6306.0 - Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia, May 2002  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 26/03/2003   
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INTRODUCTION

1 This publication contains estimates from the Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours. The survey was conducted in May 2002 and collected information from a sample of employers about the earnings, hours and selected characteristics of their employees.

2 The survey is designed to provide detailed statistics on the level, composition and distribution of earnings and hours of employees. By using information about the characteristics of employers, such as industry and sector, and their employees, such as occupation, type of employee, and method of setting pay, the statistics provide comprehensive information about earnings and hours paid for, for various groups of employees, for example, classified by industry, occupation and pay setting method.

3 Preliminary estimates were published in Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia, Preliminary, May 2002 (cat. no. 6305.0), released on 10 December 2002. The estimates in this publication may differ from the preliminary data.

SCOPE

4 The survey covered all employing organisations in Australia (public and private sectors) except:

  • enterprises primarily engaged in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
  • private households employing staff
  • foreign embassies, consulates, etc.

5 The employees of employers covered in the survey are in scope if they received pay for the reference period, except:
  • members of the Australian permanent defence forces
  • employees based outside Australia
  • employees on workers’ compensation who are not paid through the payroll.


SURVEY METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN

6 The sample of employees is obtained using a two stage selection approach. The first stage involves the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) selecting a probability sample of businesses from the ABS Business Register. The selection unit for the first stage comprises all activities of an employer in a particular state or territory. Units on the Business Register are stratified into homogenous groups using the following variables: state, sector, industry, and employment size. Within each stratum statistical units are selected with equal probability.

7 In the second stage the selected employers are asked to select a random sample of employees from their payrolls using instructions provided by the ABS. Data for approximately 53,000 employees from a sample of approximately 8,000 employer units contributed to the results in this publication.

8 The May 2002 survey includes adjustments to the estimates to allow for the time lag between businesses commencing operation and their inclusion on the ABS Business Register. For more details refer to the Information Paper: Improvements to ABS Economic Statistics, 1997 (cat. no. 1357.0).


INDUSTRY

9 Industry data has been classified according to the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 1993 (cat. no. 1292.0).

10 Employees selected in the Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours are classified to the industry of the business in which they are employed (see paragraph 6).


OCCUPATION

11 Occupation data has been classified according to the Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO), Second Edition (cat. no. 1220.0).

12 Care should be taken when comparing survey estimates based on ASCO groups with estimates based on the managerial/non-managerial status of employees, which is determined and reported by the employer. Estimates for employees with managerial status include employees classified to ASCO categories other than the ASCO major group ‘Managers and administrators’; e.g. employees classified as ‘Professionals’ according to ASCO may be categorised by employers as having managerial status. Conversely, tables in this publication which contain estimates for non-managerial employees (as defined by employers) will include some employees who would be classified to the ASCO major group ‘Managers and administrators’.


METHODS OF SETTING PAY

13 Questions on how employees' pay was set in the survey reference period were included in the survey for the first time in May 2000. The questions collected data on whether all or any part of their pay was set by an individual agreement, collective agreement, award, or a combination of these. Data was also collected on whether agreements (individual and collective) were certified, approved or registered with an industrial tribunal or authority.

14 In May 2002, the questions on how employees' pay was set in the survey reference period were changed to collect data on whether the main part of their pay was set by individual agreement, collective agreement or award. It is considered unlikely that this change will affect comparability of data between surveys. Data was again collected on whether agreements were certified, approved or registered with an industrial tribunal or authority.


EMPLOYEE ESTIMATES

15 Estimates of the number of employees based on the EEH survey are provided in the following table to assist in interpreting publication tables that contain proportions of employees for earnings ranges and methods of setting pay. Other estimates of employees, classified by selected characteristics, may be available on request to assist users in interpreting other estimates from the survey. Although the EEH survey can provide estimates of the number of employees, it is not designed specifically for this purpose (the ABS Labour Force Survey is the primary source for official ABS statistics of employment). Therefore, care should be taken in the interpretation and use of such estimates.



EMPLOYEE ESTIMATES, SURVEY OF EMPLOYEE EARNINGS AND HOURS, MAY 2002
Males
RSE
Females
RSE
Persons
RSE
'000
%
'000
%
'000
%

New South Wales
1,311.2
2.9
1,170.8
2.8
2,482.0
2.2
Victoria
1,022.8
3.5
951.9
3.8
1,974.7
2.8
Queensland
679.7
4.8
710.1
5.1
1,389.8
3.8
South Australia
285.3
6.3
271.8
7.0
557.1
5.2
Western Australia
351.1
4.4
345.3
5.0
696.5
3.6
Tasmania
77.3
5.5
84.3
10.1
161.6
6.7
Northern Territory
40.6
7.5
36.7
5.9
77.3
5.6
Australian Capital Territory
78.1
6.0
85.6
6.4
163.7
5.1
Australia
3,846.2
1.7
3,656.5
1.8
7,502.6
1.4



COMPARABILITY OF RESULTS

16 Care should be taken when comparing estimates of average weekly earnings from this survey with those published quarterly in Average Weekly Earnings, Australia (cat.no.6302.0), as different sample design and survey methodologies are used. The Survey of Average Weekly Earnings collects information relating to the total gross earnings and the total number of employees of employer units selected in the survey. The average weekly earnings measures are derived by dividing total gross earnings by the number of employees. The Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours collects information about weekly earnings of a sample of employees within the employer units selected. In addition, the size of the employer sample for the Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours is larger than that for the Survey of Average Weekly Earnings.


RELIABILITY OF ESTIMATES

17 Estimates are subject to sampling and non-sampling errors. For information on the reliability of estimates see the Technical Note.


RELATED PUBLICATIONS

18 Users may also wish to refer to the following publications:
  • Average Weekly Earnings, Australia, cat.no.6302.0 - issued quarterly
  • Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia, Preliminary, cat.no.6305.0 - issued biennially
  • Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, Australia, cat.no.6310.0 - issued annually
  • Labour Force, Australia, cat.no.6203.0 - issued monthly
  • Labour Statistics: Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2001 cat.no.6102.0 - issued 6 August 2001
  • Wage and Salary Earners, Public Sector Australia, cat.no.6248.0 - issued quarterly
  • Wage Cost Index, Australia, cat.no.6345.0 - issued quarterly


19 Current publications and other products released by the ABS are listed in the Catalogue of Publications and Products, Australia (cat. no. 1101.0). The Catalogue is available from any ABS office or the ABS web site. The ABS also issues a daily Release Advice on the web site which details products to be released in the week ahead.


ROUNDING

20 Estimates of earnings shown in the tables are rounded to the nearest 10 cents and those of average weekly hours paid for are rounded to the first decimal place.

21 Estimates of proportions of employees for earnings ranges and methods of setting pay are rounded to one-tenth of a percentage point.

22 Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.