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1 The Seventeenth International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS),
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3 Acknowledging that the relevance of [[informal employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Employment.WebHome]] varies among countries, and that a decision to develop statistics on it is therefore determined by national circumstances and priorities,
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5 Noting that the term “informal economy” is used by the ILO as including the [[informal sector>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Sector.WebHome]] as well as [[informal employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Employment.WebHome]] and that, as a supplement to the System of National Accounts, 1993, an international conceptual framework for measurement of the non-observed economy already exists, which distinguishes the [[informal sector>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Sector.WebHome]] from underground production, illegal production and household production for own final use,
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7 Recalling the existing international standards on statistics of [[employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Employment.WebHome]] in the [[informal sector>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Sector.WebHome]] contained in the resolution concerning statistics of [[employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Employment.WebHome]] in the [[informal sector>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Sector.WebHome]] adopted by the 15th ICLS (January 1993),
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9 Noting the recommendation made by the Expert Group on Informal Sector Statistics (Delhi Group), during its Fifth Meeting, that the definition and measurement of [[employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Employment.WebHome]] in the [[informal sector>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Sector.WebHome]] need to be complemented with a definition and measurement of [[informal employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Employment.WebHome]],
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11 Emphasizing the importance of consistency and coherence in relating the enterprise-based concept of [[employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Employment.WebHome]] in the [[informal sector>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Sector.WebHome]] to a broader, [[job>>doc:working:Glossary.Job.WebHome]]-based concept of [[informal employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Employment.WebHome]],
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13 Considering the methodological (% style="color:#e74c3c" %)work(%%), which the International Labour Office and a number of countries have already undertaken in this area,
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15 Supporting the request, which was made by the International Labour Conference in paragraph 37 of the resolution concerning decent (% style="color:#e74c3c" %)work(%%) and the informal economy adopted during its 90th Session (2002), that the International Labour Office should assist countries in the collection, analysis and dissemination of statistics on the informal economy,
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17 Recognizing that the considerable diversity of [[informal employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Employment.WebHome]] situations poses limits to the extent to which statistics on [[informal employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Employment.WebHome]] can be harmonized across countries,
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19 Realizing the usefulness of international guidelines in assisting countries in the development of national definitions of [[informal employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Employment.WebHome]], and in enhancing the international comparability of the resulting statistics to the extent possible;
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21 Endorses the following guidelines, which complement the resolution concerning statistics of [[employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Employment.WebHome]] in the [[informal sector>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Sector.WebHome]] of the 15th ICLS, and encourages countries to test the conceptual framework on which they are based:
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23 1. The concept of [[informal sector>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Sector.WebHome]] refers to production units as observation units, while the concept of [[informal employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Employment.WebHome]] refers to [[jobs>>doc:working:Glossary.Job.WebHome]] as observation units. [[Employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Employment.WebHome]] is defined in the sense of paragraph 9 of the resolution concerning statistics of the [[economically active population>>doc:working:Glossary.Economically Active Population.WebHome]], [[employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Employment.WebHome]], [[unemployment>>doc:working:Glossary.Unemployment.WebHome]] and underemployment adopted by the 13th ICLS.
24 1. [[Informal sector>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Sector.WebHome]] enterprises and [[employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Employment.WebHome]] in the [[informal sector>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Sector.WebHome]] are defined according to the resolution concerning statistics of [[employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Employment.WebHome]] in the [[informal sector>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Sector.WebHome]] adopted by the 15th ICLS. For the purpose of statistics on [[informal employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Employment.WebHome]], paragraph 19 of the resolution concerning statistics of [[employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Employment.WebHome]] in the [[informal sector>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Sector.WebHome]] adopted by the 15th ICLS should be applied to exclude households employing paid domestic workers from [[informal sector>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Sector.WebHome]] enterprises, and to treat them separately as part of a category named “households”.
25 1. (1) //[[Informal employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Employment.WebHome]]// comprises the total number of informal [[jobs>>doc:working:Glossary.Job.WebHome]] as defined in subparagraphs (2) to (5) below, whether carried out in formal sector enterprises, [[informal sector>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Sector.WebHome]] enterprises, or households, during a given reference period.
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29 (2) As shown in the attached matrix, [[informal employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Employment.WebHome]] includes the following types of [[jobs>>doc:working:Glossary.Job.WebHome]]:
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31 * {{{(i)}}} own-account workers employed in their own [[informal sector>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Sector.WebHome]] enterprises (cell 3);
32 * (ii) employers employed in their own [[informal sector>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Sector.WebHome]] enterprises (cell 4);
33 * (ii) contributing family workers, irrespective of whether they (% style="color:#e74c3c" %)work(%%) in formal or [[informal sector>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Sector.WebHome]] enterprises (cells 1 and 5);
34 * (iv) members of informal producers’ cooperatives (cell 8);
35 * (v) [[employees>>doc:working:Glossary.Employees.WebHome]] holding informal [[jobs>>doc:working:Glossary.Job.WebHome]] (as defined in subparagraph (5) below) in formal sector enterprises, [[informal sector>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Sector.WebHome]] enterprises, or as paid domestic workers employed by households (cells 2, 6 and 10);
36 * (vi) own-account workers engaged in the production of goods exclusively for own final use by their household (cell 9), if considered employed according to paragraph 9(6) of the resolution concerning statistics of the [[economically active population>>doc:working:Glossary.Economically Active Population.WebHome]], [[employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Employment.WebHome]], [[unemployment>>doc:working:Glossary.Unemployment.WebHome]] and underemployment adopted by the 13th ICLS.
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40 (3) Own-account workers, employers, members of producers’ cooperatives, contributing family workers, and [[employees>>doc:working:Glossary.Employees.WebHome]] are defined in accordance with the latest version of the International Classification of Status in [[Employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Employment.WebHome]] (ICSE).
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42 (4) Producers’ cooperatives are considered informal if they are not formally established as legal entities and also meet the other criteria of [[informal sector>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Sector.WebHome]] enterprises specified in the resolution concerning statistics of [[employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Employment.WebHome]] in the [[informal sector>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Sector.WebHome]] adopted by the 15th ICLS.
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44 (5) [[Employees>>doc:working:Glossary.Employees.WebHome]] are considered to have informal [[jobs>>doc:working:Glossary.Job.WebHome]] if their [[employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Employment.WebHome]] relationship is, in law or in practice, not subject to national labour legislation, income taxation, social protection or entitlement to certain [[employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Employment.WebHome]] benefits (advance notice of dismissal, severance pay, paid annual or sick leave, etc.). The reasons may be the following: non-declaration of the [[jobs>>doc:working:Glossary.Job.WebHome]] or the [[employees>>doc:working:Glossary.Employees.WebHome]]; casual [[jobs>>doc:working:Glossary.Job.WebHome]] or [[jobs>>doc:working:Glossary.Job.WebHome]] of a limited short duration; [[jobs>>doc:working:Glossary.Job.WebHome]] with hours of (% style="color:#e74c3c" %)work(%%) or wages below a specified threshold (e.g. for social security contributions); [[employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Employment.WebHome]] by unincorporated enterprises or by persons in households; [[jobs>>doc:working:Glossary.Job.WebHome]] where the [[employee>>doc:working:Glossary.Employees.WebHome]]’s place of (% style="color:#e74c3c" %)work(%%) is outside the premises of the employer’s enterprise (e.g. outworkers without [[employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Employment.WebHome]] contract); or [[jobs>>doc:working:Glossary.Job.WebHome]] for which labour regulations are not applied, not enforced, or not complied with for any other reason. The operational criteria for defining informal [[jobs>>doc:working:Glossary.Job.WebHome]] of [[employees>>doc:working:Glossary.Employees.WebHome]] are to be determined in accordance with national circumstances and data availability.
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46 (6) For purposes of analysis and policy-making, it may be useful to disaggregate the different types of informal [[jobs>>doc:working:Glossary.Job.WebHome]] listed in paragraph 3(2) above, especially those held by [[employees>>doc:working:Glossary.Employees.WebHome]]. Such a typology and definitions should be developed as part of further (% style="color:#e74c3c" %)work(%%) on classifications by status in [[employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Employment.WebHome]] at the international and national levels.
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48 4. Where they exist, [[employees>>doc:working:Glossary.Employees.WebHome]] holding formal [[jobs>>doc:working:Glossary.Job.WebHome]] in [[informal sector>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Sector.WebHome]] enterprises (cell 7 of the attached matrix) should be excluded from [[informal employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Employment.WebHome]].
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50 5. //[[Informal employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Employment.WebHome]] outside the [[informal sector>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Sector.WebHome]]// comprises the following types of [[jobs>>doc:working:Glossary.Job.WebHome]]:
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52 * {{{(i)}}} [[employees>>doc:working:Glossary.Employees.WebHome]] holding informal [[jobs>>doc:working:Glossary.Job.WebHome]] (as defined in paragraph 3(5) above) in formal sector enterprises (cell 2) or as paid domestic workers employed by households (cell 10);
53 * (ii) contributing family workers (% style="color:#e74c3c" %)working(%%) in formal sector enterprises (cell 1);
54 * (iii) own-account workers engaged in the production of goods exclusively for own final use by their household (cell 9), if considered employed according to paragraph 9(6) of the resolution concerning statistics of the [[economically active population>>doc:working:Glossary.Economically Active Population.WebHome]], [[employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Employment.WebHome]], [[unemployment>>doc:working:Glossary.Unemployment.WebHome]] and underemployment adopted by the 13th ICLS.
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58 6. Countries which do not have statistics on [[employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Employment.WebHome]] in the [[informal sector>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Sector.WebHome]] or for which a classification of [[employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Employment.WebHome]] by type of production unit is not relevant, may develop statistics on [[informal employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Employment.WebHome]], if desired, specifying appropriate definitions of informal [[jobs>>doc:working:Glossary.Job.WebHome]] of own-account workers, employers and members of producers’ cooperatives. Alternatively, they may limit the measurement of [[informal employment>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Employment.WebHome]] to [[employee>>doc:working:Glossary.Employees.WebHome]] [[jobs>>doc:working:Glossary.Job.WebHome]].
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60 7. Countries which exclude agricultural activities from the scope of their [[informal sector>>doc:working:Glossary.Informal Sector.WebHome]] statistics should develop suitable definitions of informal [[jobs>>doc:working:Glossary.Job.WebHome]] in agriculture, especially with respect to [[jobs>>doc:working:Glossary.Job.WebHome]] held by own-account workers, employers and members of producers’ cooperatives.
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62 = Annex. Conceptual Framework: Informal Employment** ** =
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64 [[image:1752700998340-391.png]]
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66 (a) As defined by the Fifteenth International Conference of Labour Statisticians (excluding households employing paid domestic workers).
67 (b) Households producing goods exclusively for their own final use and households employing paid domestic workers.
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69 Note: Cells shaded in dark grey refer to [[jobs>>doc:working:Glossary.Job.WebHome]], which, by definition, do not exist in the type of production unit in question. Cells shaded in light grey refer to formal [[jobs>>doc:working:Glossary.Job.WebHome]]. Un-shaded cells represent the various types of informal [[jobs>>doc:working:Glossary.Job.WebHome]].
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71 (% style="width:605.446px" %)
72 |(% style="width:400px" %)**Informal employment**: |(% style="width:201px" %)Cells 1to 6 and 8 to 10.
73 |(% style="width:400px" %)**Employment in the informal sector**: |(% style="width:201px" %)Cells 3 to 8.
74 |(% style="width:400px" %)**Informal employment outside the informal sector:** |(% style="width:201px" %)Cells 1,2, 9 and 10.