Federal Statistical Office FSO

(Federal Department of Home Affairs FDHA)

Wages and working conditions

Espace de l'Europe 10 CH - 2010 Neuchâtel

The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) started publishing estimates of labour costs in 2006 (reference years 2000, 2002 and 2004) and subsequently every two years until 2012 (reference years 2006, 2008 and 2010). These estimates are largely based on data collected for the Swiss Earnings Structure Survey (SESS), which is carried out every two years. Estimates of labour costs for the years 2000 to 2010 are available on the website of the Federal Statistical Office (https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/work-income/wages-income-employment-  labour-costs/labour-costs.html).

In accordance with the bilateral agreement on cooperation between the Swiss Confederation and the EU in the field of statistics which came into force on 1 January 2007, the LCS 2012 and subsequent was conducted in compliance with the definitions fixed in the European regulations (Council Regulation (EC) No 530/1999 of 9 March 1999 and the Commission Regulation (EC) No 1737/2005 of 21 October 2005). The adoption of the new definitions was made possible thanks to the revision of the Swiss Earnings Structure Survey (SESS), which remains the main source for data in the structural statistics on labour costs (LCS). The main changes made to the SESS which are relevant to the LCS concern the monetary variables (more detailed breakdown of wage components) and the population concerned (inclusion of apprentices).

Both the Swiss Earnings Structure Survey (SESS) and the structural statistics on labour costs (LCS) take place every two years.

Classifications used: NACE Rev2

Private and public sectors, sections B to S of the NACE Rev.2.

LCS includes enterprises (and public administrations) with three or more employees.

Labour costs correspond to the total expenditure incurred by employers when employing labour. They include wages and salaries (D.11), social contributions paid by the employer (D.12), as well as vocational training costs (D.2) and other expenditure paid by the employer (D.3). Taxes (D.4) and subsidies received by the employer (D.5) are not pertinent for Switzerland. The definitions in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1737/2005 are taken into account.

The statistical unit is the enterprise.

LCS applies to all activities of sections B to S of NACE Rev.2 and includes enterprises (and public administrations) of the private and public sectors with three or more employees. The survey is based on a sample extracted from the Swiss Business and Enterprise Register.

Switzerland.

The LCS is released every second year. The transmission to Eurostat should take place every fourth year within 18 months of the reference year (2012, 2016, 2020).

Not applicable

The main source of the LCS is the data collected within the framework of the SESS (https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/work-income/wages-income-employment- labour-costs/wage-levels-switzerland.html). SESS data make it possible to calculate the variables

A.1 "Total number of employees", C.1 "Total hours paid" and D.1 "Compensation of employees"), other FSO statistics are used in the calculations (see also chapter 2.2.4). Other sources of the LCS are:

-the Work volume statistic WV (https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/work-income/surveys/wv.html), created from data from the Swiss Labour Force Survey (SLFS),

-the pension fund statistics https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/social-security/occupational-pension-plans.html

-the value added statistics https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/industry-services/value-added-statistics.html ,

-the Survey on continuing vocational training SBW https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/fr/home/statistiques/education-science/enquetes/sbw.html and a specific study on the cost of apprentices based on a representative survey conducted in enterprises (« Die duale Lehre: eine Erfolgsgeschichte – auch für die Betriebe. Ergebnisse der dritten Kosten- Nutzen-Erhebung der Lehrlingsausbildung aus der Sicht der Betriebe », Miriam Strupler et Stefan

C. Wolter, 2012)

Sampling method for the Swiss Earnings Structure Survey (SESS)

The SESS is based on a random sample at two levels: the first level concerns the stratified enterprises, while the second level concerns employees in the enterprises.

• Private sector

The SESS 2020 is based on a sample stratified into two levels. The first level concerns the enterprises, which are grouped according to three criteria: enterprise size (3 classes), economic branch (39 aggregations of NACE Rev. 2 divisions) and geographical entity (7 major regions, 8 cantons and 1 city). The stratification in the private sector comprises some 1600 cells (strata). For each strata, a sample of enterprises is chosen at random. This sample is drawn from the Business and Enterprise Register (BER). It should be noted that large businesses (50 employees or more) and enterprises working in very specialised sectors are always included in the survey for reasons of representativeness. The sample of the SESS 2020 included about 45 000 enterprises. The second level concerns the employees of the selected enterprises: the number of wage data that has to be provided depends on the size of the enterprise (enterprises with 1-19 employees: wage data must be supplied for all employees; 20-49 employees: data for one in two employees; 50 employees or more: one in three). The selection of employees must be carried out randomly by responding units (it should be noted that many enterprises and administrations, and particularly the larger ones, do not make a selection and provide data on all their employees).

• Public sector

In the public sector of the Confederation and the cantons, the survey is comprehensive at the level of the enterprises and administrations surveyed. In the public sector at commune level, the survey is also based on a random sample at two levels: the commune and the employees. Communes are stratified according to size (4 sizes) and geographical unit (7 major regions). In total, the stratification of the SESS at commune level is comprised of 27 cells (strata). For each stratum, a random sample of communes is drawn. The gross commune sample is made up of roughly 300 communes although the survey is comprehensive for communes with more than 800 employees.

The data is collected every second year

After receiving the questionnaire of the SESS, enterprises and public administrations have submitted their data to the NSO by using one of the following means:

• paper questionnaire,
• electronic questionnaire (XML or Excel),
• electronic questionnaire on internet (eSurvey) or
• data sent automatically by means of a certified payroll accounting software (standard salaire CH swissdec - ELM).

A range of plausibility checks were used to identify errors. Respondents were re-contacted if necessary to clarify and correct the figures provided.

Not applicable

Not applicable

The concepts and classifications of the LCS are defined in the European regulations (Council Regulation (EC) No 530/1999 of 9 March 1999 and the Commission Regulation (EC) No 1737/2005 of 21 October 2005).

The quality report is delivered to Eurostat

The main users of the LCS are government bodies, trade unions, employers’ associations, international organisations (Eurostat, International Labour Organization ILO), courts, researchers, students, mass media and the public.

No specific survey on user satisfaction has been carried out

All requested labour cost variables and breakdowns according to the LCS regulation 1735/2005 are provided.

-

-

-

-

Over-coverage: no over-coverage detected

Under-coverage:

Economic activity: no under-coverage

Size of enterprises: only enterprises with three or more employees were taken into consideration for the sampling. The number of employees working in enterprises belonging to the size 1 to 9 (E1_9), indicated in the LACOST_B_A4 table, has therefore been slightly underestimated (as well as, of course, the volume of hours worked and paid and the total labour costs). In comparison with the number of employees in the total economy (sections B to S of the NACE REV. 2), the under-coverage is estimated to be approximately 8%. (estimation source: Swiss Business and Enterprise Register). The enterprises surveyed who stated that they employed fewer than three employees during the month of October 2020 (reference period for the SESS) were, however, not excluded from the survey.

-

-

Definitions: in order to limit measuring errors, the SESS questionnaire has adopted the terms and definitions normally used in payroll accounting and/or in the wage certificate intended for tax administrations.

-

The gross unit response rate for the SESS 2020 was 74%. Some 35 000 private (and public) enterprises as well as public administrations took part in the survey: data on approximately 2.1 million employees were collected and processed.

Non-response is mainly due to business closures and mergers. Furthermore, some enterprises responded too late and/or the quality of data was too poor to be exploited.

-

-

-

Variables A, B, C and D

The values of the variables A. (number of employees), B. (hours actually worked), C. (hours paid) and D. (labour costs) were extrapolated from data provided by enterprises as part of the SESS. The reference period for this statistic is not the whole year but the month of October, considered to be representative. The result of this is that:

-  the total number of employees and apprentices (A.11, A.12 and A.13) corresponds to the number of employees and apprentices with an employment contract in the month of October 2020 and who were paid for services rendered during that month,

-  the number of hours paid and worked (B.11, B.12, B.13, C.11, C.12 and C.13) was calculated by annualising the hours paid and worked during the month of October 2020,

-  the compensation of employees (D.1) was also extrapolated from SESS data. One part of the monetary data collected refers to the month of October (D.11111, D.121), the other (D.11112, D.1114 and D.1223) to the period during which the employee was employed by the enterprise during the reference year (information which is also collected as part of the survey). In both cases, the values were annualised in order to guarantee coherence with the variables B and C.

The consequence of proceeding in this way is that the values calculated for these variables are probably slightly over-estimated. The reasons for deciding to accept this deviation from the definitions set out in the regulation are as follows:

-  the main indicator in the LCS is the hourly labour cost. Employment, volume of work and total employees' wages are covered by other statistics;

-

-

-

-

The results of the LCS 2020 were disseminated at national level on 28 March 2023, 29 months after the end of the reference period

-

-

-

National concepts have been defined as closely as possible in line with European concepts

-

The LCS 2020 is the fifth survey (after 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018) that has been conducted in compliance with the definitions fixed in the European regulations (Council Regulation (EC) No 530/1999 of 9 March 1999 and the Commission Regulation (EC) No 1737/2005 of 21 October 2005).

-

Comparison in the number of employees (A.11 + A.12) and apprentices (A.13) with the numbers regarding employment from the SLFS (Swiss Labour Force Survey, https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/work-income/surveys/slfs.html), reference year 2020

Comparison of the number of hours actually worked (in thousands) by employees (B.11 + B.12) and apprentices (B.13) with the SLFS results, reference year 2020

-

Comparison of total labour costs (D.1, D.11 and D.12) with the figures resulting from the National accounts (NA), in millions of francs, reference year 2020

As for the LCS – SLFS comparison, there is no in-depth analysis aiming to explain these differences. The main causes are probably the following: 

• the different data sources: the NA is a composite economic statistic (the variable D1 is based on data from the OASI social insurance and other administrative sources), the LCS is created from a survey carried out among enterprises,
• the LCS does not take into account enterprises with fewer than 3 employees,
• the LCS extrapolates the job level and the volume of work for the reference year from data pertaining to the month of October (see also chapter 2.2.4) and
• the NA figures also include the primary sector (divisions 1 to 3 of the 2nd NACE revision).

-

An update of the tables on LCS 2020 was published in March 2023

-

Swiss Federal Statistical Office:

https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/work-income/wages-income-employment-labour-costs/labour-costs.html

-

Researchers or institutions can access SESS microdata on demand (lohn@bfs.admin.ch)

-

-

-

-

-

-

The policy on confidentiality is described in the Federal Statistics Act (FStatA, source: https://www.admin.ch/opc/en/classified-compilation/19920252/index.html). In summary, no one (natural person or legal entity) must be identifiable.

The application of the FStatA is guaranteed by the fact that no publication for an aggregated number of fewer than 60 employees or 5 enterprises is possible.

-