For a structural analysis of unemployment it may be useful to collect information on the duration of the search for employment. Among persons in unemployment, it may be useful to identify separately those in long-term unemployment defined as those with a duration of search for employment, as specified in paragraph 49, lasting 12 months or more, including the reference period. To monitor policies related to provision of social benefits, a shorter duration limit may be used (i.e. six months or more).
Resolution I. Resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization, the 19 ICLS
Duration of search for employment
The duration of the search for employment is measured from when unemployed persons began carrying out activities to “seek employment”, or from the end of their last job, whichever is shorter.
Duration of the Search for Employment
Subsistence foodstuff producers constitute an important subgroup of persons in own-use production work. They are defined as: (a) all those who performed any of the activities in order to produce foodstuff from agriculture, fishing, hunting or gathering that contribute to the livelihood of the household or family; (b) excluded are persons who engaged in such production as recreational or leisure activities.
Subsistence Foodstuff Producers
Where possible, the population employed in the informal sector should be subclassified into two categories: persons exclusively employed in the informal sector, and persons employed both in and outside the informal sector. The latter category may be further divided into two subcategories: persons whose main job is in the informal sector, and persons whose secondary job is in the informal sector. If the total employed population is to be classified into mutually exclusive categories of persons employed in and outside the informal sector, persons employed both in and outside the informal sector should be classified as a separate category, or criteria should be established to determine their main job (e.g. on the basis of self-assessment, time spent at work or amount of remuneration received in each job). In some countries, a significant number of children below the age specified for measurement of the economically active population in population censuses or household surveys work in informal sector units and may represent a group of particular concern for labour legislation and educational and social policies. In such situations, every possible effort should be made in informal sector surveys to collect information on the work of all children irrespective of age, and children below the minimum age specified in population censuses or household surveys should be identified separately.
Resolution concerning statistics of employment in the informal sector, the 15th ICLS
The population employed in the informal sector comprises all persons who, during a given reference period, were employed in at least one informal sector, irrespective of their status in employment and whether it is their main or a secondary job.
Population Employed in the Informal Sector
“Unpaid” is interpreted as the absence of remuneration in cash or in kind for work done or hours worked; nevertheless, these workers may receive some form of support, such as transfers of education stipends or grants, or occasional in cash or in kind support (e.g. a meal, drinks). Production “for others” refers to work performed in market and non-market units that are owned by non-household or non-family members. Acquiring “workplace experience or skills” may occur through traditional, formal or informal arrangements whether or not a specific qualification or certification is issued. Included in unpaid trainee work are persons in: (a) traineeships, apprenticeships, internships or other types of programmes according to national circumstances, when their engagement in the production process of the economic unit is unpaid; and (b) unpaid skills training or retraining schemes within employment promotion programmes, when engaged in the production process of the economic unit. Excluded from unpaid trainee work: (a) periods of probation associated with the start of a job; (b) general on-the-job or lifelong learning while in employment, including in market and non-market units owned by household or family members; (c) orientation and learning while engaged in volunteer work; (d) learning while engaged in own-use production work.
Unpaid Trainee
Persons in unpaid trainee work are defined as all those of working age who, during a short reference period, performed any unpaid activity to produce goods or provide services for others, in order to acquire workplace experience or skills in a trade or profession.
Persons in Unpaid Trainee Work
Employment is a key form of work for the coverage and production of labor force statistics.
Employment work
Employment work comprising work performed for others in exchange for pay or profit.
Employment
When developing the glossary, the experts analyze the domain documents and materials, external sources, dictionaries and encyclopedias. Some of concepts are described as a result of the harmonization process.
This glossary is a dictionary of highly specialized Labour Statistics terms. It is based on the analysis of methodological documents, academic dictionaries and encyclopedias. The glossary is implemented as a set of concepts with interpretation (lexical reflection), with support for multilingualism, comments and examples, as well as semantic relationships between the concepts.
A job vacancy is defined as a paid post that is newly created, unoccupied, or about to become vacant: for which the employer is taking active steps and is prepared to take further steps to find a suitable candidate from outside the enterprise concerned; and which the employer intends to fill either immediately or within a specific period of time.
Job Vacancy
Depending on the working time concept applied, among persons in time-related underemployment (i.e. who wanted and were “available” to work “additional hours”), it is possible to identify the following groups: (a) persons whose hours usually and actually worked were below the “hours threshold”; (b) persons whose hours usually worked were below the “hours threshold” but whose hours actually worked were above the threshold; (c) persons “not at work” or whose hours actually worked were below the “hours threshold” due to economic reasons (e.g. a reduction in economic activity including temporary lay-off and slack work or the effect of the low or off season). In order to separately identify the three groups of persons in time-related underemployment, information is needed on both hours usually worked and hours actually worked. Countries using only one working time concept will cover, for hours usually worked, the sum of groups (a) and (b); for hours actually worked, the group (c), so long as the reasons for being “not at work” or for working below the “hours threshold” are also collected.
Time-related underemployment, when the working time of persons in employment is insufficient in relation to alternative employment situations in which they are willing and available to engage.
Time-Related Underemployment
The International Standard Classification of Labour Cost given in the annex to the Resolution concerning statistics of labour cost, the 11th ICLS shows the components of labour cost in more detail. Taxes which are imposed on employment or on payrolls directly affect the cost to employersof employing labour. These taxes, in those countries where they are considered as labour cost, should be identified separately in order that they may be included or excluded for purposes of international comparisons. These taxes should be included on a net basis, i.e. after deduction of any rebates or allowances made by the State.
Resolution concerning statistics of labour cost, the 11th ICLS
Labour cost is the cost incurred by the employer in the employment of labour. The statistics concept of labour cost comprises remuneration for work performed, payments in respect of time paid for but not worked, bonuses and gratuities, the cost of food, drink and other payments in kind, cost of workers' housing borne by employers, employers' social security expenditures, cost to the employer for vocational training, welfare services and miscellaneous items, such as transport of workers, work clothes and recruitment, together with taxes regarded as labour cost.
Labour Cost
Excluded from volunteer work: (a) community service and work by prisoners ordered by a court or similar authority, compulsory military or alternative civilian service; (b) unpaid work required as part of education or training programmes (i.e. unpaid trainees); (c) work for others performed during the working time associated with employment, or during paid time off from an employee job granted by the employer.
Volunteer work is the form of work сomprising non-compulsory work performed for others without pay.
Volunteer Work
The informal sector may be broadly characterised as consisting of units engaged in the production of goods or services with the primary objective of generating employment and incomes to the persons concerned. These units typically operate at a low level of organisation, with little or no division between labour and capital as factors of production and on a small scale. Labour relations where they exist - are based mostly on casual employment, kinship or personal and social relations rather than contractual arrangements with formal guarantees. Production units of the informal sector have the characteristic features of household enterprises. The fixed and other assets used do not belong to the production units as such but to their owners. The units as such cannot engage in transactions or enter into contracts with other units, nor incur liabilities, on their own behalf. The owners have to raise the necessary finance at their own risk and are personally liable, without limit, for any debts or obligations incurred in the production process. Expenditure for production is often indistinguishable from household expenditure. Similarly, capital goods such as buildings or vehicles may be used indistinguishably for business and household purposes.
The informal sector is regarded as a group of production units which, according to the definitions and classifications provided in the United Nations System of National Accounts, form part of the household sector as household enterprises or, equivalently, unincorporated enterprises owned by households.
Informal Sector
“Any activity” refers to work for at least one hour. “Unpaid” is interpreted as the absence of remuneration in cash or in kind for work done or hours worked; nevertheless, volunteer workers may receive some small form of support or stipend in cash, when below one third of local market wages (e.g. for out-of-pocket expenses or to cover living expenses incurred for the activity), or in kind (e.g. meals, transportation, symbolic gifts). “Non-compulsory” is interpreted as work carried out without civil, legal or administrative requirement, that are different from the fulfilment of social responsibilities of a communal, cultural or religious nature. Production “for others” refers to work performed: through, or for organizations comprising market and non-market units (i.e. organization-based volunteering) including through or for self-help, mutual aid or community-based groups of which the volunteer is a member; (ii) for households other than the household of the volunteer worker or of related family members (i.e. direct volunteering).
Volunteer
Persons in volunteer work are defined as all those of working age who, during a short reference period, performed any unpaid, non-compulsory activity to produce goods or provide services for others
Persons in Volunteer Work
For a structural analysis of unemployment it may be useful to collect information on the duration of the search for employment, measured from when unemployed persons began carrying out activities to “seek employment”, or from the end of their last job, whichever is shorter.
Eurostat Glossary:Unemployment
Unemployement is one of the measures of labour underutilization reflecting an active job search by persons not in employment who are available for this form of work.
Unemployment
Outdated Term The preamble to Resolution I adopted by the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) notes that it replaces the Resolution concerning statistics of the economically active population, employment, unemployment and underemployment, adopted by the 13th ICLS in 1982. The term “economically active population” has been considered outdated since the adoption of Resolution I by the 19th ICLS in 2013 and is used only in reference to previously published statistical data.
The sum of persons in employment and in unemployment equals the economically active population.
Economically Active Population
They include both employees and owner-operators of corporations who hold a job in an incorporated enterprise which they own and control.
Resolution I. Resolution concerning statistics on work relationships, the 20th ICLS
Workers in employment for pay are employed persons who receive, or expect to receive, remuneration in cash or in kind, in return for time worked or for each piece or service produced.
Workers in Employment for Pay
Excluded from unpaid trainee work: (a) periods of probation associated with the start of a job; (b) general on-the-job or lifelong learning while in employment, including in market and non-market units owned by household or family members; (c) orientation and learning while engaged in volunteer work; (d) learning while engaged in own-use production work.
Unpaid trainee work comprises work performed for others without pay to acquire workplace experience or skills.
For purposes of measurement of income related to employment for profit, those employed for profit are primarily the sole owners, or joint owners, of the unincorporated household enterprises or quasi-corporations in which they work, according to the definition contained in the System of National Accounts. They do not include the owner-operators of corporations, who are considered workers in employment for pay according to ICSE. Income related to employment for profit excludes income derived from employment for pay, and other sources not related to employment, such as property income in the form of interest, dividends, income attributed to private insurance policyholders, rents and other forms of property income, as well as annuities, remittances, gifts, etc. It also excludes family allowances and other social security benefits or assistance (e.g. food stamps, government or community housing, free health-care assistance, etc.) paid by social security schemes or the State without regard to the employment status (e.g. under universal schemes with or without means tests).
Resolution III: Resolution to amend Resolution 16th ICLS concerning the measurement of employment-related income
Income related to employment for profit is defined as the income which is received, over a given reference period, by individuals, for themselves or in respect of their family members who help in family businesses as contributing family workers, as a result of their current or former involvement in employment for profit.
Income Related to Employment for Profit
Among the activities listed in the definition it may be useful to identify separately discouraged jobseekers, comprising those who did not “seek employment” for labour market-related reasons. A separate group with an expressed interest in employment not included within the potential labour force but relevant for social and gender analysis in specific contexts is the willing non-jobseekers, defined as persons “not in employment” who wanted employment but did not “seek employment” and were not “currently available”. In order to identify the two categories of the potential labour force as well as the willing non-jobseekers, questions on activities to “seek employment” and “current availability” should be asked of all persons “not in employment” in the short reference period. The question to determine whether persons wanted employment should only be asked to those who did not carry out activities to “seek employment”.
Potential labour force (entrants) is defined as all persons of working age who, during the short reference period, were neither in employment nor in unemployment and: (a) carried out activities to “seek employment”, were not “currently available” but would become available within a short subsequent period established in the light of national circumstances (i.e. unavailable jobseekers); or (b) did not carry out activities to “seek employment”, but wanted employment and were “currently available” (i.e. available potential jobseekers).
Potential Labour Force
Net income related to employment for pay may be derived by deducting employees' direct taxes, union dues and other obligations. Whenever possible, the different types of deductions should be identified and recorded separately. Income related to employment for pay excludes income derived from other forms of activity and other sources, such as income related to employment for profit, property income in the form of interest, dividends, income attributed to private insurance policyholders, rents and other forms of property income, as well as annuities, remittances, gifts, etc. When the objective is to measure the income-generating capacity of a job, all the components of income related to employment for pay provided by the employer should be included. When the objective is to analyse the individual's employment-related well-being, the additional employment-related benefits provided by social security or compulsory insurance schemes or by the State should also be included.
Income related to employment for pay includes: total cash remuneration; the value of remuneration in kind and services; profit-related pay; and employment-related social security benefits received either directly from the employer, from social security or compulsory insurance schemes or the State.
Income Related to Employment for Pay
The appropriate reference period for each form is based on the intensity of participation and working time arrangements. (a) seven days or one week, for employment and unpaid trainee work; (b) four weeks or one calendar month, for own-use production of goods, unpaid trainee work and volunteer work; (c) one or more 24-hour days within a seven-day or one-week period, for own-use provision of services.
The various forms of work are measured with respect to a short reference period.
Short Reference Period
These forms of work are distinguished on the basis of the intended destination of the production (for own final use; or for use by others, i.e. other economic units) and the nature of the transaction (i.e. monetary or non-monetary transactions, and transfers). Own-use production of goods, employment, unpaid trainee work, a part of volunteer work and “other work activities” form the basis for the preparation of national production accounts within the 2008 SNA production boundary. Own-use provision of services and the remaining part of volunteer work complete the national production accounts i.e. beyond the 2008 SNA production boundary but inside the General production boundary.
Five mutually exclusive forms of work identified for separate measurement are as follows: (a) own-use production work comprising production of goods and services for own final use; (b) employment work comprising work performed for others in exchange for pay or profit; (c) unpaid trainee work comprising work performed for others without pay to acquire workplace experience or skills; (d) volunteer work comprising non-compulsory work performed for others without pay; (e) other work activities (not defined in the ISLC 19 Resolution I).
Forms of Work
Production of “goods” (within the 2008 SNA production boundary) covers: (i) producing and/or processing for storage agricultural, fishing, hunting and gathering products; (ii) collecting and/or processing for storage mining and forestry products, including firewood and other fuels; (iii) fetching water from natural and other sources; (iv) manufacturing household goods (such as furniture, textiles, clothing, footwear, pottery or other durables, including boats and canoes); (v) building, or effecting major repairs to, one’s own dwelling, farm buildings, etc. Provision of “services” (beyond the 2008 SNA production boundary but inside the General production boundary) covers: (i) household accounting and management, purchasing and/or transporting goods; (ii) preparing and/or serving meals, household waste disposal and recycling; (iii) cleaning, decorating and maintaining one’s own dwelling or premises, durables and other goods, and gardening; (iv) childcare and instruction, transporting and caring for elderly, dependent or other household members and domestic animals or pets, etc. “For own final use” is interpreted as production where the intended destination of the output is mainly for final use by the producer in the form of capital formation, or final consumption by household members, or by family members living in other households: (i) the intended destination of the output is established in reference to the specific goods produced or services provided, as self-declared (i.e. mainly for own final use); (ii) in the case of agricultural, fishing, hunting or gathering goods intended mainly for own consumption, a part or surplus may nevertheless be sold or bartered.
Own-Use Production Work
Own-use production work comprises production of goods and services for own final use.
Own-Use Production
For purposes of computing indicators of labour underutilization (LU3 and LU4 as defined in paragraph 73(c) of ISLC 19 Resolution I), the reference population used is the extended labour force.
Extended labour force is defined as the sum of the labour force plus the potential labour force.
Extended Labour Force
Earnings exclude employers' contributions in respect of their employees paid to social security and pension schemes and also the benefits received by employees under these schemes. Earnings also exclude severance and termination pay. Statistics of earnings should relate to employees gross remuneration, i.e. the total before any deductions are made by the employer in respect of taxes, contributions of employees to social security and pension schemes, life insurance premiums, union dues and other obligations of employees. Earnings should include: direct wages and salaries, remuneration for time not worked (excluding severance and termination pay), bonuses and gratuities and housing and family allowances paid by the employer directly to his employee. (a) Direct wages and salaries for time worked, or work done, cover: ( i) straight-time pay of timerated workers; (ii) incentive pay of time-rated workers; (iii) earnings of pieceworkers (excluding overtime premiums); (iv) premium pay for overtime, shift, night and holiday work; (v) commissions paid to sales and other personnel. Included are: premiums for seniority and special skills, geographical zone differentials, responsibility premiums, dirt, danger and discomfort allowances, payments under guaranteed wage systems, cost-of-living allowances and other regular allowances. (b) Remuneration for time not worked comprises direct payments to employees in respect of public holidays, annual vacations and other time off with pay granted by the employer. (c) Bonuses and gratuities cover seasonal and end-of-year bonuses, additional payments in respect of vacation period (supplementary to normal pay) and profit-sharing bonuses. Statistics of earnings should distinguish cash earnings from payments in kind.
Resolution concerning an integrated system of wages statistics, the 12th ICLS
The concept of earnings, as applied in wages statistics, relates to remuneration in cash and in kind paid to employees, as a rule at regular intervals, for time worked or work done together with remuneration for time not worked, such as for annual vacation, other paid leave or holidays.
Earnings
For analysis of persons outside the labour force, the following alternative classifications may be used separately or in combination to shed light on specific subgroups affected by discouragement or by gender-based, economic or social barriers to employment: (a) degree of labour market attachment of persons outside the labour force: (i) persons “seeking employment” but not “currently available”; (ii) persons not “seeking employment” but “currently available”; (iii) persons neither “seeking employment” nor “currently available” but who want employment; (iv) persons neither “seeking employment” nor “currently available” who do not want employment. (b) main reason for not “seeking employment”, not being “currently available” or not wanting employment: personal reasons (own illness, disability, studies); family-related reasons (pregnancy, presence of small children, refusal by family); labour market reasons (past failure to find a suitable job, lack of experience, qualifications or jobs matching the person’s skills, lack of jobs in the area, considered too young or too old by prospective employers); lack of infrastructure (assets, roads, transportation, employment services); other sources of income (pensions, rents); social exclusion. (c) main activity status, as self-declared, in the following categories: own-use production of goods; own-use provision of services; unpaid trainee work; volunteer work; studies; self-care (due to illness or disability); leisure activities (social, cultural, recreational).
Persons outside the labour force are those of working age who were neither in employment nor in unemployment in the short reference period.
Persons Outside the Labour Force
1. “Not in employment” is assessed with respect to the short reference period for the measurement of employment. 2. To “seek employment” refers to any activity when carried out, during a specified recent period comprising the last four weeks or one month, for the purpose of finding a job or setting up a business or agricultural undertaking. This includes also part-time, informal, temporary, seasonal or casual employment, within the national territory or abroad. Examples of such activities are: arranging for financial resources, applying for permits, licences; (ii) looking for land, premises, machinery, supplies, farming inputs; (iii) seeking the assistance of friends, relatives or other types of intermediaries; (iv) registering with or contacting public or private employment services; (v) applying to employers directly, checking at worksites, farms, factory gates, markets or other assembly places; (vi) placing or answering newspaper or online job advertisements; (vii) placing or updating résumés on professional or social networking sites online. 3. The point when the enterprise starts to exist should be used to distinguish between search activities aimed at setting up a business and the work activity itself, as evidenced by the enterprise’s registration to operate or by when financial resources become available, the necessary infrastructure or materials are in place or the first client or order is received, depending on the context. 4. “Currently available” serves as a test of readiness to start a job in the present, assessed with respect to a short reference period comprising that used to measure employment: depending on national circumstances, the reference period may be extended to include a short subsequent period not exceeding two weeks in total, so as to ensure adequate coverage of unemployment situations among different population groups.
Unemployed persons, Unemployed, Not in employment
Persons in unemployment are defined as all those of working age who were not in employment, carried out activities to seek employment during a specified recent period and were currently available to take up employment given a job opportunity.
Persons in Unemployment
Workers in employment for profit do not receive a wage or salary in return for time worked. Owner-operators of corporations are excluded from workers in employment for profit. While they are exposed to economic risk related to the potential for loss of investments made in the corporation, the risk is mitigated due to limitations of liability when corporations are separate legal entities from the persons who own them. They may receive a wage or salary whether or not the corporation is making a profit and may also be in receipt of payments deriving from profits.
Workers in employment for profit are employed persons whose remuneration is directly and entirely dependent on the profit or loss made by the economic unit in which they are employed, including remuneration in cash or in kind by way of a commercial transaction for goods produced or services provided.
Workers in Employment for Profit
Informal employment includes the following types of jobs: (i) own-account workers employed in their own informal sector enterprises; (ii) employers employed in their own informal sector enterprises; (ii) contributing family workers, irrespective of whether they work in formal or informal sector enterprises ; (iv) members of informal producers’ cooperatives; (v) employees holding informal jobs in formal sector enterprises, informal sector enterprises, or as paid domestic workers employed by households; (vi) own-account workers engaged in the production of goods exclusively for own final use by their household, if considered employed according to paragraph 9(6) of the Resolution concerning statistics of the economically active population, employment, unemployment and underemployment adopted by the 13th ICLS. Informal employment outside the informal sector comprises the following types of jobs: (i) employees holding informal jobs in formal sector enterprises or as paid domestic workers employed by households; (ii) contributing family workers working in formal sector enterprises; (iii) own-account workers engaged in the production of goods exclusively for own final use by their household, if considered employed according to paragraph 9(6) of the Resolution concerning statistics of the economically active population, employment, unemployment and underemployment adopted by the 13th ICLS.
Guidelines concerning a statistical definition of informal employment, the 17th ICLS
Informal employment comprises the total number of informal jobs whether carried out in formal sector enterprises, informal sector enterprises, or households, during a given reference period.
Informal Employment
The data on time rates of wages should relate to an appropriate time period such as the hour, day, week, month or other customary period used for purposes of determining the wage rates concerned. Wage rates exclude overtime payments, bonuses and gratuities, family allowances and other social security payments made by employers. Ex gratia payments in kind, supplementary to normal wage rates, are also excluded. Statistics of wage rates fixed by or in pursuance of laws or regulations, collective agreements or arbitral awards (which are generally minimum or standard rates) should be clearly distinguished from statistics referring to wage rates actually paid to individual workers. Each of these types of wage rates is useful for particular purposes. Time rates of wages for normal periods of work should be distinguished from special and other rates such as piece rates, overtime rates, premium rates for work on holidays and shift rates.
Rates of wages
Wage rates should include basic wages, cost-of-living allowances and other guaranteed and regularly paid allowances.
Wage Rates
The concept of international migrant workers is meant to measure the current labour attachment of international migrants in a country, irrespective of the initial purpose of migration, and of others who are not usual residents of the country but have current labour attachment in the country of measurement. The terms “international migrant workers” and “international migrant and non‐resident foreign workers” are equivalent. They are defined, for statistical purposes, as all persons of working age present in the country of measurement who are in one of the following two categories: (a) usual residents: international migrants who, during a specified reference period, were in the labour force of the country of their usual residence, either in employment or in unemployment; (b) not usual residents, or non‐resident foreign workers: persons who, during a specified reference period, were not usual residents of the country but were present in the country and had labour attachment to the country, i.e., were either in employment supplying labour to resident producer units of that country or were seeking employment in that country.
Guidelines on International Labor Migration Statistics, the 20th ICLS
International migrant, Non‐resident foreign workers
International migrant workers are defined, for statistical purposes, as all persons of working age present in the country of measurement who are in one of the following two categories: (a) usual residents; (b) not usual residents, or non‐resident foreign workers.
International Migrant Workers
Time units are the statistical units used for producing statistics of volume of work in reference to each form of work or to any combination thereof. These units may be short such as minutes or hours, or long such as half-days, days, weeks or months.
Time Unit
Employees remunerated in cash or in kind in return for time worked or, in some cases, for each task or piece of work done or for services provided including sales (by the piece or commission). Payment for time worked is the typical mode of remuneration. Payment in kind is generally received in the form of goods. Where payment is received in the form of services, this is generally complementary to payment in cash. Employees may be employed in market units, non-market units and households producing goods and/or services mainly for own consumption. They may hold shares in the economic unit in which they are employed, or have authority over aspects of the operations of the economic unit as employees with management responsibilities but do not hold controlling ownership of the enterprise. They are accountable to a third party within the economic unit such as a person or board.
Employees are workers employed for pay, on a formal or informal basis, who do not hold controlling ownership of the economic unit in which they are employed.
Employees
Minimum wages exist in more than 90 per cent of the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) member States. The purpose of minimum wages is to protect workers against unduly low pay. They help ensure a just and equitable share of the fruits of progress to all, and a minimum living wage to all who are employed and in need of such protection. Minimum wages can also be one element of a policy to overcome poverty and reduce inequality, including those between men and women. Minimum wage systems should be defined and designed in a way to supplement and reinforce other social and employment policies, including collective bargaining, which is used to set terms of employment and working conditions.
Minimum wages have been defined as the minimum amount of remuneration that an employer is required to pay wage earners for the work performed during a given period, which cannot be reduced by collective agreement or an individual contract.
Minimum Wage
The term job is used in reference to employment. Persons may have one or several jobs. Those in self-employment will have as many jobs as the economic units they own or co-own, irrespective of the number of clients served. In cases of multiple job-holding, the main job is that with the longest hours usually worked, as defined in the international statistical standards on working time.
Work Activity
Job or work activity is defined as a set of tasks and duties performed, or meant to be performed, by one person, including for an employer or in self-employment.
Job
The General Conference of the International Labour Organization in 1994 recognized the importance of productive and freely chosen employment for all workers, the economic importance of part-time work, the need for employment policies to take into account the role of part-time work in facilitating additional employment opportunities, and the need to ensure protection for part-time workers in the areas of access to employment, working conditions and social security. Measures shall be taken to ensure that part-time workers receive the same protection as that accorded to comparable full-time workers in respect of: (a) the right to organize, the right to bargain collectively and the right to act as workers' representatives; (b) occupational safety and health; (c) discrimination in employment and occupation. Measures appropriate to national law and practice shall be taken to ensure that part-time workers do not, solely because they work part time, receive a basic wage which, calculated proportionately on an hourly, performance-related, or piece-rate basis, is lower than the basic wage of comparable full-time workers, calculated according to the same method.
C175 - Part-Time Work Convention (No.175)
The term part-time worker means an employed person whose normal hours of work are less than those of comparable full-time workers. The normal hours of work may be calculated weekly or on average over a given period of employment.
Part-Time Worker
Employed persons include both self-employed (regardless of whether it was permanent, temporary, seasonal, casual or one-time work) and self-employed in all sectors of the economy. Thus, the number of employees should include persons working in state-owned enterprises and organizations; in cooperatives of all types; in private enterprises and enterprises with a mixed form of ownership; in public organizations (including ministers of religious worship); in farming (peasant) farms, as well as those engaged in self-employment, in a personal subsidiary farm and for individuals, or performing work as an assistant at a family enterprise. Employed persons include: employed persons who are "at work", i.e. those who have worked at least one hour at the workplace; employed persons who are "not at work" due to temporary absence from the workplace or the organization of working hours (for example, due to shift work, flexible working hours and overtime days off).
Employed persons, Employed
Persons in employment are defined as all those of working age who, during a short reference period, were engaged in any activity to produce goods or provide services for pay or profit.
Persons in Employment
In principle, the national system of work statistics will cover the work activities of the population in all age groups. To serve different policy concerns, separate statistics are needed for the working-age population and, where relevant, for children in productive activities as specified in the international statistical standards on the topic. The lower age limit for the collection of statistics, however, may differ according to whether or not a separate programme exists for child labour statistics.
Working-age
To determine the working-age population: (a) the lower age limit should be set taking into consideration the minimum age for employment and exceptions specified in national laws or regulations, or the age of completion of compulsory schooling; (b) no upper age limit should be set, so as to permit comprehensive coverage of work activities of the adult population and to examine transitions between employment and retirement.
Working Age
Measures of labour underutilization include, but may not be restricted to: (a) time-related underemployment, when the working time of persons in employment is insufficient in relation to alternative employment situations in which they are willing and available to engage; (b) unemployment, reflecting an active job search by persons not in employment who are available for this form of work; (c) potential labour force, referring to persons not in employment who express an interest in this form of work but for whom existing conditions limit their active job search and/or their availability.
Labour underutilization refers to mismatches between labour supply and demand, which translate into an unmet need for employment among the population.
Labour Underutilization
Work is defined irrespective of its formal or informal character or the legality of the activity. Work excludes activities that do not involve producing goods or services (e.g. begging and stealing), self-care (e.g. personal grooming and hygiene) and activities that cannot be performed by another person on one’s own behalf (e.g. sleeping, learning and activities for own recreation). The concept of work is aligned with the General production boundary as defined in the System of National Accounts 2008 (2008 SNA) and its concept of economic unit that distinguishes between: (I) market units (i.e. corporations, quasi-corporations and household unincorporated market enterprises); (II) non-market units (i.e. government and non-profit institutions serving households); and (II) households that produce goods or services for own final use. Work can be performed in any kind of economic unit. To meet different objectives, five mutually exclusive forms of work are identified for separate measurement
Work comprises any activity performed by persons of any sex and age to produce goods or to provide services for use by others or for own use.
Work
Hours actually worked applies to all types of jobs (within and beyond the SNA production boundary) and is not linked to administrative or legal concepts. Hours actually worked measured within the SNA production boundary includes time spent directly on, and in relation to, productive activities; down time; and resting time. (a) “Direct hours” is the time spent carrying out the tasks and duties of a job. (b) “Related hours” is the time spent maintaining, facilitating or enhancing productive activities (c) “Down time”, as distinct from “direct” and “related hours”, is time when a person in a job cannot work due to machinery or process breakdown, accident, lack of supplies or power or Internet access, etc., but continues to be available for work. (d) “Resting time” is time spent in short periods of rest, relief or refreshment, including tea, coffee or prayer breaks, generally practised by custom or contract according to established norms and/or national circumstances. Hours actually worked measured beyond the SNA production boundary excludes time not worked during activities such as civic duty and educational activities other than the training covered.
Resolution I. Resolution concerning the measurement of working time, the 18th ICLS
Hours actually worked is the time spent in a job for the performance of activities that contribute to the production of goods and/or services during a specified short or long reference period.
Hours Actually Worked
Working time is determined in reference to productive activities within the general production boundary as defined in the System of National Accounts (SNA). Working time includes the time spent towards the production of all goods and services whether paid or unpaid. Working time does not take account of the legality of the activity, the type of contractual agreement covering it or the age of the persons performing it. (1) Working time can relate to the activities within the SNA production boundary and to employment statistics, as defined in the international definition of employment. In this case working time is the standard for compilation of national production accounts. It is also used for labour market, productivity and other economic and social analysis. (2) Working time can also relate to activities which are beyond the SNA production boundary such as services produced and consumed within the same household and activities of volunteer workers in households that produce services for own final use by the household. In this case the aim is to produce statistics of working time on “unpaid household service and volunteer work” necessary for the production of satellite accounts and for a broader understanding of, and approach to, labour market, economic and social policies. Working time is measured for a job. Use of job as the basic observation unit for working time is consistent with the international classifications of occupation (ISCO) and status in employment (ICSE) and with the principles of classification by industry according to the International Standard Industrial Classification of all Economic Activities (ISIC).
Working time comprises the time associated with productive activities and the arrangement of this time during a specified reference period.
Working Time
Compensation of employees has two main components: a. Wages and salaries payable in cash or in kind; b. Social insurance contributions payable by employers, which include contributions to social security schemes; actual social contributions to other employment-related social insurance schemes and imputed social contributions to other employment-related social insurance schemes.
System of National Accounts 2008 (SNA 2008)
Compensation of employees is defined as the total remuneration, in cash or in kind, payable by an enterprise to an employee in return for work done by the latter during the accounting period.
Compensation of Employees
Persons may be classified in a short reference period, according to their labour force status as being: (a) in employment; (b) in unemployment; or (c) outside the labour force; and among these, in the potential labour force.
The sum of persons in employment and in unemployment equals the labour force.
Labour Force
This definition is broad and includes different forms of digital platform work, including digital platform work for own-use, digital platform employment, digital platform unpaid trainee work, digital platform volunteer work and other work activities carried out on or through a digital platform. Moreover, this definition emphasises the notion of control and organisation by the platform, which is essential to disentangle digital platform work and other type of work taking place via a platform. For example, a customer and a service provider exchanging via Teams or Zoom does not constitute digital platform work, as these two communication platforms do not offer integral services like ratings of participants, payments and matching of the two parties.
Handbook on Measuring Digital Platform Employment and Work
Digital platform employment
Platform employment — any productive activity performed by persons to produce goods or provide services carried out through or on a digital platform, and: the digital platform or a phone app controls and/or organizes essential aspects of the activities, such as the access to clients, the evaluation of the activities carried out, the tools needed for conducting the work, the facilitation of payments, distribution and prioritization of the work to be conducted; and the work is for at least one hour in the reference period.
Platform Employment