Sudan

Title of the survey

Survey of Employment, Wages and Hours of work

Organization responsible

Ministry of Labour and Administrative Reform, Department of Research

Periodicity of the survey

Every three years.

Objectives of the survey

To collect data on the level of employment, wages and salaries, hours of work, labour turnover, vacancies, etc.

Main labour topics covered by the survey

Employment, earnings, wage and salary rates and hours of work.

Reference period

A whole month.

Coverage of the survey

Geographical

The Khartoum region only.

Industrial

All divisions of economic activity, except agriculture, the civil service, the armed forces and household services.

Establishments

Establishments with ten or more employees in the private and public sectors.

Persons

All employees. Excluded are proprietors, partners, unpaid family workers and the self-employed.

Occupations

Data are collected for over 70 selected important occupations or occupational groups.

Concepts and definitions

Employment

Employees comprise all workers on the payroll during the reference period, whether at work or temporarily absent from work. They include manual workers (wage earners) and non-manual workers (salaried employees), apprentices and trainees, piece workers and commission agents, full-time and part-time workers and seasonal workers. They also include persons temporarily absent from work because of paid vacation or holiday, sickness or accident, industrial dispute, etc. Excluded are temporary workers and persons temporarily present on payroll during notice period preceding retirement, resignation or dismissal. Data are collected separately for manual and non-manual workers, apprentices and young workers (between 12 and 18 years of age), by occupation or occupational group, nationality (Sudanese and foreigner) and by sex.

Earnings

Data are collected on gross earnings paid to employees during the reference period before any deductions are made, by employee category (wage earners and salaried employees), occupation or occupational group and mode of payment (per week and per month). Gross earnings include: Excluded are irregularly paid bonuses and gratuities in cash and the value of earnings in kind. Data are also collected on the distribution of employees by mode of payment of earnings (weekly paid, monthly paid, piece-rated employees and employees paid on commissions).

Wage/salary rates

They refer to wage and salary rates paid for normal working time and include: basic wages and salaries, cost-of-living allowances and other guaranteed and regularly paid allowances. Excluded are overtime payments, bonuses, family allowances and other social security payments made by the employer directly to employees, and ex gratia payments in kind supplementary to normal wage and salary rates. Wage and salary rates are collected by employee category (wage earners and salaried employees), occupation or occupational group and mode of payment (per week and per month).

Hours of work

Data are collected on normal hours of work and overtime hours, by employee category and mode of payment. Normal hours of work are those fixed by laws or regulations, collective agreements and establishment's internal regulations. Overtime hours are those worked in addition to normal hours and paid for.

International recommendations

The definition of gross earnings used in this survey conforms to the international guidelines on gross regular cash earnings. The value of earnings in kind and irregular bonuses and premiums are excluded. The concept of "normal hours of work plus overtime" is close to the concept of "hours paid for".

Classifications

Industrial

Data on employment, earnings, wage and salary rates and hours of work are classified according to the International Standard Industrial Classification of all economic activities (ISIC), Rev.2, 1968, at the two-digit level.

Occupational

Data on employment, earnings, wage and salary rates and hours of work are classified according to the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-68) at the two-digit level.

Others

The survey data are classified by size of establishments and employee category; in addition, employment data are classified by sex and nationality.

Sample size and design

Statistical unit

The reporting unit is the establishment, defined as an economic unit, such as a factory, mine, office or store, generally at a single physical location, and engaged predominantly in one economic activity.

Survey universe / sample frame

This consists of the Directory of Establishments which was set up in 1975. It is updated with and for every survey and covers some 2,000 establishments.

Sample design

The survey is based on a complete enumeration of all registered establishments with ten or more employees.

Field work

Data collection

This takes place in December of each survey year. Data are collected by personal interview carried out by staff members of the Ministry of Labour.

Survey questionnaire

This is designed to collect data on:

Substitution of sampling units

Not relevant.

Data processing and editing

Data are processed manually and the questionnaires are subject to consistency checks.

Types of estimates

Total number of employees, average monthly wage rates and earnings, and average hours paid for.

Construction of indices

Not relevant.

Weighting of sample results

Not relevant.

Adjustments

Non-response

No adjustments are made.

Other bias

No adjustments are made for any other bias.

Use of benchmark data

Not relevant.

Seasonal variations

Not relevant.

Indicators of reliability of the estimates

Coverage of the sampling frame

Efforts are made to cover all establishments in the private sector, by updating the Directory on a regular basis.

Sampling error / sampling variance

Not computed.

Non-response rate

Not available.

Non-sampling errors

Not relevant.

Conformity with other sources

No other source of data on employment and earnings exists.

Available series

Not available.

History of the survey

The Survey of Employment, Wages and Hours of Work started in 1975. Since then, it has been conducted about every three years. Some changes have been brought to the questionnaire design. No other details are available.

Documentation

Ministry of Labour and Administrative Reform, Department of Research: Establishment Survey Bulletin (Khartoum); this publication is released about every three years, one year after the survey reference period.

Confidentiality / Reliability criteria

Not available.

Other information

Data supplied to the ILO for publication

The following estimates are published in the Yearbook of Labour Statistics: Statistics of average wage and salary rates, normal hours of work, average earnings and hours paid for, by occupation and industry, 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..