Sweden (2)

Title of the survey

Labour Cost Index for wage earners in mining, quarrying and manufacturing.

Organization responsible

Statistiska Centralbyrån (SCB) )(Statistics Sweden)

Periodicity of the survey

Quarterly.

Objectives of the survey

To obtain a relative measure of costs incurred by employers in the employment of labour.

Main labour topics covered by the survey

Compensation of employees.

Reference period

The middle month of every quarter (February, May, August and November).

Coverage of the survey

Geographical

The whole country.

Industrial

Mining and quarrying; and manufacturing.

Establishments

All types of enterprises with five or more employees in the private sector.

Persons

Wage-earners aged 18 to 64 years.

Occupations

Not relevant.

Concepts and definitions

Employment

Data refer to wage earners. They include piece workers, casual, temporary, seasonal and part-time workers, as well as persons temporarily absent from work, provided they have worked some hours during the reference period. They exclude supervisors, foremen, store managers, engineers, apprentices, office clerks, shop assistants, cleaning staff, restaurant staff, workers in agriculture and forestry, and homeworkers.

Compensation of employees

The Labour Cost Index includes the costs of wages and compulsory or contracted fees for all employed industrial workers (adults and juveniles) during the reference period, and some other costs which are a function of the size and/or the composition of the labour force. The index includes the following cost elements:

Direct wages: pay for hours worked;
Remuneration for time not worked:
- pay and remuneration for weekends and public holidays;
- holiday pay, holiday remuneration, holiday fund;
- pay for hours not worked;
Other cash payments and payments in kind;
Cost of supplementary pension benefit, of which cost for special supplementary pension;
Other collective fees;
- contribution to the health insurance scheme;
- contribution to the group life insurance scheme;
- severance payment contribution;
- safety fund;
- contribution to the security insurance scheme;
- other fees;
Complementary collective fees:
- contribution to the health insurance scheme;
- contribution to the national supplementary pensions scheme;
- wage guarantee contribution;
- industrial safety contribution;
- contribution to the national basic pension scheme;
- contribution to adult education;
- contribution to the national scheme for partial pensions;
- child care contribution;
- contribution to industrial injury insurance scheme;
- labour market contribution;
Special payroll tax.

The Labour Cost Index excludes costs for:

education, medical care, health services and other welfare services;
pension schemes other than the employer's contribution to the national supplementary pension;
membership in an employer's organization, branch of business organization or other organization for enterprises.

Hours of work

Hours actually worked are derived from the monthly survey Wages and Employment in mining, quarrying and manufacturing.

International recommendations

The concept of compensation of employees follows the guidelines contained in the United Nations System of National Accounts (SNA). In addition, it includes a tax considered as labour cost, the special payroll tax. However, it does not cover all the components of labour cost.

Classifications

Components of labour cost / compensation of employees

Data on compensation of employees are classified by detailed components at the two- and three-digit of the Swedish Standard Classification of Labour Costs.

Industrial

Data are classified at the two- and three-digit level of the Swedish Standard Classification of all Economic Activities (SNI). The 1992 version of the SNI (SNI-92) is based on the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities of the European Communities (NACE), Rev.1, which itself is based on the International Standard Industrial Classification of all economic activities (ISIC), Rev.3, 1990.

Occupational

Not relevant.

Others

Not relevant.

Source of the estimates

Direct wages are derived from the monthly Wages and Employment in mining, quarrying and manufacturing survey. The remaining cost elements are estimated through models and added to direct wages.

Types of estimates

average labour cost per hour, by component, in absolute figures and changes in totals from previous period;
index numbers of labour costs, separately including and excluding taxes on the labour force.

Estimation procedure

The cost elements which are added to direct wages are calculated separately and, as a rule, as simple regression estimates. Remuneration for time not worked, payments in kind, gratuities and other cash payments are estimated on the basis of the latest available information about these costs. Holiday pay is estimated through models based on data from the Labour Force Survey, plus statutory and collective regulations for calculating holiday pay. Sick pay is estimated on the basis of data from the Swedish Employers' Federation, and the Wages and Employment Survey. Payments in kind are estimated on the basis of the latest available information from the Structure of Earnings Survey. Employers' contributions to the various schemes and funds are obtained from the Swedish Employers' Confederation. The calculation of employers' contributions and taxes on the labour force are based on total earnings (direct wages, remuneration for time not worked and other payments in cash and in kind). The special payroll tax is a general fee which was introduced in January 1969 and amounts to 0.7 per cent of the payroll.

Construction of indices

Index numbers are calculated for direct wages and total labour cost, respectively including and excluding the special payroll tax. The month of February 1994 forms the base of the current Labour Cost Index.

Adjustments

No adjustments are made.

Indicators of reliability of the estimates

Not relevant.

Available series

The following series are published each quarter:

Labour costs for wage earners in mining, quarrying and manufacturing, in absolute figures, by component and industry group, and changes over the previous period;
Index numbers of average labour cost, including sick pay and taxes on the labour force;
Index numbers of average labour cost, excluding taxes;
Index numbers of direct wages.

History of the survey

The Labour Cost Index for wage earners in mining, quarrying and manufacturing was introduced in 1969, with base 1967=100. It replaced the wage index which was previously in force, with base February 1947=100. A new Labour Cost index was published as from February 1974 with base 1973=100. The construction of the new index is identical to that of the 1967-based index. As from January 1974, the basic data were obtained from a new sample of enterprises. The Swedish Standard Industrial Classification of all economic activities has been revised a number of times. The previous version (SNI-69) was linked to ISIC, Rev.2, 1968 at the four-digit level. The current Labour Cost Index has as its base February 1994=100. It takes into account the latest revision of the SNI-92.

Documentation

Statistiska Centralbyrån (Statistics Sweden): Statistiska Meddelanden, Serie Am 15 SM (Statistical Reports) (quarterly) (Stockholm).

Confidentiality / Reliability criteria

The publication and release of data are subject to confidentiality rules, whereby tables may not reveal any of the particulars of individual establishments.

Other information

Data supplied to the ILO for publication

Data on average hourly compensation of employees for wage earners in manufacturing are published in Tables 22A and 22B of the Yearbook of Labour Statistics.

Other sources of data

A new quarterly Labour Cost Index for employees in different industries in the private sector is calculated on the basis of a quarterly survey Wages and Salaries in the private sector, with the first quarter 1994=100. Two indices are calculated: one for wage earners and the other for employees. These indices replace the former yearly Labour Cost Index, with base 1980=100.