EXPLANATORY NOTES
INTRODUCTION
1 The statistics in this publication were compiled from data collected in the Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership Survey conducted throughout Australia in August 2006 as a supplement to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) monthly Labour Force Survey (LFS). Respondents to the LFS who fell within the scope of the supplementary survey were asked further questions.
2 The publication Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0) contains information about survey design, sample redesign, scope, coverage and population benchmarks, which also apply to supplementary surveys. LFS also contains definitions of demographic and labour force characteristics, and information about telephone interviewing which are relevant to both the monthly LFS and supplementary surveys.
3 From April 2001 the LFS has been conducted using a redesigned questionnaire containing additional questions and some minor definitional changes. These changes also affect the supplementary surveys. For further details, see Information Paper: Implementing the Redesigned Labour Force Survey Questionnaire (cat. no. 6295.0) and Information Paper: Questionnaires Used in the Labour Force Survey (cat. no. 6232.0).
CONCEPTS, SOURCES AND METHODS
4 The conceptual framework used in Australia's LFS aligns closely with the standards and guidelines set out in Resolutions of the International Conference of Labour Statisticians. Descriptions of the underlying concepts and structure of Australia's labour force statistics, and the sources and methods used in compiling these estimates, are presented in Labour Statistics: Concepts, Sources and Methods (cat. no. 6102.0.55.001) which is available on the ABS web site <https://www.abs.gov.au> (Methods, Classifications, Concepts and Standards).
SCOPE
5 The scope of the LFS was restricted to people aged 15 years and over and excluded the following people:
- members of the permanent defence forces
- certain diplomatic personnel of overseas governments, customarily excluded from census and population estimates
- overseas residents in Australia
- members of non-Australian defence forces (and their dependants).
6 Students at boarding schools, patients in hospitals, residents of homes (e.g. retirement homes, homes for people with disabilities), and inmates of prisons are excluded from all supplementary surveys.
7 This supplementary survey was conducted in both urban and rural areas in all states and territories, but excluded approximately 120,000 people living in very remote parts of Australia who would otherwise have been within the scope of the survey. The exclusion of these people will have only a minor impact on any aggregate estimates that are produced for individual states and territories, except the Northern Territory where such people account for around 23% of the population.
8 In addition to those already excluded from the LFS, employees who worked solely for payment in kind in their main job are excluded from this survey.
COVERAGE
9 The estimates in this publication relate to people covered by the survey in August 2006. In the LFS, coverage rules are applied which aim to ensure that each person is associated with only one dwelling and hence has only one chance of selection in the survey. See Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0) for more details.
SAMPLE SIZE
10 The initial sample for the August 2006 LFS consisted of 41,725 private dwelling households and special dwelling units. Of the 33,880 private dwelling households and special dwelling units that remained in the survey after sample loss (e.g. households selected in the survey which had no residents in scope for the LFS, vacant or derelict dwellings and dwellings under construction), approximately 31,620 or 93.3% were fully responding to the Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership Survey. The number of completed interviews obtained from these private dwelling households and special dwelling units (after taking into account scope, coverage and subsampling exclusions) was 28,981.
RELIABILITY OF THE ESTIMATES
11 Estimates in this publication are subject to sampling and non-sampling errors:
- Sampling error is the difference between the published estimate and the value that would have been produced if all dwellings had been included in the survey. For more information see the Technical Note.
- Non-sampling errors are inaccuracies that occur because of imperfections in reporting by respondents and interviewers and errors made in coding and processing data. These inaccuracies may occur in any enumeration, whether it be a full count or a sample. Every effort is made to reduce the non-sampling error to a minimum by careful design of questionnaires, intensive training and supervision of interviewers and efficient processing procedures.
SEASONAL FACTORS
12 The estimates are based on information collected in the survey month and, due to seasonal factors, may not be representative of other months of the year.
CLASSIFICATIONS USED
13 From 2006, occupation data are classified according to ANZSCO - Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations, First Edition, 2006 (cat. no. 1220.0). This new classification replaces ASCO - Australian Standard Classification of Occupations, Second Edition, 1997 (cat. no. 1220.0). Data classified according to ASCO will be made available via spreadsheets on the ABS web site <https://www.abs.gov.au> or can be obtained on request.
14 Also from 2006, industry data are classified according to the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 2006 (cat. no. 1292.0). This new classification replaces the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 1993 (cat. no. 1292.0). Data classified according to ANZSIC 1993 will be made available via spreadsheets on the ABS web site <https://www.abs.gov.au> or can be obtained on request.
15 Country of birth data are classified according to the Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC), 1998 (cat. no. 1269.0).
NOTES ON ESTIMATES
16 Information relating to main job earnings and second job earnings not provided by the respondent have been imputed. In August 2006 there were 2,279 cases where information relating to main job earnings was not provided by the respondent, and 70 cases where information relating to second job earnings was not provided by the respondent. Where this was the only information missing from the record, a value has been imputed based on answers provided from another respondent with similar characteristics (referred to as the donor). Donor records were selected for main job imputation by matching information on sex, age, state or territory of usual residence and labour force characteristics (full-time or part-time in main job, industry, occupation, hours worked in main job) of the person with missing information. Donor records were selected for second job imputation by matching information on sex, age, state or territory of usual residence, area of usual residence and owner manager status. Depending on which values were to be imputed, donors were chosen from the pool of individual records with complete information for the block of questions where the missing information occurred.
17 Care should be taken when using estimates of mean or median weekly earnings. Employees who did not draw a wage or salary are excluded from estimates of mean or median weekly earnings. This group consists of people working in their own incorporated enterprise.
18 People who said 'yes' to either of the following questions:
- 'Does your employer/business provide you with paid sick leave?'
- 'Does your employer/business provide you with paid holiday leave?' are categorised as 'with leave entitlements'. In all other cases, respondents are categorised as 'without leave entitlements'.
COMPARABILITY OF TIME SERIES
19 Revisions are made to population benchmarks for the LFS after each five-yearly Census of Population and Housing. The last such revision was made in February 2004 to take account of the results of the 2001 Census of Population and Housing. Estimates from supplementary surveys conducted from and including February 2004 are therefore based on these revised population benchmarks.
20 Supplementary surveys are not conducted on the full LFS sample. Since August 1994 the sample for supplementary surveys has been restricted to no more than seven-eighths of the LFS sample. As a result of the reduction in sample size, standard errors for this survey differ from those applicable to previous surveys.
21 Care should be taken when comparing movements in mean weekly earnings and employment benefits estimates that include the July 1991 and August 1997 surveys. The usual period between surveys is 12 months; however, in 1991 the elapsed time was 11 months (August 1990 to July 1991), and in 1992 it was 13 months (July 1991 to August 1992). In 1997, the elapsed time was 2 years (August 1995 to August 1997).
22 A change was made in 2002 to the method used to determine whether an employee works full-time or part-time in their main job. Prior to 2002, 'full-time or part-time employees in main job' was derived from a self-perception question in which all employees were asked 'Is your job full-time or part-time?'. Following the redesign in 2001 of the LFS questionnaire, actual hours worked in main job in the reference week is now collected. From August 2002, data on hours worked in main job are used to derive full-time or part-time status of employees in main job.
23 This approach is consistent with the method used in the LFS to derive full-time or part-time status in all jobs. For further details see Glossary entries 'Full-time employees in main job' and 'Full-time workers'.
Imputation
24 The current imputation method has been used since the 2005 survey. A similar method of imputation was used for the 2004 survey. The differences between the 2004 and current imputation methods are that donors were matched where possible on a finer level of detail, and second job earnings are now imputed whereas in 2004 they were not. These changes in methodology are expected to have improved the imputed earnings data at the unit record level, but should not have had much impact on aggregate estimates.
25 Prior to 2004 imputation was not used, hence employees whose weekly earnings could not be determined were excluded from estimates of mean or median weekly earnings. Care should therefore be taken when comparing earnings data from 2004 onwards with earnings data prior to 2004. To compare the change in method from 2003 to 2004 please see paragraph 28 of the Explanatory Notes in Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, August 2004 (cat. no. 6310.0).
26 Prior to 2006, the 'Did not draw a wage or salary' category also included cases where information related to weekly earnings was not provided by the respondent. Such cases are now imputed.
COMPARABILITY WITH MONTHLY LFS STATISTICS
27 Due to differences in the scope and sample size of this supplementary survey and that of the LFS, the estimation procedure may lead to some small variations between labour force estimates from this survey and those from the LFS.
COMPARABILITY WITH EMPLOYER-BASED AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS SURVEY
28 Caution should be exercised when comparing estimates of mean weekly earnings in this publication with estimates of average weekly earnings included in the quarterly publication Average Weekly Earnings, Australia (cat. no. 6302.0), which are compiled from a survey of employers. There are important differences in the scope and methodology of the two surveys.
29 The quarterly Survey of Average Weekly Earnings excludes employees in the industries of Agriculture, forestry and fishing (ANZSIC 1993 Division A) and Private households employing staff (ANZSIC 1993 Subdivision 97), both of which are included in this household survey. The quarterly Survey of Average Weekly Earnings collects information from employers who complete a mailed questionnaire with details of their employees' total gross earnings and the total number of employees. For this household survey, respondents are either interviewed personally, or another adult member of their household responds on their behalf.
30 The methodology used in this household survey may result in non-sampling error not evident in surveys of employers (and vice versa). This may account for some of the differences between the results of the two surveys.
PREVIOUS SURVEYS OF WEEKLY EARNINGS
31 Similar surveys have been conducted annually since August 1975, except 1991 when the survey was conducted in July, and in 1996 when the survey was not conducted.
32 Prior to 1998, this publication was titled Weekly Earnings of Employees (Distribution), Australia (cat. no. 6310.0). The change in title reflects the inclusion of employment benefits and trade union membership data previously released in other publications.
PREVIOUS SURVEYS OF EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
33 Results of previous surveys on employment benefits have been published in:
PREVIOUS SURVEYS OF TRADE UNION MEMBERS
34 Information on trade union membership was first collected in 1976, then biennially in its current format, from 1986 to 1992. From this time it was conducted annually (with limited data available every second year). Results of previous surveys were published in:
- Labour Force, Australia, December 1994, December 1995 (cat. no. 6203.0)
- Trade Union Members, Australia, August 1986, August 1988, August 1990, August 1992, August 1996 (cat. no. 6325.0)
- Trade Union Members, Australia, August 1994 (cat. no. 6325.0.40.001)
35 Limited data on trade union membership have also been published in:
NEXT SURVEY
36 The ABS plans to conduct this survey again in August 2007.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
37 ABS surveys draw extensively on information provided by individuals, businesses, governments and other organisations. Their continued cooperation is very much appreciated: without it, the wide range of statistics published by the ABS would not be available. Information received by the ABS is treated in strict confidence as required by the Census and Statistics Act 1905.
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Spreadsheets
38 Additional tables are available in spreadsheet format with time series data. These tables will be made available with the publication from the ABS web site <https://www.abs.gov.au>.
Unit record file
39 It is expected that a confidentialised unit record file (CURF) will be produced from the Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership Survey subject to the approval of the Australian Statistician. The Basic CURF will be available on CD-ROM, and via the ABS Remote Access Data Laboratory (RADL). The Expanded CURF will be accessible only through the RADL. The CURF will be available in SAS, STATA and SPSS format. A full range of up-to-date information about the availability of ABS CURFs and about applying for access to CURFs is available via the ABS web site <https://www.abs.gov.au> (see Services We Provide - CURF Microdata). Inquiries to the ABS CURF Management Unit should e-mail <curf.management@abs.gov.au>, or telephone (02) 6252 7714.
RELATED PUBLICATIONS
40 Other publications which may be of interest include:
41 Current publications and other products released by the ABS are listed in the Catalogue of Publications and Products (cat. no. 1101.0). The Catalogue is available from any ABS office or the ABS web site, <https://www.abs.gov.au>. The ABS also issues a daily Release Advice on the web site which details products to be released in the week ahead.
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