling errors

There may be errors in the data supplied by respondents, which cannot be detected or corrected using the various computer checks.

Conformity with other sources

There is no other source of data on earnings of wage earners and salaried employees in industry and construction.

Available series

History of the survey

The survey of wages of industrial workers began in 1936. The survey of wages for building construction workers began in 1955. A number of minor changes and revisions have been introduced. These are described in the relevant national publications. A revision was introduced in 1993. The periodicity of data collection of earnings of wage earners changed from quarterly to half-yearly (in even quarters). The reference period used for data collection of earnings of salaried employees changed from August to December.

Documentation

Tilastokeskus (Statistics Finland): Suomen tilastollinen vuosikirja (Statistical Yearbook of Finland) (Helsinki, annual). idem: Tilastokatsauksia (Bulletin of Statistics) (ibid., monthly). idem: Teollissuden, rakennusalan ja liikenteen työntekijöiden (Wages for industrial, building construction and road transport workers) (ibid.). The survey results are first published about four months after the reference period. Additional data which do not appear in publications could be made available upon request. Because of the high expense involved, requests would have to be considered on a case by case basis. Methodological information on the Index of wages and salaries are published in: idem: The Index of Wage and Salary Earnings 1990 = 100 - Handbook for Users (Helsinki, 1994).

Confidentiality / Reliability criteria

The release of data is subject to confidentiality restrictions whereby neither individual establishments nor individual persons can be identified.

Other information

Data supplied to the ILO for publication

The following estimates are published in the Yearbook of Labour Statistics: Quarterly estimates of average hourly earnings of wage earners in manufacturing (including mining and quarrying and electricity) are published in Table 8 of the Bulletin of Labour Statistics. Data on wage rates, earnings and hours of work for individual occupations in manufacturing, mining and quarrying, electricity and construction are published in Statistics on occupational wages and hours of work and on food prices - October Inquiry results, a special supplement to the Bulletin of Labour Statistics.

Other sources of data

In addition to the surveys described in this volume, surveys of earnings and hours of work in logging and forestry, transport, trade, banks, insurance, hotels and restaurants, the government sector, municipalities and non-profit institutions are also carried out by the Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers, the Confederation of Commerce Employers, Statistics Finland or the Finnish State Treasury.