Russian Federation - 2

Title of the survey

Report on the composition of organisations' labour costs.

Organization responsible

State Committee of the Russian Federation on Statistics (GOSKOMSTAT).

Periodicity of the survey

Surveys conducted in 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1999, with reference to the previous calendar year.

Objectives of the survey

To obtain data on the level and structure of average labour costs by economic activity and region, with a view to providing information to administrative bodies and specialists, and for economic analysis.

Main labour topics covered by the survey

Employment, hours of work and labour cost.

Reference period

For all variables: the whole year;

Coverage of the survey

Geographical

The whole country.

Industrial

Selected branches of economic activity.

Establishments

Enterprises and organisations of all types of ownership and size.

The 1999 survey (with reference to 1998) covered enterprises and establishments with more than 10 persons employed.

Persons

All persons receiving wages and salaries at an establishment, enterprise or organisation, under the terms of an employment contract (i.e. employees on payroll).

Excluded are expatriate workers, workers with more than one job (whose main employment is at a different establishment or enterprise), persons performing work under civil law contracts and unpaid contributing family workers.

Occupations

The survey does not collect data by occupation.

Concepts and definitions

Employment

Employees on payroll: all employees aged 15 years and over working under an employment contract and performing work on a permanent, temporary or seasonal basis for at least one day, and working directors receiving a salary, whether they are at work or absent from work, provided they receive pay.

Excluded are laid-off workers and persons absent from work because of military service.

Labour cost

Labour cost is defined as the sum of all expenditure incurred by employers (enterprises), in the form of the amounts paid as remuneration in cash and in kind for work performed, and additional costs incurred by the enterprise for the benefit of workers during the year.

Labour cost comprises 10 groups of components:

payments for time worked (i.e. direct wages and salaries),
remuneration for time not worked,
one-off incentive payments, year-end and seasonal bonuses, profit-sharing bonuses, etc.
payments for meals, housing, fuel and other payments in kind,
payments to provide for workers' accommodation,
employer's social security contributions (separately: statutory contributions; contractual and non-obligatory contributions; and severance and termination payments),
training costs,
cultural and recreational costs (including canteens and related services),
miscellaneous other costs (e.g. transport of workers to and from work),
payroll taxes.

Labour cost data are collected for all employees on payroll together.

Hours of work

Data are collected on hours actually worked and hours paid for.

Hours actually worked include paid and unpaid hours actually worked during normal periods of work and overtime, as well as short inactive periods of time spent at the place of work o for preparation, repairs, maintenance of workplace, tools, reports, etc., tea or coffee breaks, study/training periods, trade union activities, etc.

Hours paid for include hours actually worked, plus all other periods of time paid for but not worked, such as periods while workers are waiting or standing by due to economic or other reasons, all inactive periods spent outside the workplace, for vacation, holidays, rest days, any type of leave, etc.

Meal breaks and work stoppages due to industrial disputes are not paid for.

International recommendations

The definition and components of labour cost and the definition of hours actually worked conform to the international guidelines.

Classifications

Components of labour cost

The above-mentioned 10 groups of components and their detailed sub-groups correspond to the International Standard Classification of Labour Cost (ISCLC-1966).

Industrial

Data are classified according to the All-Russia Classification of Branches of the Economy (24 groups are used for coding) and the national classification OKDP. The latter is based on the International Standard Industrial Classification of all economic activities (ISIC), Rev.3.

Occupational

Not relevant.

Others

Labour cost data are classified by:

size of establishments/enterprises; six groups are used, namely: less than 50 employees; 50-99 employees; 100-199; 200-499; 500-999; 1,000 employees or more;
type of ownership (KFS); and
region, according to the All-Russia Classification of Administrative-Territorial Divisions (OKATO).

Sample size and design

Statistical unit

The sampling and reporting unit is the enterprise or organisation, (i.e. a legal entity), or separate divisions of legal entities.

Survey universe / sample frame

The universe consists of the Unified State Directory of Enterprises and Organisations (EGRPO), complemented with information on enterprises contained in enterprises' statements of accounts and results from surveys on employment and wages. It covers all active enterprises and organisations and is updated once a year.

Sample design

The survey is based on sampling. Prior to 1998, purposive sampling was used and a 10% sample of enterprises and organisations was drawn.

For the 1999 survey (with reference to 1998), stratified random sampling was used for the first time. Stratification was by branch of economic activity (31 groups), type of ownership (2 groups) and enterprise size (6 groups). The sample covered some 30,000 enterprises.

The sample is completely renewed for each survey.

Field work

Data collection

It takes place during the first quarter of the year, by means of mailed questionnaires which are returned to the regional statistical departments by the 25th of April.

Survey questionnaire

It consists of three main parts and collects data on:

Number of employees on payroll
- Total number of hours actually worked during the reference year
- Total number of hours paid for but not worked, of which:
  - Hours spent on vacation and similar time off
  - Hours spent on leave at the initiative of the employer
  - Other hours not worked and paid for
- Total number of hours paid for;
Labour cost: according to the 10 major groups of components and by sub- groups;
Other enterprise costs, not directly related to labour cost.

Instructions to enterprises and organisations are provided along with the questionnaires.

Substitution of sampling units

A substitution procedure was established in 1999 to deal with cases of total non-response.

Data processing and editing

Data are processed by computer. Responses are coded according to the classification systems, and edited during data collection and through machine editing programmes. Arithmetical, logical and programme checks are carried out. In cases of missing or inconsistent data, respondents are contacted by telephone.

Types of estimates

Total number of employees, and total and average labour cost.

Part-time workers are converted to full-time equivalents.

No imputation is made in case of missing data.

Construction of indices

Index numbers are not constructed.

Weighting of sample results

A weighting procedure will be used to expand the 1998 survey results. The details are not yet available.

Adjustments

Non-response

No adjustments are made for total non-response.

Other bias

No adjustments are made for any other bias.

Use of benchmark data

Not relevant.

Indicators of reliability of the estimates

Coverage of the sampling frame

The sampling frame is assumed to cover all active enterprises and organisations.

Sampling error / sampling variance

Not calculated before 1999.

Non-response rate

Not available. It will be calculated as from the 1999 survey.

Non-sampling errors

Not available.

Conformity with other sources

Comparisons are made with previous year's data.

Estimates for non-survey years

Not relevant.

Available series

Average monthly and hourly labour costs by branch of economic activity and region;

Structure of average labour costs by branch of economic activity and size of enterprise.

History of the survey

The survey started in 1995 with reference to 1994. Its coverage was gradually extended over the years. The fundamental change consists in the introduction of stratified random sampling in the 1999 survey (with reference to 1998).

Documentation

GOSKOMSTAT: Statistical information bulletins and statistical collections.

The survey results are published some six months after data collection. Unpublished data can be made available upon request, and data are also available on diskette.

Confidentiality / Reliability criteria

Details in respect of individual enterprises are strictly confidential.

Other information

Data supplied to the ILO for publication

The following data are published in the Yearbook of Labour Statistics: Average monthly labour cost in manufacturing, by industry group.