Metadata


Annual Earnings


0. Registration entry for subjects


0.1 Name

Annual Earnings

0.2 Subject area

Wages, salaries and income

0.3 Responsible authority; office, division, person etc.

Statistics Iceland
Wage statistics
Margrét Kristín Indriðadóttir
Telephone: (+354) 528-1251
Email: margret.indridadottir@hagstofa.is

0.4 Purpose and history

The purpose of Annual earnings is to provide information about employees' earnings, distribution and wage structure. Annual earnings were first published 2005 but in the next few months the series will date back to 1998.

0.5 Users and application

The main users of the data are individuals, private business enterprises, national and international organisations, employee organisations and employers associations, ministries, public institutions and the media. The Annual earnings are for example used for indexation of contracts and in European enquiries.

0.6 Sources

The Annual earnings are based on the data collected through the Statistics Iceland Icelandic survey on wages, earnings and labour costs (ISWEL). The target population contains all local activity units with no fewer than 10 employees and the survey is performed by Statistic Iceland. Every month, each company sends a text file containing detailed information on earning structure and cost items, together with background data on the individuals and companies. Contracts have been finalised with Iceland's leading software firms on writing computer programs that fit their own wage software and allow companies to submit standardised and detailed information electronically to Statistics Iceland on wages, labour cost, working hours and necessary background factors.
The population frame is based on the monthly PAYE (Pay As You Earn) data.

0.7 Legal basis for official statistics

Statistics collected, generated and disseminated by Statistics Iceland are governed by act on Statistics Iceland No 24/1913

0.8 Response burden

When collecting data from the companies, there is some burden for the companies in the inclusion process but it is remote after that. In the inclusion process the companies are visited, technical aspects concerning the software for wage calculations are addressed, along with details on entering records, such as classification of occupations according to the ISCO88 standard. The company's wage structure is examined, assigning payroll items to the wage items of the survey to ensure coordination with other companies. During the visit efforts are made to gather information on the company and any potential uniqueness, such as its wage structure or arrangement of working hours. Companies that cannot be visited, e.g. due to geographical location, receive similar services by phone. Once these matters are resolved, a trial text file is obtained. This file is studied and any comments or further questions that arise are sent to the company. Once the file fulfils conditions on quality, the inclusion process is considered complete, and regular submission of data commences.

0.9 EEA and EU obligations

No EU or EEA rules apply.

1. Contents


1.1 Description of content

The purpose of Annual earnings is to provide information about employees' earnings, distribution and wage structure by occupations and economic activities. Annual earnings are based on employees who are all-year within the same economic unit and working full-time at least 10 months of the year. Annual earnings are 12 months equivalents.
Following tables are published:
· Annual earnings by economic activity and sex
· Annual earnings by occupational group and sex
· Annual earnings by age and sex
· Annual earnings by occupation

1.2 Statistical concepts

Annual earnings are based on employees' earnings by a given occupation and economic activity.
Population
The population is defined as all employees 18 years or older working in companies with minimum 10 employees. The population frame is based on the monthly PAYE (Pay As You Earn) data. The statistics cover employees 18 years or older who get paid in October and their weekly working time per month must exceed 10 hours.


Variables

Earnings: Basic wages and salaries, additional allowances, expenses payments, bonus payments, shift premium, sickness pay, overtime pay, piecework payments and output work, lump sums and special payments, committee or management payments and other payments.

Hours paid: Normal hours, hours with shift premium and overtime hours.

Background factors: Local activity, employee, occupation, economic activity, sex and age.

The weights are based on the monthly PAYE (Pay As You Earn) data register.
The mean is the weighted average, taking into account sample weights.

The median divides a distribution of an ordered group by wages or working hours into half, and in a similar way the quartiles divide it into four equal parts.

Quartiles: One quarter of the group has lower wages or working hours than lower quartiles (L.quartiles) and one quarter of the group has higher wages or working hour than upper quartiles (U.quartiles).


Definition:

Annual earnings are based on employees who are all-year within the same economic unit and working full-time at least 10 months of the year. Annual earnings are 12 months equivalents.

Overtime pay is overtime remuneration payments in Annual earnings.

Irregular pay is payments not paid in each pay period in Annual earnings

Hours paid are all working hours for full-time employees, whether being daytime, shiftwork or overtime hours. Full-time employees are defined as employees whose total working hours equal or exceed minimum working hours, e.g. 173.3 for workers.


Groupings:

Occupation: The employees are classified according to Ístarf 95 (i.e. the Icelandic version of ISCO-88).
Occupational groups are one-digit Ístarf 95 classification of occupations.
Economic activities are based on Isat 95 (i.e. the Icelandic version of NACE rev.1).

2. Time


2.1 Reference periods

Annual earnings are compiled annually.

2.2 Process time

Annual earnings are published on the web page of Statistics Iceland at the latest in June every year.

2.3 Punctuality

The release plan for the data is published punctually every year on the web page of Statistics Iceland, http://www.statice.is/ .

2.4 Frequency of releases

Annually

3. Reliability and security


3.1 Accuracy and reliability

The Icelandic survey on wages, earnings and labour costs is a sample survey. The sample is a stratified cluster sample, where the sample unit is the local activity unit and the observation unit is the employee. The target population contains all local activity units with no fewer than 10 employees. The population frame is based on monthly PAYE (Pay As You Earn) data. PAYE data reflects the sum of wages reported to the tax authorities.
The population is stratified in sections and subsections according to NACE Rev. 1. Activity units with more than A/m employees are selected with a probability of 1 (where A is the number of employees in the stratum and m is the number of activity units to be selected from the stratum). For the rest of the population, a simple random sample (srs) is selected from each stratum.
During visits to participating companies, technical aspects concerning the software for wage calculations are addressed, along with details on entering records, such as classification of occupations according to ÍSTARF95 standard. The company's wage structure is examined, assigning payroll items to the wage items of the survey to ensure coordination with other companies. Population frame is updated yearly and new companies are simultaneously included into the survey as other quit participation and efforts are continuously made to improve the data quality through feedback to the enterprises and through updating and improvement of the quality checking system.
The sample structure is dynamic by year and weights will be estimated Annually. The weights are based on the monthly PAYE (Pay As You Earn) data register.
Work is continuously being carried out to enhance the quality of the data reports

3.2 Sources of errors

In the calculation of an index various errors can arise for example sampling errors (coverage errors, non-response errors) which may occur if the sampled companies do not reflect the population accurately. The population frame is based on monthly PAYE (Pay As You Earn) data. Errors can arise if enterprises are incorrectly registered according to the industry classification, in cases of companies operating in more than one industry but only registered in one of the industries, if newly established companies are not a part of the population frame etc. In order to minimize errors due to imperfect population frame, effort is made to improve the data on regular basis.

3.3 Measures on confidence limits/accuracy

The statistical uncertainty is not calculated

4. Comparison


4.1 Comparison between periods

The Annual earnings have been published for 2004-2005 but in the next few months the series will date back to 1998. The series 1998-2005 will be comparable but one must take into account that the sample structure has changed because of the extending survey coverage witch is still taking places.

4.2 Comparison with other statistics

Average earnings are computed by Statistics Iceland as Annual earnings and Monthly earnings. Those products are not for comparison but in stead the Annual earnings are supplement to Monthly earnings which are based on wages in October every year.

4.3 Coherence between preliminary and final statistics

Preliminary statistics are not published.

5. Access to information


5.1 Forms of dissemination

News, released on Statistics Iceland's website
Statistics, categorised statistical web tables
Statistical Series, Hagtíðindi
Statistical Yearbook of Iceland, Landshagir
Electronic subscription to news releases

5.2 Basic data; storage and usability

The data collected in the survey of wages, earnings and labour costs:
1. Company ID No. (scrambled)
2. Municipality
3. Economic sector
4. Employee's ID No. (scrambled)
5. Month and year of birth
6. Sex
7. Union
8. Pension fund
9. Education code (ISCED)
10. Occupation code (4 digit ISCO88)
11. Length of service (date of employment)
12. Proportion to full-time employment
13. Pay period
14. Contractual working hours
15. Annual leave entitlement percentage
16. Annual leave arrangement
17. Agreement
18. Wage group
19. Wage level
20. Basic wages and salaries
21. Normal hours
22. Additional allowances
23. Expenses payments
24. Bonus payments
25. Piecework payments and output work
26. Shift premium
27. Hours with shift premium
28. Overtime pay
29. Overtime hours
30. Sickness pay
31. Sickness hours
32. Lump sums and special payments
33. Committee or management payments
34. Allowances for transport
35. Fringe benefits
36. Other payments
37. Remuneration paid for leave
38. Pension fund contribution
39. Social security tax
40. Sickness fund payment
41. Vacation (union) housing fund fee
42. Science fund / continued education
43. Other labour costs
44. First day of payment period
45. Final day of payment period

Some data are not obtainable with all local activities like sickness payment when their payroll system does not include that information. The collected data are confidential and only few employees of Statistics Iceland have access to the data.

5.3 Reports

Changes and development of the Annual earnings are reported alongside the publishing of new data.

5.4 Other information

Further information about Annual earnings is provided by
Margrét Kristín Indriðadóttir
telephone: (+354) 528 1251
© Hagstofa �slands, �ann 4-10-2013