Hong Kong, China (2)

Source of the series

Administrative Records: Government Form 527.

Title of the series

Monthly Returns of Wage Rates in the Building Industry.

Organization responsible

Data collection:

Works Bureau, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), People's Republic of China.

Statistical processing and publication/dissemination of the statistics:

Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong SAR.

Main topics covered

Employment and wage rates.

Periodicity or frequency of availability of the statistics

Employment:

quarterly;

Wage rates:

monthly.

Reference period

Employment:

the last full working day in a quarter;

Wage rates:

the full month.

Coverage of the statistics

Geographical:

Hong Kong SAR.

Industrial:

construction only.

Establishments:

all construction sites under the purview of the Works Bureau, Government of Hong Kong SAR. A construction site is defined as a demarcated locality where one or more stages of construction work are being carried on.

Persons:

manual workers.

Occupations:

twenty-nine pre-selected occupations.

Concepts and definitions

Employment

manual workers at construction sites refer to craftsmen, semi-skilled and unskilled workers working at those sites on the survey reference date. Manual workers may be either directly employed by the main contractors or being called upon by subcontractors or gang leaders to work on a casual basis.

Wage rates:

daily wage rates include (i) basic wage rate; (ii) cost of-living allowance; and (iii) guaranteed and regularly paid allowances including meal and transportation allowances. Wage rates in kind are excluded.

Classifications

Branch of economic activity (industry):

Title of the classification:

Hong Kong Standard Industrial Classification Version 1.1 (HSIC V1.1);

Number of groups used for coding:

Division 5(construction sites only).

Applied to:

employment and wage rates.

Link to ISIC and level:

ISIC, Rev.2, at all levels.

Occupation:

29 selected occupations: unskilled labourer, excavator, concretor's labourer, bricklayer’s labourer, plasterer’s labourer, concretor, bricklayer, drainlayer, rubble mason, splitting mason, ashlar mason, steelbender, blacksmith, carpenter and joiner, plumber, fitter, plasterer, terrazzo and granolithic worker, glazier, painter, electrician (wireman), plant operator, truck driver, heavy load coolie, pneumatic driller, bamboo worker and scaffolder, structural steel erector, diver and diver’s linesman.

Data collection

Size and coverage of the administrative system:

about 230 construction sites.

Data collection method:

main contractors of all construction sites under the purview of the Works Bureau, Hong Kong SAR, are required by contract to submit Government Form 527 (GF 527) to the Census and Statistics Department through the relevant Works departments on a monthly basis. They provide the number of workdays and the average daily wage rates corresponding to the occupations specified in GF 527, for the workers employed by them or their sub-contractors in the reference month, by the middle of the following month. The Census and Statistics Department carries out some consistency checks and compiles average daily wage rates in the selected occupations within two months after receipt of the data. As regards the number of manual workers, the time lapse between the reference period of the data and the data collection/processing period is 12 weeks.

Updating of the administrative system:

continuous.

Data processing, editing and consistency checks

In addition to consistency checks, further verification of the data provided in GF 527 returns is made when:
  • the number of work-days of an occupation in a given month is 50 percent higher or lower than that of the previous month;
  • the average daily wage rate for an occupation in a given month is 10 percent higher or lower than that of the previous month;
  • the average daily wage rate for an occupation in a given month is different from the overall average of that occupation across all contracts, if the site did not employ any employees in that occupation in the previous month.

    Adjustments

    None.

    Types of estimates

    Total number of manual workers at construction sites.

    Average daily wage rates of selected occupations in construction sites.

    Average daily wage rate of an occupation;

    Average daily wage rates of all occupations covered by the GF 527.

    Construction of indices

    A monthly index of the cost of labour is compiled, based on the weighted average wage rates of selected occupations. The weights for each occupation are derived on the basis of the total number of work-days for the respective occupation for a fixed period of time.

    Indicators of reliability of the estimates

    Coverage of the administrative system:

    100 percent of the construction sites under the purview of the Works Bureau.

    Available series

    Number of manual workers and average daily wage rates.

    History of the statistics

    Starting date of the statistical series:

    number of manual workers: March 1976; average daily wage rates: January 1970; index series: December 1975 (base period: November 1975).

    Major changes and revisions:

    revisions in the index series: June 1989: change in base period (July 1982=100) and weightings; July 1995: change in base period (June 1995=100) and weightings.

    Documentation and dissemination

    Documentation:

    Census and Statistics Department: Average Daily Wages of Workers engaged in Government Building and Construction Projects (Hong Kong SAR, monthly); contains wages statistics only);

    Idem: Hong Kong Monthly Digest of Statistics (ibid.); contains both wages and employment statistics, and methodological information;

    Idem: Quarterly Report of Employment and Vacancies Statistics (ibid.); contains employment statistics only, and methodological information;

    Idem: Quarterly Report of Employment and Vacancies at Construction Sites (ibid.); contains employment statistics only, and methodological information;

    Idem: Hong Kong Annual Digest of Statistics (ibid.); contains both wages and employment statistics, and methodological information.

    Average daily wages of selected occupations are published two months after the reference month. Numbers of manual workers at construction sites are published within 12 weeks after the reference date.

    Dissemination:

    on Internet: http://www.info.gov.hk/censtatd

    Data supplied to the ILO for dissemination

    The following data are supplied to the ILO for publication in the Yearbook of Labour Statistics: number of construction workers and average daily wage rates of construction site workers in "all selected occupations"; In Statistics on occupational wages and hours of work and on food prices - October Inquiry results: average daily wage rates of selected occupations: electrician (wireman), plumber, structural steel erector, painter, bricklayer, concretor, carpenter and joiner, plasterer and unskilled labourer.