France (2)

Title of the survey

Enquête semestrielle sur l'activité et les conditions d'emploi de la main-d'oeuvre (ACEMO) (Six-montly survey on activity and working conditions of the labour force)

Organization responsible

Ministère de l'Emploi et de la Formation Professionnelle, Service des Etudes et de la Statistique, Direction de l'Animation de la Recherche, des Etudes et des Statistiques (DARES)

Periodicity of the survey

Generally six-monthly, in April and October. A supplementary survey is conducted annually.

Objectives of the survey

To measure the gross average monthly earnings (including monthly bonuses) of employees in virtually all non-agricultural market activities.

The results are used for: comparative studies of earnings levels, by sex, sector and occupational category; harmonization of earnings statistics of the Statistics Office of the European Communities (EUROSTAT); transmission to the Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE) for further analysis; national and international publications.

The supplementary survey on annual earnings is used to estimate average monthly earnings, including all bonuses.

Main labour topics covered by the survey

Earnings.

Reference period

The months of April and October.

Coverage of the survey

Geographical

Whole country (Metropolitan France).

Industrial

Mining and quarrying; manufacturing; electricity, gas and water; construction; wholesale and retail trade; restaurants and hotels; transport, storage and communication; financing, insurance, real estate and business services; community, social and personal services.

The survey does not cover agriculture, the public service sector, domestic services, diplomatic representations, international organizations or temporary employment.

Establishments

Establishments with at least 11 employees.

(Establishments with fewer than 11 employees are covered by a separate annual survey conducted in October).

Persons

Employees.

Occupations

The survey does not cover individual occupations, but distinguishes between four socio-occupational categories defined according to grid for the classification of workers by level of skill:

manual workers;
clerical workers (salaried employees);
supervisors, technicians, draughtsmen;
managers.

Concepts and definitions

Employment

Employees are all persons who have a fixed-term or permanent employment contract, and who were paid for the reference month, whether they were present for the entire month or only part of it. They include:

full-time workers paid for the whole month;
full-time employees who have entered or left their employment during the month (declared as paid employees and full-time equivalents);
part-time employees (declared as paid employees and full-time equivalents).

The four socio-occupational categories are defined as follows:

Manual workers comprise six sub-categories of workers, namely skilled industrial workers, skilled craftsmen, drivers, skilled maintenance, storage and transport workers, unskilled industrial workers and unskilled craft workers.
Salaried employees refer to the administrative workers in an enterprise and sales workers;
Supervisors, technicians and draughtsmen include the intermediate occupations in health and social work, the intermediate administrative and sales workers in enterprises, supervisors and foremen;
Managers include the administrative and sales managers, engineers and technical managers.

For the purposes of the Statistical Office of the European Communities (EUROSTAT), the term salaried employee covers the three categories of employees who are dealt with separately in the questionnaire, namely clerical employees, supervisors, technicians and draughtsmen, and managers.

The survey does not cover employees from temporary work agencies, young persons on work initiation schemes (SIVP), apprentices, home workers, commercial travellers, representatives and brokers representing more than one firm (VRP multicartes) (who are grouped with home workers), employees working on a commission basis only, managers not covered by collective agreements, employees on long-term sick leave or maternity leave who are not paid fully by the enterprise, employees under State subsidized contract (adaptation, qualification, back-to-work, career guidance and employment-solidarity contracts).

Earnings

These refer to gross earnings before deduction of social contributions (social security, pension schemes etc.) and before any other deductions because of absence or sick leave, short time or lay-off due to bad weather. They include all components of earnings for the reference month including bonuses and overtime pay.

Gross earnings are divided into four parts:

the total of basic wages, which corresponds to the total of the first lines in the employees' pay statement, for the hours paid for;
total remuneration for overtime;
monthly bonuses paid for the reference month as for the other months; these include all bonuses or gratuities systematically paid each month, even if the amount varies from one month to another;
other premiums, i.e., non-monthly bonuses or exceptional gratuities for the reference month.

Excluded from gross earnings are components corresponding to reimbursements in respect of expenses incurred by the employee on behalf of the establishment, as well redundancy or retirement compensation, paid vacation allowances, precariousness premiums paid to employees at the end of a short-term contract, and payments in kind.

The data collected on total gross earnings and their distribution according to the above-mentioned components represent the wage bill paid in respect of all employees and for each of the socio-occupational categories.

Wage/salary rates

Not relevant.

Hours of work

Not relevant.

International recommendations

The concept of gross earnings as defined in the survey corresponds to the concept of regular earnings contained in the international recommendations, with the following exception: it excludes payments in kind as well as certain allowances, such as cost-of-living allowance, housing or transport allowances or family allowances paid by the employer.

Classifications

Industrial

Until April 1994, the classification used was the Nomenclature d'Activités et the Produits with 100 headings (NAP 100).

Since October 1994, the results of the earnings survey have been published according to the Nomenclature d'activité française (NAF). The NAF is an adaptation of the Standard Classification of Economic Activities of the European Communities (NACE), 1990, Rev.1, with the most detailed European headings subdivisions. The results are presented in the Nomenclatures économiques de synthèse in 16 groups (NES 16) and 36 (NES 36) groups.

The NACE Rev. 1 is compatible with the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC), Rev.3, 1990.

Occupational

The data are classified according to the four socio-occupational categories mentioned above.

Others

The data are classified by size of establishment (11 to 49, 50 to 199, 200 to 499 and 500 employees and over) and by sex.

Sample size and design

Statistical unit

The survey unit is the establishment, defined as a group of employees working at a single geographical location under the authority of the one legal entity (enterprise or individual employer). In the case of certain large enterprises comprising several establishments, bilateral agreements allow the enterprise to respond for all units.

Survey universe / sample frame

The sample frame is the Ministry's data base on establishments, based on the Système informatique pour le Répertoire des Entreprises et des Etablissements (SIRENE) of the Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE). The SIRENE data base is updated daily to take into account the foundation, modification and closure of enterprises (over 10,000 daily updates), on the basis of official statements issued by the chambers of industry and commerce, Clerks' Offices of the Commercial Tribunals, tax offices, etc., and by INSEE surveys.

From January 1996 on, the data base on establishments will be produced directly by the INSEE OCEAN data base (Outil de coordination des enquêtes annuelles d'entreprises).

Sample design

The survey covers a sample of about 65,000 establishments, including all establishments with 50 or more employees and one-fourth of those with 11 to 49 employees; the latter are stratified by activity according to the NAP 100 classes, and size of establishment.

The sample is automatically updated every three months for establishments with 50 or more employees, and every two or three years for the other establishments.

From January 1996, it is planned to introduce a system for rotating part of the sample.

Field work

Data collection

The survey is conducted by post. A permanent survey organization is responsible for collecting the data. A reminder is automatically sent out to establishments that have not replied by the end of the survey month.

Survey questionnaire

The questionnaire consists of two parts: the first concerns information on remuneration paid during the reference month, and the second on the number of employees who received remuneration during that month.

In the first part, the gross amount of remuneration paid for the reference month and its breakdown under four headings (see under Concepts and definitions) are given for each of the four socio-occupational categories and by sex, and for all categories together.

The second part contains questions on the number of employees, divided into full-time and part-time employees by socio-occupational category, in terms of the number of employees and their full-time equivalents for the entire month. The total number of employees corresponds to the sum of the preceding data.

Substitution of sampling units

In the case of non-response (because of cessation of activities, change of address, refusal to respond, etc.), sampling units are not replaced (see also Adjustments for non-response).

Data processing and editing

The data are processed manually and by computer. There is no manual coding. In addition to certain checks on ranges, trends and standard deviations, the data are checked manually and by computer, and the establishment is contacted by telephone or letter if there are gaps or inconsistencies in the data.

Types of estimates

Average and median earnings, the distribution of earnings by deciles and the standard deviation of earnings for the reference month are calculated.

The information requested is used to calculate the average monthly earnings of an employee paid for normal activity and for the entire month, by dividing the declared gross earnings (wage bill) by the number of full-time equivalent employees.

Earnings levels are calculated for all responding establishments; earnings trends are calculated for that part of the sample covered by two successive surveys.

The six-monthly survey on earnings provides data on monthly earnings only. To meet EUROSTAT requirements, the calculation of the hourly earnings of wage earners requires combining this survey with the ACEMO quarterly survey, which gives weekly hours of work. Hourly earnings equal monthly earnings divided by 4.33 times weekly hours of work, resulting from the actual working schedule applied by the establishment during the week, for employees working on a full-time basis.

Construction of indices

Not relevant.

Weighting of sample results

This is carried out in two stages:

First stage - calculation of average earnings by stratum: In each elementary stratum comprising an occupational category (manual workers, clerical workers, supervisors and technicians, managers and all workers), sex, NAP 100 activity and size of establishment, average monthly earnings (the ratio between gross pay, less non-monthly bonuses, and full-time equivalent personnel) are calculated.

GAINMOY_ISLT are the average monthly earnings thus calculated in category I, activity L, size T for sex S.

Second stage - aggregation of strata: These elementary results are then aggregated using weights reflecting the distribution of employees, by economic activity in the preceding year (Source UNEDIC: national organization comprising all ASSEDICs). The UNEDIC employee figures are classified by socio-occupational category according to a survey of distribution conducted in April 1985, and again in 1993.

The average earnings of a category I and sex S, for an activity K (which is the grouping of X elementary activities in NAP 100) for a given size T, is equal to the average earnings of the elementary divisions weighted by the number of employees in the weighting file (E). Thus:

To obtain average earnings for all sizes in activity K, the four groups of activity Kx size are aggregated:

Adjustments

Non-response

None.

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

The SIRENE data base is the official directory in which all enterprises in France are registered with all their establishments. It contains about 3,300,000 active enterprises and about 3,800,000 active establishments.

Sampling error / sampling variance

Not available.

Non-response rate

This is in the region of 37 per cent in terms of questionnaires (received questionnaires), and 55 per cent in numbers of employees, after computerized processing to eliminate establishments with anomalies.

Non-sampling errors

Not known.

It should be noted that the average monthly earnings thus calculated are subject to the structured effects (distribution of employees by category, sex, age, skill level, etc.), and account is taken only of questionnaires in which data concerning groupings of categories are known.

Conformity with other sources

Not known.

Available series

The principal series regularly published are:

average gross monthly earnings (including monthly bonuses), by occupational category, sex, economic activity and size of establishment;
composition of total gross earnings (including monthly bonuses) by occupational category, economic activity and size of establishment;
trends in average gross monthly earnings.

The supplementary annual survey produces the following series:

estimates of theoretical monthly earnings, including all bonuses, and supplementary or exceptional monthly bonuses as a proportion of theoretical earnings, by occupational category and economic activity.

History of the survey

This survey was introduced in October 1988 by the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Vocational Training with a view to obtaining more complete information on wages and salaries. It is one of the series of earnings surveys conducted since 1949 at varying intervals and with varying coverage. The ACEMO surveys have been carried out since October 1972. From 1972 to 1980, the earnings survey was conducted in April and October each year and covered all categories of employees. Between 1980 and 1984, it was conducted three times a year, in January, April and October. In 1986, the sample was modified and a six-monthly periodicity, was resumed in principle (except for the year 1990 when the survey took place in October only).

Since October 1988, the new survey has involved by a new system of data processing, and the inclusion of part-time employees and those having worked less than the full month. In addition, non-monthly bonuses paid during the reference month (which had been explicitly excluded from the old survey) are included in the statistics.

Since the first half of 1993, the Nomenclature d'activités et de produits (NAP 73) which was used in France since 1973 has replaced by the NAF (Nomenclature d'activités française). The results of the earnings survey have been published in accordance with the NAF since the October 1994 results.

The change of classification was accompanied by the expansion of the survey coverage to include new sectors: all public industrial and commercial establishments, except posts and telecommunications, and new economic activities: water harnessing, treatment and distribution, coal, lignite and peat extraction, production and distribution of electricity and heating gas, coking, wine production and rail transport.

The Enquête complémentaire sur les gains annuels makes it possible to estimate average annual earnings, including all bonuses, and the proportion of bonuses that are not paid monthly (guaranteed bonuses such as the thirteenth month's wage and vacation bonuses, and incidental bonuses such as profit-sharing and productivity bonuses). It concerns only annual remuneration, classified as the data for the April and October remuneration in the same way the six-monthly survey.

It is conducted on a sub-sample representing one-fifth of the establishments responding to the six-monthly survey. Data processing for this survey is independent of that for the main survey. The proportion of bonuses not paid on a monthly basis (other bonuses in relation to the gross wage) is calculated at the level of the NAP with about 100 groups, by occupational category and sex. These ratios are subjected to two adjustments similar to those applied to average monthly earnings in the main survey.

Documentation

Ministère du Travail, de l'Emploi et de la Formation professionnelle, Service de l'Animation, de la Recherche, des Etudes et des Statistiques: Bulletin mensuel des statistiques du travel (BMST) (Paris, monthly).

idem: Premières Informations (ibid.).

The results of the six-monthly survey are published about seven months after the survey reference month.

idem: Dossiers statistiques du travail et de l'emploi (DSTE) (ibid., variable periodicity).

Confidentiality / Reliability criteria

In accordance with Act No. 51-711 of 7 June 1951 (amended), concerning obligation, co-ordination and secrecy in statistical matters, the data collected are covered by statistical secrecy and may under no circumstances be used for purposes of tax inspection or economic repression.

Other information

Data supplied to the ILO for publication

Statistics on the hourly earnings of manual workers (October of each year), derived from the six-monthly survey and the quarterly survey on the activity and employment conditions of the labour force, in non-agricultural sectors, manufacturing, mining and quarrying, construction and transport, storage and communication are published in the corresponding tables of the Yearbook of Labour Statistics.

The six-monthly data are presented in the corresponding tables of the Bulletin of Labour Statistics.

Data on average monthly earnings in the wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels, insurance and credit institutions are available in the ILO data base.