Statistics on earnings and labour costs

SUMMARY OF:

Regulation (EC) No 530/1999 – comparable EU figures for earnings and labour costs

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE REGULATION?

• It aims to help the EU to formulate its policies, on the basis of reliable and comparable statistics from across the EU, in all regions and for all social and economic fields.
• To this end, Regulation (EC) No 530/199 sets out what type of data statistical authorities across the EU should collect, and how they should do it.

KEY POINTS

• National authorities in EU countries and Eurostat cooperate to produce EU statistics, to compare labour costs and earnings.
• Every 4 years, Eurostat publishes data and analyses for each of these fields, with the subject alternating every 2 years, e.g.:
  • in 2014 - earnings
  • in 2016 - labour costs
  • in 2018 - earnings, etc.
• These are used to develop EU policies for businesses and employees and to analyse the EU’s growth and its economic and social cohesion.

Types of information collected

Labour costs

• Regarding the level and composition of labour costs, the information must enable statistics to be produced on:
  • the business or production unit for which employees work, especially the region where it is based, its size and sector of activity;
  • total annual labour costs (wages and salaries, social contributions, vocational training costs, etc.);
  • the average annual number of employees, including part-timers and apprentices;
  • the annual number of hours worked and paid.

Earnings

• Regarding the structure and distribution of earnings, the information to be collected must include data on:
  • the business or the local unit for which employees work, especially items such as the form of economic and financial control and the type of collective agreement applied in the business, etc.;
  • employees (sex, age, occupation, level of education and training, length of service, full-time or part-time, type of employment contract);
  • gross earnings and number of hours paid.

Data collection and processing of results

• The relevant national authorities define the appropriate methods for collecting the information and ensure that employers comply with the obligation to supply the information within the fixed deadlines. However, surveys conducted in businesses are optional if precise estimates can be produced from other appropriate sources.
• The national authorities must process the replies in a consistent manner, so that the results are comparable.
• The results are forwarded to Eurostat within 18 months of the end of the reference year.
• Details on how the data must be collected and the format in which they should be transmitted to Eurostat are laid down in 2 implementing acts (Regulation (EC) Nos 1726/1999 and 1916/2000).

Quality

• National authorities must ensure that their results provide an accurate representations of the situation in their country.
• After each reference period, they forward a report to Eurostat about how the regulation is being implemented in their country so Eurostat can evaluate the quality of the data.
• The content and evaluation criteria for the report are set out in Regulation (EC) No 698/2006.

FROM WHEN DOES THE REGULATION APPLY?

It has applied since 1 April 1999.

BACKGROUND

For more information, see:

• ‘Wages and labour costs’ on Eurostat's website

MAIN DOCUMENT

Council Regulation (EC) No 530/1999 of 9 March 1999 concerning structural statistics on earnings and on labour costs (OJ L 63, 12.3.1999, pp. 6–10)

Successive amendments to Regulation (EC) No 530/1999 have been incorporated in the original text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.

RELATED ACTS

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1726/1999 of 27 July 1999 Implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 530/1999 concerning structural statistics on earnings and on labour costs as regards the definition and transmission of information on labour costs (OJ L 203, 3.8.1999, pp. 28–40)

See consolidated version.

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1916/2000 of 8 September 2000 on implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 530/1999 concerning structural statistics on earnings and on labour costs as regards the definition and transmission of information on structure of earnings (OJ L 229, 9.9.2000, pp. 3–13)

See consolidated version.

Commission Regulation (EC) No 698/2006 of 5 May 2006 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 530/1999 as regards quality evaluation of structural statistics on labour costs and earnings (OJ L 121, 6.5.2006, pp. 30–35)

See consolidated version.

last update 27.07.2016