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CHAPTER 21.8. LOCATIONS OF WORK


INTRODUCTION

21.8.1 The Locations of Work Survey was first collected in 2000, was conducted in 2005, and was most recently conducted in November 2008 (released May 2009). It replaces the Survey of Persons Employed at Home conducted in 1989, 1992 and 1995. This survey provides information about the locations in which people work (such as their own home or employer's premises) and the job characteristics and working arrangements of people who work at home. The survey has a particular focus on people who usually worked more hours at home than elsewhere in their main or second job or business.

21.8.2 Data from the survey is relevant to a wide range of policies and programs, including trends in work performed away from the employer's workplace, working conditions, changes in workplace arrangements, and the effects of technology. Information on locations of work is used to monitor trends in workplace locations.

21.8.3 This section describes only those aspects of the methodology that are unique to this survey, and hence should be used in conjunction with the overview part of this chapter, which outlines the survey methodology used in supplementary surveys.


SURVEY OUTPUT

21.8.4 Prior to 2000, estimates from the survey were published in Persons Employed at Home, Australia (cat. no. 6275.0). In 2000, the publication was renamed Locations of Work, Australia (cat. no. 6275.0). More detailed data than in the publication are available upon request.

Socio-demographic information

State or territory of usual residence, capital city/balance of state, region of usual residence, sex, marital status, relationship in household, country of birth, year of arrival, age group and whether had child(ren) under 15 years.

Employment characteristics

Full-time or part-time status, occupation, industry, status in employment, whether had an arrangement with employer to work at home, hours actually worked, hours usually worked and employment type.


Leave entitlements Paid sick leave and paid holiday leave.


Location of work

All locations of work, main location of work, number of locations of work and whether worked at home.

Home based work

Hours actually worked at home, hours usually worked at home, main reason for working at home, use of information technology at home, occupation in job worked at home, industry in job worked at home and status in employment in job worked at home.

1989
Initial survey conducted in April - data published in Persons Employed at Home, Australia (cat. no. 6275.0).
Persons employed at home defined as persons who usually worked more hours at home than elsewhere, in their main or second job. Farmers, ASCO unit groups 1401 (farmers and farm managers) and 8201(farm hands and assistants) were excluded.

1992
Survey conducted in March.

1995
Survey conducted in September.
Sample restricted to seven-eighths of the Labour Force Survey sample.

2000
Survey conducted in June.
Survey redeveloped, considerably expanded and renamed Locations of Work.
Persons living in remote and sparsely settled areas excluded from scope.
Persons employed at home redefined as people who, in the reference week, mainly or only work at home or in the home of another person (not employer's or client's home) or work at own home or in the home of another person as part of their formal working arrangements. Farmers who only or mainly worked at home were also included. Note: 'persons employed at home' as defined in the 1989, 1992 and 1995 surveys are not identifiable in the 2000 survey.

2005
Survey conducted in November.
Survey definition relating to 'employed persons who worked at home' redeveloped. People were defined as working 'only or mainly at home in main or second job' if they worked more hours at their own home than any other single location in their main job or in their second job.
Additional data items regarding working arrangements and the use of information technology in job at home were collected for this survey.

2008
Additional new data items collected in this survey.
From 2008, there have been minor changes to the data items 'All locations of work' and 'Main location of work'.
Changes to the way in which hours usually worked at home in main and/or second job were collected were made. From 2008, people did not have to work in their main job, however had to work in a job in the reference week to have their usual hours worked at home in their main job collected. In 2005, only people who actually worked at home in the reference week had their usual hours worked at home in their main job collected. For multiple jobholders in 2008, people had to work in their second job in the reference week to have their usual hours worked at home in second job collected. In 2005, only people who actually worked at home in their second job in the reference week had their usual hours worked at home in their second job collected.