Working Time

Working time comprises the time associated with productive activities and the arrangement of this time during a specified reference period.

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).

Resolution I. Resolution concerning the measurement of working time, the 18th ICLS