6310.0 - Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, Australia, August 2011 
Quality Declaration
Quality Declaration ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 27/04/2012
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EXPLANATORY NOTES
8 This supplementary survey was conducted in both urban and rural areas in all states and territories, but excluded persons living in Indigenous communities in very remote parts of Australia. 9 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 10 The estimates in this publication relate to persons covered by the survey in August 2011. 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 11 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. 12 The initial sample for the August 2011 LFS consisted of 36,311 private dwelling households and special dwelling units. Of the 29,328 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), 27,762 or 94.7% fully responded to the Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership Survey. The number of completed interviews obtained from these private dwellings and special dwelling units (after taking into account scope and coverage exclusions) was 25,870. RELIABILITY OF THE ESTIMATES 13 Estimates in this publication are subject to sampling and non-sampling errors:
SEASONAL FACTORS 14 The estimates are based on information collected in the survey month (August) and, due to seasonal factors, may not be representative of other months of the year. CLASSIFICATIONS USED 15 From 2006, occupation data are classified according to the ANZSCO - Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations, First Edition, Revision 1, 2009 (cat. no. 1220.0). This classification replaces ASCO - Australian Standard Classification of Occupations, Second Edition, 1997 (cat. no. 1220.0). 16 Also from 2006, industry data are classified according to the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 2006 (cat. no. 1292.0). This classification replaced the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 1993 (cat. no. 1292.0). 17 Country of birth data are classified according to the Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC), Second Edition, 2008 (cat. no. 1269.0). NOTES ON ESTIMATES Imputation 18 Where information relating to earnings in main job and second job has not been provided by the respondent, values have been imputed. In August 2011, there were 2,644 cases where information relating to earnings in main job was not provided by the respondent, and 111 cases where information relating to earnings in second job 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. 19 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. Earnings 20 Care should be taken when using estimates of mean weekly earnings or median weekly earnings. Employees who did not draw a wage or salary, comprising OMIEs who responded that they did not draw a wage or salary when asked "In your main job, how often are you paid?", are excluded from estimates of mean weekly earnings and median weekly earnings and deciles and quartiles. Leave entitlements 21 Employees (excluding OMIEs) are classified as 'With paid leave entitlements' if they said 'yes' to either of the following questions:
COMPARABILITY OF TIME SERIES 22 The Labour Force Survey estimates, and estimates from the supplementary surveys, are calculated in such a way as to sum to independent estimates of the civilian population aged 15 years and over (population benchmarks). These population benchmarks are based on Estimated Resident Population (ERP) data. Generally, revisions are made to population benchmarks after each five-yearly Census of Population and Housing (Census), however revisions were made to the population benchmarks from July 2011, including those used for the 2011 EEBTUM Survey, to reflect revisions to ERP. For more details on population benchmarks, see the Explanatory Notes in Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0), and for details about the revisions made, see the article in the September 2011 issue of Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0). 23 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). 24 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 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. 25 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'. 26 In 2007, there was a change to the data item 'Whether considered job to be casual'. From 2007, all employees (excluding OMIEs) were asked if they were employed as a casual. In 2006 and previous years, owner managers of incorporated enterprises and employees who received both paid sick and paid holiday leave were not asked if they were employed as a casual. As a result of this change, there was a break in series. Users need to exercise care when comparing the number of people who considered their job to be casual with data prior to August 2007. Salary sacrifice 27 The estimates of earnings in this publication are produced in accordance with the conceptual framework for measures of employee remuneration, as outlined in Information paper: Changes to ABS Measure of Employee Remuneration, Australia 2006 (cat. no. 6313.0). 28 From 2007, as a result of the change in concept of earnings being measured, employees were asked to include salary sacrifice when estimating their earnings. In previous years, there was no explicit reference to the treatment of salary sacrifice. It is probable that some employees were already including amounts of salary sacrifice in their estimates of earnings, depending upon how their pay was reported. This change has resulted in a break in series. Users need to exercise care when comparing the earnings of employees in this publication with those prior to 2007. Imputation 29 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 are matched where possible on a finer level of detail, and second job earnings are now imputed whereas in 2004 they were not. 30 From 2009, additional information relating to the number of hours that a respondent's last pay period covered in their main job was used in the imputation process. 31 These changes in methodology are expected to have improved the imputed earnings data at the unit record level, but should have little impact on aggregate estimates. 32 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 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 see paragraph 28 of the Explanatory Notes in Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, August 2004 (cat. no. 6310.0). COMPARABILITY WITH MONTHLY LFS STATISTICS 33 Due to differences in the scope and sample size of this supplementary survey and that of the monthly 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 34 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 concepts, scope and methodology of the two surveys. 35 Estimates of average weekly earnings from the quarterly publication Average Weekly Earnings, Australia (cat. no. 6302.0) excluded amounts salary sacrificed until May 2011 when Average Weekly Earnings included Average Weekly Cash Earnings as datacubes. From 2007, amounts salary sacrificed are included in the estimates of mean and median weekly earnings for the EEBTUM survey. 36 The quarterly Survey of Average Weekly Earnings excludes employees in the industries of Agriculture, forestry and fishing and Private households employing staff, 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 and estimated earnings of individuals are reported. 37 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 38 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. 39 Prior to 1999, 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 40 Results of previous surveys on employment benefits have been published in:
PREVIOUS SURVEYS OF TRADE UNION MEMBERS 41 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:
42 Limited data on trade union membership have also been published in:
NEXT SURVEY 43 The ABS plans to conduct this survey again in August 2012. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 44 ABS publications draw extensively on information provided freely 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 45 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. RELATED PUBLICATIONS 46 Other publications which may be of interest include:
47 Current publications and other products released by the ABS are available from the Statistics Page on the ABS website. The ABS also issues a daily Release Advice on the website which details products to be released in the week ahead. Document Selection These documents will be presented in a new window.
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