6359.0 - Forms of Employment, Australia, Nov 2008 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 12/06/2009   
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Key changes made to Forms of Employment Survey (FOES) include:

REVISION OF POPULATION BENCHMARKS

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 revised population benchmarks.


CHANGES IN THE SCOPE OF THE SURVEY

From November 2008 the FOES was conducted in both urban and rural areas in all states and territories, but excluded people living in Indigenous communities in very remote parts of Australia.


REVISION OF DATA ITEMS

The data items 'Status in employment' and 'Employment type in main job' presented in the 2007 Forms of Employment publication are no longer presented in the 2008 publication, however are available on request, and have been replaced with 'Form of employment in main job'.

Form of employment

The following provides an outline of how people are classified in the new 'Form of employment in main job' data item.

People are classified as employees, owner managers of incorporated enterprises (OMIEs) and owner managers of unincorporated enterprises (OMUEs) based on their responses to questions in the monthly Labour Force survey (LFS).

Employees from the LFS are people who:

  • work for a public or private employer; and
  • receive remuneration in wages, salary, or are paid a retainer fee by their employer and worker on a commission basis, or for tips or piece-rates or payment in kind; or
  • operated their own incorporated enterprise with or without hiring employees.

Owner managers of incorporated enterprises from the LFS are people who:
  • work in their won incorporated enterprise, that is, a business entity in which is registered as a separate legal entity to its members or owners (also known as a limited liability company).

Owner managers of unincorporated enterprises from the LFS are people who:
  • operate their own unincorporated enterprise, that is, a business entity in which the owner and the business are legally inseparable, so that the owner is liable for any business debts that are incurred. Includes those engaged independently in a trade or profession.

These people from the LFS are then asked questions in the FOES to identify key characteristics of independent contractors, other business operators. The responses to these questions are then used to determine how people are classified as employees, independent contractors and other business operators in the 'Form of employment' data item.

These questions are:
  • "Do you work as an independent contractor in your job?"
  • "Do you receive a pay slip/advice?"
  • "Do you/Does your business invoice or bill clients/employers?"
  • "Excluding wages and salary, are you able to make drawings from your employer/business?"

The following decision table shows how people are classified in the 'Form of employment' data item.



In 2007, only owner managers of incorporated enterprises and owner managers of unincorporated enterprises were asked if they worked on a contract basis
only employees (excluding OMIEs) were asked if they worked on a fixed-term contract basis.


In 2006, all employed people were asked if they worked on a contract basis. In previous purveys, people who received both paid sick and paid holiday leave were not asked if they worked on a contract basis.