Statistics Lithuania

Labour Statistics Division

29 Gedimino Ave.

LT–01500 Vilnius, Lithuania

The statistical Structure of Earnings Survey (SES) provides detailed and comparable information on relationships between the level of gross earnings, personal characteristics of employees (sex, age, occupation, length of service, highest educational level attained, etc.) and their employer (economic activity, size of the enterprise). The results are relevant for making economic, job and social security-related decisions.

The SES has been carried out since 2002 every four years at the individual level (by employees) and is based on the relevant regulating legal acts of the European Union. The data were collected from local units as well as from enterprises, institutions and organizations if they do not have local units with one and more employees using the questionnaire DUS-01. Administrative data, namely data on “the number of employees in the enterprise” were used from the State Social Insurance Fund Board (SODRA).

The survey period is the year 2018, October was chosen as a representative month of the reference year.

SES data are provided at the NUTS 1 level.

National version (EVRK Rev. 2) of the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community (NACE Rev. 2).

Lithuanian Classification of Occupations (LPK 2008), developed on the basis of the International Standard Classification of Occupations ISCO-08;

Lithuanian Educational Level Classification (IK 2), developed on the basis of the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED 2011).

The SES covers:

all economic activities defined in NACE Rev. 2 sections B to S. NACE Section O (Public administration and defence; compulsory social security) is optional; however, it is also covered.

six size classes of local units (enterprises): under 10 employees, 10 to 49 employees, 50 to 249 employees, 250 to 499 employees, 500 to 999 employees, 1000 and more employees.

Gross earnings refers to remuneration in cash covering the basic wage and bonuses, payable by the employer to the employee directly, including social insurance contributions and income tax payable by the employee. Gross remuneration does not include material allowances, allowances for sick leave paid irrespective of sources of finance, cash compensations for unused annual vacation, severance pay, etc.

Average gross hourly earnings are gross earnings per hour paid for (before taxes).

Average number of employees in full-time units is the sum of two indicators: number of full-time employees and that of part-time employees converted into full-time units.

Hours paid for are hours actually worked (normal and overtime), including hours not worked but paid for (such as annual leave, paid idle-time, etc.) in accordance with the procedure laid down by law or in a collective agreement.

Statistical unit compiles a local unit of an enterprise of any type and form of ownership or an enterprise if it has no local units and an employee.

The statistical population consists of enterprises, institutions and organisations of all types and forms of ownership engaged in economic activities from B to S (according to NACE Rev. 2) and having one and more employees.

The data cover whole country.

2018

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The source of statistical information is the Structure of Earnings Survey questionnaire DUS-01 and the administrative data – the data of the State Social Insurance Fund Board under the Ministry of Social Security and Labour (Sodra).

Four-yearly.

The survey is conducted applying a sampling method. The list of local units / enterprises from which a sample is selected is based on the list of economic entities in operation from the Statistical Register of Economic Entities. The overall sample fraction of local units / enterprises in the observed activities (sections B–S) was 5.1 per cent (4 536 of the total 89 139 in the population). Sampled local units / enterprises covered 3.4 per cent (43 174 employees of the total 1 268 327 in the population) of the total number of employees.

 Sample design

A two-stage cluster sample is used. The first stage sampling units are local units / enterprises. The surveyed population of local units / enterprises was stratified by economic activity (B–S NACE Rev. 2,) at a 2-digit level and by the number of employees. The enterprise size bands were grouped as follows: 1–9, 10–49, 50–99, 100–249, 250–499, 500–999 and 1000 and more employees. The second stage sampling units are employees of the selected local units / enterprises. A simple random sample of employees is selected by the local units / enterprises.

See also the attached document Sample design, including the number of employees to be selected depended on the size band of the local unit and the sample size of local units / enterprises and employees.

Validation procedures:  population coverage is checked; the results are compared with those of previous periods, other surveys and administrative data sources.

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The quality of statistical information and its production process is ensured by the provisions of the European Statistics Code of Practice. In 2007, a quality management system, conforming with the requirements of the international quality management system standard ISO 9001, was introduced at Statistics Lithuania.

The quality of the information obtained is analysed. Additional statistical quality checks are performed at the macrodata level.  Statistical indicators are compared with the previous period and other relevant indicators obtained from statistical surveys or administrative sources.

Indicators of the structure of earnings are relevant for the assessment of the level of economic development of the country, preparation of the forecasts for the economic growth, evaluation of the State and Government authorities (the Ministry of Social Security and Labour, equal possibilities for men and women). Indicators by occupational group and level of education are used to make decisions related to the labour market as well as social security.

The main users are: State and Government authorities – the Ministry of Economy, other ministries, the Presidency, the Seimas (Parliament), the Bank of Lithuania, etc.; in addition to Eurostat (the main user of SES data), other users include the media, representatives of business and science, students, European institutions such as the OECD, ILO, etc. The users are mainly interested in breakdowns of earnings by several variables. The most popular variables are occupation, educational level, economic activity and county.

As it has been mentioned above, the main users are State and Government authorities, the media, representatives of business and science, students. It could be mentioned that users who have received information on request asked for a more detailed breakdown of earnings (in particular by counties, occupation at a detailed level). Most users, however, seek for information in the database and it is not clear whether SES data meet the demands of users. It is generally perceived that the statistics meet most user needs.

All statistical indicators and their components established by legislation are published.

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See below.

Sampling errors

The coefficient of variation is calculated for every estimate as an indication of accuracy.

Coefficients of variation (CV) concerning gross earnings in the reference month are broken down by:

• full-time (separately for men and women) and part-time employees;
• NACE section;
• occupation (ISCO-08 at the 1-digit level);
• age band (under 20, 20–29, 30–39, 40–49, 50–59, 60 and over);
• level of education (ISCED 0 to 8);
• size band of the enterprise (1–9, 10–49, 50–250, 500–999, 1000 and more).

The coefficients of variation of the estimate of total gross earnings was 0.8 per cent, average hourly gross earnings in October 2018 – 0.7 per cent.

 See also the attached document Coefficients of variation with detailed tables for the above mentioned breakdowns.

 Statistics Lithuania publishes estimates with a coefficient of variation up to 30. The estimates with the coefficient of variation between 10 and 30 per cent are published in brackets, whereas those over 30 per cent are not presented.

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Under / over coverage errors (due to newly-born or non-active enterprises) were assumed to be negligible since the sampling frame was constructed at the end of the reference period and all possible administrative sources were used in order to specify the sampling frame. Some misclassification regarding the NACE group and size of an enterprise were identified and corrected.

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The SES questionnaires were collected from respondents using electronic questionnaires (on-line, .ffdata format). 

The first verification of data was made in the regional statistical offices. Every statistician has a definite number of enterprises from which the questionnaires have to be collected. Then the collected data were entered, checked and corrected. Each questionnaire was validated according to the validation program. The validation program consists of the arithmetical and logical controls.

 The respondents were contacted via phone or e-mail. The second control of the data was accomplished at the Labour Statistics Division in Statistics Lithuania. Enterprises were re-contacted and the required corrections were made in the primary database in cases when errors had been found.

Due to the heavy reporting burden respondents made many errors, although detailed explanatory notes were attached to the SES questionnaire with the aim of minimising errors. The total number of errors made up 19 345. The variables that have been corrected most often are the following:

• number of hours paid in October 2018 – 15.8 per cent compared to all errors;
• duration of working time (share of a full-timer’s normal hours) – 15 per cent compared to all errors;
• annual gross remuneration in 2018 – 12.1 per cent compared to all errors;
• gross remuneration in October 2018– 11.8 per cent compared to all errors.
• occupation of an employee – 10.6 per cent compared to all errors

The total response rate of local units / enterprises is 98 per cent. The weights were adjusted according to the non-response rate in each stratum.

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No models of assumption errors were used in the SES 2018.

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No mistakes were found in the SES 2018 after the information was published.

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See 7.1.1.

The first results were published with a press release on 3 July 2020. This means that there was a period of 18 months between the reference period and first publication. 

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On the 11th of November 2018, all the points to be accomplished regarding the SES 2018 were scheduled in “The Plan of Activities for SES 2018”.

On the 28th of August the statistical questionnaire DUS-01 and the methodical explanations for filling in the questionnaire of the Structure of Earnings Survey were approved by the Order of the Director General of Statistics Lithuania.

A sample for the SES 2018 was drawn in November 2018.

Letters for the sampled enterprises enterprises were sent till 30 December 2018. The letters informed statistical units about the participation in the SES 2018 and invited them to submit the questionnaire until 20 March 2019. Part of respondents asked for more time and it was allowed to deliver the questionnaires later. The rest of enterprises received reminders.

 Data received from electronic questionnaires were transferred to the main database.

Regional statistical offices collected, checked, corrected data according to an approved schedule. The data processing period in regional statistical offices stopped on the 31st of September 2019.

The second control of data was accomplished by the Labour Statistics Division of Statistics Lithuania till the end of December 2019.

The preparation of software for the calculation of estimates and standard errors continued until March 2020.

The calculation of estimates, as well as verification of data at the aggregated level and their analysis, the coherence with data from other sources continued until June 2020.

Data of the SES 2018 were transmitted to Eurostat on 18 June 2020.

The press release was prepared according to the Advance Release Calendar – on 3 July 2020.

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No differences between European and National concepts and definitions.

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The time series of the indicator is not fully comparable. Data of the SES 2006 and 2002 are not directly comparable because the SES in 2002 did not cover individual enterprises. Data, excluding individual enterprises, are totally comparable. Surveys in 2002 and 2006 covered economic activities defined in sections from C to O of EVRK Rev. 1.1. The occupations of employees were classified according to the Lithuanian Classification of Occupations (LCO 2000 and LCO 2005), which is based on the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-88 and ISCO-88 (COM)). In the 2010,2014 and 2018 surveys, statistical data were collected from economic activities from B to S according NACE Rev. 2. Occupations of employees are classified according to the Lithuanian Classification of Occupations LCO 2008, which is based on the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-08).

No specific changes in definitions, coverage and methods occurred in 2018 compared to previous surveys.

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Comparison was made between the variable “gross annual earnings in the reference year” expressed per employee and the variable “wages and salaries” per employee of NA. The results are showed in figure below.

Gross annual earnings (SES) and annual wages and salaries (NA) per employee in 2018

In some NACE sections, “wages and salaries” figures from NA are higher than the SES average.

These differences can be due to different methodologies used, different data sources, rate of black economy in NA, gratuities and daily allowances which are included in NA but not taken into account in SES.

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Statistical information is published on the Official Statistics Portal according to the Official Statistics Calendar. 

This new release is not translated into English.

Statistical information is provided in publications "Labour Market in Lithuania", "Lithuania in Figures", "Statistical Yearbook of Lithuania" till 2020. Publications are accessible  free of charge on the website of Statistics Lithuania.

The information on the SES results, i.e. the number of employees, gross earnings by various breakdowns is accessible for everybody free of charge in the Database of Indicators on the Official Statistics Portal Lithuania at https://osp.stat.gov.lt/pradinis

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The SES metadata is available on the Official Statistics Portal Lithuania osp.stat.gov./metadata

The SES methodology (in Lithuanian) is also available on the Official Statistics Portal Lithuania at osp.stat.gov.lt

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In 2018, a respondent spent, on average, 4 hours and 10 minutes on the preparation of statistical data and filling in the questionnaire.

The sample rotation is performed in order to reduce the burden for small enterprises, i.e. part of the enterprises (about 25 per cent) is randomly dropped from the sample, and new enterprises are randomly sampled to replace them.

In the process of statistical data collection, processing and analysis and dissemination of statistical information, Statistics Lithuania fully guarantees the confidentiality of the data submitted by respondents (households, enterprises, institutions, organisations and other statistical units), as defined in the Confidentiality Policy Guidelines of Statistics Lithuania

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Conclusion

The requirements of EC regulations have been fully met and SES 2018 micro data were transmitted to Eurostat on schedule.