Zambia

Title of the survey

Employment Inquiry

Organization responsible

Central Statistical Office

Periodicity of the survey

Quarterly.

Objectives of the survey

To collect and disseminate data on employment and earnings in the formal sector. The survey results are used by the Government, national and international policy makers and employment planners, to monitor trends in formal sector employment and to assess the share of each industrial sector to total employment.

Main labour topics covered by the survey

Employment and earnings.

Reference period

The end of each quarter.

Coverage of the survey

Geographical

The whole country.

Industrial

All branches of economic activity.

Establishments

All types and sizes of establishments in the formal sector.

Persons

Employees.

Occupations

The survey does not collect data by occupation.

Concepts and definitions

Employment

Employees include working directors, wage earners and salaried employees, permanent and temporary workers, and in general all employees present on the payroll at the end of each quarter, including persons temporarily absent from work because of vacation/holiday, sickness or study leave, whether paid or unpaid. Working proprietors are separately identified, and not treated as employees. Unpaid family workers are excluded. Data are collected separately for nationals and foreigners and by sex.

Earnings

Data are collected on total gross earnings of all employees, at the end of the quarter, before deduction of employees' income or other taxes. They include regular cash payments for time worked or work done, overtime payments, bonuses and gratuities, all regular allowances (for housing, education, etc.), as well as remuneration for time not worked (annual leave or vacation and public holidays) and other irregular payments made during the reference quarter. The value of payments in kind is excluded.

Wage/salary rates

Not relevant.

Hours of work

Not relevant.

International recommendations

The definition of earnings used in this survey conforms to the international recommendations on earnings in cash. However, the value of payments in kind is excluded.

Classifications

Industrial

Data are classified according to the International Standard Industrial Classification of all economic activities (ISIC), Rev.2, 1968.

Occupational

Not relevant.

Others

Data are classified by type of ownership, sector and province. In addition, employment data are classified by sex and citizenship.

Sample size and design

Statistical unit

The establishment in the formal sector.

Survey universe / sample frame

This is the Register of Establishments in the formal sector, maintained by the Central Statistical Office. The Register is updated on the basis of field enumeration and other relevant records.

Sample design

The survey is based on a sample of establishments in the private sector, selected systematically after stratification by employment size. In the government sector, all establishments are covered through the Ministry of Finance payroll.

Field work

Data collection

This is carried out by field enumerators who distribute and collect the questionnaires.

Survey questionnaire

Two questionnaires are sent:

The Register of Establishments Inquiry is a form which is sent to establishments or organizations which have not yet been included on the Register of Establishments. It relates to the operational status of the organization;
The Employment Inquiry questionnaire is to be completed by organizations which are operational. One separate questionnaire is to be completed for each branch or establishment of the organization identified by the first questionnaire.

The second questionnaire is administered quarterly and comprises a set of 20 questions. Questions 1-7 relate to general information on the establishment (name, type of organization, telephone number, main economic activity). Questions 8 and 9 are designed to provide information on working proprietors or employers and unpaid family workers. Questions 10 to 12 relate to employment changes in the establishment. Questions 13 to 16 are designed to provide information on payments made abroad, receipts from abroad, foreign liabilities and assets. In the following questions (17-20), employers are required to indicate, by sex, separately for two categories (nationals and foreigners):

the total number of employees at the end of the quarter;
total earnings paid at the end of the quarter;
total regular allowances paid at the end of the quarter;
other payments made to employees at the end of the quarter.

Substitution of sampling units

Sampling units where there is total non-response are replaced.

Data processing and editing

Data are processed by computer.

Types of estimates

Total employment, total and average earnings, by industry, sector, sex and citizenship.

Construction of indices

Index numbers are not constructed.

Weighting of sample results

The survey results are grossed up using the inverse of the sampling fraction by size group, to estimate total employment at the country level.

Adjustments

Non-response

In accordance with the Census and Statistical Act, Chapter 425 of the Laws of Zambia, response to the inquiries are obligatory. However, in case of item non-response, missing earnings data are imputed on the basis of the previous quarter.

Other bias

No adjustments are made for any other bias.

Use of benchmark data

Occasionally.

Seasonal variations

No adjustments are made for seasonal variations.

Indicators of reliability of the estimates

Coverage of the sampling frame

Complete coverage and update of the Register of Establishments is difficult to achieve.

Sampling error / sampling variance

Not estimated yet, but it is planned to do so in the future.

Non-response rate

About 15 per cent.

Non-sampling errors

Inaccuracies may occur because of incorrect responses.

Conformity with other sources

The survey results are compared with the results of surveys conducted by other Divisions, which produce similar employment and earnings data.

Available series

Published tables include quarterly estimates of the total number of employees and average earnings by industry, sector and sex.

History of the survey

The Employment Inquiry was first conducted in 1965. Between 1965 and 1975, the survey was conducted on a quarterly basis. From 1976 to 1987, it changed to biannual. In 1988 it became annual (in June) and was based on a complete enumeration of all establishments. The method of data collection has changed from a postal method (by mailed questionnaires) to field enumeration and visits. The survey has now resumed a quarterly periodicity.

Documentation

Central Statistical Office: Quarterly Digest of Statistics (quarterly, Lusaka). idem: Quarterly Employment Reports (quarterly, ibid.).

Confidentiality / Reliability criteria

The publication of data is subject to confidentiality rules, in accordance with the Census and Statistics Act, Chapter 425, of the Laws of Zambia.

Other information

Data supplied to the ILO for publication

Statistics of employment, general level and in specific industries, are published in Tables 3A, 3B, 4, 5A, 6, 7 and 8 of the Yearbook of Labour Statistics.