South Africa (2)

Title of the survey

Labour Statistics: Employment, Salaries and Wages -

Organization responsible

Central Statistical Service (CSS)

Periodicity of the survey

Quarterly

Objectives of the survey

The survey results are used for manpower planning and social and demographic analyses. They constitute an input for monitoring the Reconstruction and Development Programme.

Main labour topics covered by the survey

Employment, earnings, hours of work and compensation of employees. Data are also collected on the number of vacancies.

Reference period

Employment and vacancies: the last pay day of the quarter. Earnings: the whole quarter. Hours of work: hours normally worked per week during the quarter.

Coverage of the survey

Geographical

The whole country, except Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei (TBVC States) (included as from January 1995).

Industrial

Establishments

All types and sizes of establishments in the formal sector.

Persons

All employees (production workers and managerial, administrative and related workers). Working proprietors, partners, unpaid family assistants and non-executive directors are excluded.

Occupations

Not relevant.

Concepts and definitions

Employment

Employees are all paid workers present on the payroll on the last pay day of the quarter. They include managing and working directors receiving a fixed salary, managers, secretaries and accountants; workers paid out of income, capital and other accounts and funds; workers on holiday or sick leave or absent as a result of short military service in the Citizen Force or Commando. In insurance, workers receiving a fixed salary and/or commission and all workers selling policies on a commission basis are also included. Workers undergoing one year military service are excluded. The following categories of employee are identified separately:

Earnings

Data are collected on total gross wages and salaries paid for the quarter to all employees, without any distinction as to category of employee. Total gross wages and salaries include ordinary time and overtime earnings, area allowances and remuneration paid to workers out of income, capital and other accounts and funds; remuneration of managing and working directors; and fringe benefits paid in cash such as housing, mortgage and rent subsidies and transport allowances. They also include employers' contributions to pension, provident, holiday, medical aid, sick pay and other funds (e.g. the Unemployment Insurance Fund and the Workmen's Compensation Fund) and employers' contributions in accordance with any other law applicable to workers. Excluded from wages and salaries are: travel and subsistence allowances; service bonuses (e.g. long-service or retirement bonuses); leave gratuities; concessions; remuneration paid to workers undergoing one year military service; allowances paid to private persons who are members of councils, committees and commissions; drawings of working proprietors and partners and non-working directors' fees; and payments in kind, such as free meals, lodging, low interest loans and the use of company cars. In addition to total gross wages and salaries, data are collected on bonuses paid during the quarter to all workers, without any distinction as to employee category. These include leave, Christmas and other bonuses, thirteenth month payment, cost-of-living allowances, commissions, incentive bonuses, tool and other similar allowances, as well as employers' contributions to holiday funds.

Wage/salary rates

Not relevant.

Hours of work

Data are collected on hours normally worked per person per week (excluding overtime hours), for each employee category mentioned under Employment. Data on employment, total wages and salaries, hours normally worked and bonuses are collected separately according to population group (Asians, Coloureds, Whites and Blacks, and an unspecified category since March 1993).

International recommendations

The definition of gross wages and salaries used in these surveys differs from that of earnings contained in the international recommendations in two main areas: payments in kind are excluded from wages and salaries, and employers' contributions to pension, health and assimilated funds are included. It falls short of the definition of compensation of employees contained in the System of National Accounts (SNA), 1968 in that it does not cover all the components of this measure, such as wage payments in kind, free housing and welfare services. Nor does it refer to a long accounting period. The definition of hours normally worked corresponds to the concept of normal hours of work contained in the international guidelines.

Classifications

Industrial

The Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (SIC) fifth edition, January 1993 is used. It is linked to the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) Rev.3, 1990 at the level of the 229 classes. Prior to January 1993, the SIC, fourth edition, October 1988 was used, which was convertible to ISIC, Rev.2, 1968.

Occupational

Not relevant.

Others

The survey data are also classified by employee category and population group.

Sample size and design

Statistical unit

In the survey of wholesale, retail and motor trade (I), the sampling and reporting unit is the firm. Firms engaged in motor trade may be garages, service stations, dealers in spare parts, accessories and tyres, automotive electricians, radiator and other motor repair services, panel beaters and spray-painters or wholesale motor trading firms. In the survey of hotels (II), it is the establishment. In the survey of the other activities (III), it is the institution, the society or the company.

Survey universe / sample frame

In the survey of wholesale, retail and the motor trade (I), the universe consists of the 1977 Census of Commerce which enumerated about 80,000 establishments and firms. In the survey of hotels (II), the universe consists of 1,200 hotels. In the survey of financing and insurance (III), the universe is the Register of banking institutions and building societies and the Register of Insurance Companies. They cover 103 institutions and companies.

Sample design

The survey of wholesale, retail and the motor trade (I) uses a stratified systematic sample design, with stratification according to turnover. New large establishments are added on a continuous basis and classified as stratum 1. Strata 2 and 3, which include smaller establishments, are updated annually on the basis of the results of the present survey. For each sub-group (SIC five-digit level), the range of turnover varies. On average, this survey covers five per cent of firms. The sample consists of about 4,000 firms. The sampling fractions are as follows: 80 per cent in stratum 1, 15 per cent in stratum 2 and 5 per cent in stratum 3. The sample is renewed when the results of a Commerce Census become available (the latest census was undertaken in 1993). The survey of hotels (II) uses a stratified systematic sample design based on stargradings and tourism regions. Hotels with more than 75 percent timeshare are excluded. New large establishments are added on a continuous basis and classified as stratum 1. Stratum 1 consists of all the three-, four- and five-star hotels. Strata 2 and 3, which are the one- and two-star hotels, are updated annually. The survey of building societies, banking institutions and insurance companies (III) is a complete enumeration of all institutions and companies.

Field work

Data collection

The surveys are conducted by post and respondents are required to return the completed questionnaires not later than the 7th of the month following the last month of the quarter. Data are collected under the responsibility of the head office of the CSS in Pretoria, with assistance from nine branch offices. Follow-up and editing is carried out by the permanent staff of the CSS.

Survey questionnaire

Six questionnaires are used, one for each division of economic activity (wholesale and retail trade; motor trade; hotels; building societies; banking institutions; and insurance companies). They follow the same structure and format. Each questionnaire comprises an English version and an Afrikaans version. It consists of four parts: The questionnaire also contains explanatory notes and definitions, elements to be included and excluded, and notes on the submission of returns and the confidentiality of data.

Substitution of sampling units

In the case of total non-response, substitute units are selected on the same basis as for the original sample (only in surveys I and II).

Data processing and editing

The data are processed by computer. Printed field numbers on the questionnaire identify the different variables. The current quarter's returns are first compared with the previous quarter's and then machine edited. Cross checks and consistency checks are built into each edit programme and, in the case of inconsistent data, the establishment is contacted by telephone or fax.

Types of estimates

Employment and earnings: totals and monthly averages. Two types of employment estimates are made: the total number of persons employed (full-time plus part-time workers) and the total number of persons converted to full-time equivalents. Data hours normally worked are used for this conversion. Average wages and salaries are calculated by dividing the total wages and salaries by the number of full-time equivalent workers. Average wages and salaries are also calculated at constant 1990 prices, by deflating the average wages and salaries in current prices using the Consumer Price Index for the higher income group for Whites, that for the middle income group for Coloureds and Asians, that for the lower income group for Blacks, and that for all income groups for the unspecified category.

Construction of indices

Index numbers are not constructed.

Weighting of sample results

The results of surveys I and II are weighted by the reciprocal of the sampling fraction, by stratum and sub-group, after taking into account non-response, births, sample casualties and reclassifications.

Adjustments

Non-response

In surveys I and II, non-response taken into account in the weighting procedure. In survey III, a duplicate from the previous quarter is used and adjusted when available.

Other bias

No adjustments are made for any other bias.

Use of benchmark data

The Censuses of Commerce and of Accommodation are used as benchmark employment data to adjust the survey results.

Seasonal variations

The earnings data are seasonally adjusted using the X-11 procedure. They are published separately.

Indicators of reliability of the estimates

Coverage of the sampling frame

For the surveys of trade and hotels (I and III) the universe is somewhat outdated. The variable turnover used for stratification should be replaced by employment size. The coverage of the universe of survey III is complete.

Sampling error / sampling variance

In the surveys of trade and hotels (I and II), attempts are made to keep the sampling error of each sub-group below ten per cent.

Non-response rate

In the survey on trade (I), the non-response rate averages ten per cent.

Non-sampling errors

Every effort is made to reduce non-sampling errors to a minimum by the careful design of questionnaires and instructions and efficient processing procedures.

Conformity with other sources

The survey results are compared with data from the population census, for each major group of industry.

Available series

Published tables include:

History of the survey

The surveys were introduced in the 1950s and since then, they have been conducted on a regular basis. In 1987, the questionnaires were revised to permit the calculation of full-time equivalent workers. As from January 1993, the SIC, fifth edition, January 1993 has been used for classification by economic activity. In January 1995, the surveys were extended to include the former TBVC States.

Documentation

Central Statistical Service: South African Statistics (annual, Pretoria). idem: South African Labour Statistics (annual, ibid.). idem: Statistical Release P0244 and P0262 (quarterly, ibid.); published three months after the most recent month for which data are available. idem: Bulletin of Statistics (quarterly, ibid.). All publications contain methodological notes. Published data can also be made available on diskette and magnetic tape, upon request.

Confidentiality / Reliability criteria

A minimum of four respondents per sub-group where no one respondent may exceed 80 per cent of the turnover for the sub-group.

Other information

Data supplied to the ILO for publication

Data on paid employment by major division of economic activity are published in Table 3B of the Yearbook of Labour Statistics. Data on average monthly earnings in wholesale and retail trade and hotels and financing and insurance are stored in the database of the ILO Bureau of Statistics.