Solomon Islands

Title of the survey

Employment Survey

Organization responsible

Statistics Office, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning

Periodicity of the survey

Annual, in June.

Objectives of the survey

To measure the level of employment and its distribution. The statistics compiled are useful to the Government in formulating policies.

Main labour topics covered by the survey

Employment and earnings.

Reference period

For employment: 30 June or the last working day of June. For earnings: the month of June.

Coverage of the survey

Geographical

The whole country.

Industrial

All branches of economic activity.

Establishments

All types and sizes of enterprises in the formal sector.

Persons

Employees.

Occupations

Data are not collected on individual occupations.

Concepts and definitions

Employment

Data are collected on employees They include full- and part-time workers, persons on temporary paid or unpaid leave (sick leave, casual leave, maternity leave, etc.), casual and permanent workers, apprentices, trainees, piece workers, commission agents, home workers, overseas volunteers, etc. Full-time employees are those who usually work more than 20 hours per week; part-time employees are those who usually work up to or less than 20 hours per week. Data on the number of employees are also collected by sex and citizenship (Solomon Islands citizens and non-citizens).

Earnings

Data are collected on total gross wages and salaries in cash paid to employees during the reference month. They refer to all payments to employees (casual and permanent), such as basic pay, overtime, bonuses, commissions, sick pay, housing and other allowances, before any deduction for employees' income tax (PAYE), contributions to the National Provident Fund (NPF), etc. and before employers' contributions to NPF and similar schemes. The value of payments in kind is excluded from earnings. Earnings data are collected for all employees together, without any distinction by sex or citizenship.

Wage/salary rates

Not relevant.

Hours of work

Not relevant.

International recommendations

The definition of earnings conforms to the international recommendations on gross cash earnings; however, the value of payments in kind is excluded.

Classifications

Industrial

The survey data are classified according to the International Standard Industrial Classification of all economic activities (ISIC), Rev.2, 1968. Coding is carried out at the three-digit level.

Occupational

Not relevant.

Others

Employment data are classified by sector (central government, provincial assemblies, total government and private sector), province and employees' characteristics (national, foreigner, sex, part-timer and full-timer). Earnings data are classified by province and industry.

Sample size and design

Statistical unit

The enterprise, company or organization.

Survey universe / sample frame

For the private sector, this consists of the Business Register which is compiled, maintained and updated by the Statistics Office. It covers all enterprises on the basis of information provided by the Registrar of Companies, the Register of Licence Offices and newspapers. For the government sector, the required information is extracted from the Treasury records within the Ministry of Finance.

Sample design

The survey is based on a complete enumeration of enterprises, companies or organizations.

Field work

Data collection

A postal enquiry is conducted in July of each year, completed by radio and telephone contacts. A permanent team is responsible for data collection.

Survey questionnaire

This consists of a single form, designed to collect information on: the enterprise (e.g. each establishment's name, place of operation and province), the number of employees as at 30 June, separately for full-time and part-time employees, and within these categories, by citizenship and sex, as well as total gross wages and salaries paid in June.

Substitution of sampling units

Not relevant.

Data processing and editing

Data are processed by computer. In the case of missing or inconsistent data, respondents are contacted by mail, telephone, radio or enumerator's visit. Missing data are dealt with by imputation.

Types of estimates

Totals of paid employment and average monthly earnings. In the estimates of employment, part-time employees are identified separately and counted as such. In the estimates of average earnings, part-time employees are converted to full-time equivalents. Average monthly earnings are obtained by dividing total gross wages and salaries by the (number of full-time employees + half the number of part-time employees).

Construction of indices

Index numbers are not constructed.

Weighting of sample results

Not relevant.

Adjustments

Non-response

For non-responding enterprises, employment data are estimated on the basis of previous years' records and the results of the Annual Business Survey.

Other bias

None.

Use of benchmark data

Not relevant.

Seasonal variations

Not relevant, since the survey is annual.

Indicators of reliability of the estimates

Coverage of the sampling frame

In 1993, it was realized that the Business Register was out of date. A major exercise was undertaken from February to April 1994 to update the register and collect employment data for newly established enterprises operating prior to June 1993, which were not on the business lists.

Sampling error / sampling variance

Not relevant.

Non-response rate

Not available. However, the major drawback of this postal survey is that a large number of enterprises (especially those with few employees) do not reply to the survey.

Non-sampling errors

Not available.

Conformity with other sources

The survey results are compared with those of the Annual Business Survey conducted in October of each year. This survey provides data on the number of persons employed in December and on annual earnings. The comparison is made mainly for the purposes of the National Accounts and estimation of the Gross Domestic Product.

Available series

The following tables are regularly prepared:

History of the survey

The Employment Survey was introduced in 1970. Since then, it has been carried out without any major changes.

Documentation

Statistics Office, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning: Statistical Bulletin, Labour Force Statistics (annual, Honiara); published about nine months after the reference period of the survey.

Confidentiality / Reliability criteria

The survey is conducted under the Statistics Ordinance, 1970. The information provided is strictly confidential and restricted to the Statistics Office.

Other information

Data supplied to the ILO for publication

Data on paid employment (general level, employment by industry, in non-agricultural activities and in specific industries) are published in Tables 3A, 3B, 4, 5A, 7 and 8 of the Yearbook of Labour Statistics.