Glossary:Labour cost survey (LCS)
From Statistics Explained
The Labour cost survey, abbreviated as LCS, conducted every four years in the Member States of the European Union (EU), measures the level and structure of labour costs, or total expenditure borne by employers for the purpose of employing staff. The statistics cover businesses with at least 10 employees and all economic activities defined in sections C to K, and M to O, of the Statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community (NACE Rev. 1.1). The current survey uses 2004 as a reference year. The next labour cost survey will cover 2008 as a reference year. Data become available approximately two years after the end of the reference period.
In the Labour cost survey, detailed information is collected to calculate the various components of labour costs. Besides wage components (e.g. direct remuneration, bonuses and allowances, payments to employees’ saving schemes, payments for days not worked, as well as wages and salaries in kind), these include social security contributions paid by the employer (statutory, under collective agreements, contractual or voluntary), together with employers’ ‘imputed’ social contributions (e.g. guaranteed remuneration in the event of sickness or payments to employees leaving the business). Costs of vocational training and taxes and subsidies relating to the employment of staff are also recorded.
At the same time, the survey also asks about the number of full-time jobs and the number of hours worked and paid.
Further information
- Regulation 530/1999 of 9 March 1999 concerning structural statistics on earnings and on labour costs (legal text)
- Regulation 1737/2005 of 21 October 2005 amending Regulation 1726/1999 as regards the definition and transmission of information on labour costs (legal text)
- Regulation 698/2006 of 5 May 2006 implementing Regulation 530/1999 as regards quality evaluation of structural statistics on labour costs and earnings (legal text)
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