Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
Wages, Labour Cost, Job Vacancies and Education Statistics
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
Institutul National de Statistica (INS) 16, Libertatii Avenue, district 5 Bucharest RO-050706
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
17 March 2025
2.2. Metadata last posted
17 March 2025
2.3. Metadata last update
17 March 2025
3.1. Data description
Gross wages and salaries.
Labour input indicators are collected through the monthly survey on short term statistics (UNICA) for Sections B to N (IND-TS, CON-TS, SERV-TS) and through the monthly survey on earnings (S1) for Sections A, O to S.
Until the end of 2004, the same survey was used (monthly survey on earnings). Starting from January 2005, for Sections B to N, the questionnaire used for monthly survey on earnings was enclosed (together with others on turnover, industrial production etc.) in a common survey on short term statistics.
3.2. Classification system
NACE Rev. 2.
3.3. Coverage - sector
Activities covered
All the required activities NACE Rev. 2 are covered:
Industry: all activities related to sections B to E;
Construction: all activities related to section F;
Wholesale and retail trade: division 45-47 division;
Services: all activities related to sections H to J, L, respectively M to N.
Size classes covered
All size classes are covered, excepting units with less than 4 employees from economical sector.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
List and definition of variables
The “Wages and salaries” that is monthly provided to Eurostat is collected in accordance with the Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics, repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics (EBS-Regulation) and Commission Implementing Regulation 2020/1197 laying down technical specifications and arrangements pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistic (General Implementing Act).
The data is collected only for the “number of employees”. The number of persons employed, other than employees does not represent a significant proportion in total “number of persons employed.
In 2024, for STS_IND the overall proportion is about 0.01%.
In 2024, for STS_CONS the overall proportion is about 0.00%.
In 2024, for STS_RTD the overall proportion is about 0.02%.
In 2024, for STS_SERV the overall proportion is about 0.02%.
Concerning the WAGE variable, the national questionnaire contains indicators on:
1. Gross amounts paid from the salary funds for time worked:
basic salaries corresponding to the hours actually worked in full-time and overtime (including indexations, leadership allowances, performance salaries and other rights which, according to the legislation, are included in the basic salary);
bonuses and allowances granted as percentage of the basic salary or as flat rates;
bonuses/awards/benefits granted over the year or annually in different forms (including the 13th salary, holiday bonuses);
exceptional payments/bonuses (occasional) paid to the employees who are leaving the enterprise (including retirement bonuses), only if the respective amounts are not related to a labour contract;
amounts paid to employees for transportation to/from the workplace;
amounts granted for the payment of employees for holiday leaves not taken;
amounts related to the risk incentive granted to the medical staff, in accordance with the legal provisions in force;
other amounts paid in accordance with the legal provisions in force and/or established by the labour contracts/agreements (including those to support utility expenses at the place where they carries out their activity, such as electricity, heating, water and data subscription, and the purchase of office furniture and equipment, within the limits set by the employer through the labour contract or internal regulations, within a monthly ceiling limit, corresponding to the number of days in the month in which the employee is in tele-work);
payment of the manager or, as the case may be, the gross allowances of administrators or performance bonuses granted to them, in accordance with the management, administration, mandate or performance contracts, in accordance with the legal provisions in force;
2. Gross amounts paid from the salary funds for hours not worked:
amounts paid for hours not worked (holiday or study leaves, legal holidays, special family events, etc.) in accordance with the legal provisions in force and/or established by the labour contracts/agreements;
allowances for temporary work incapacity caused by common diseases or non-related to work injuries, professional diseases and work injuries paid from the salary funds (excluding the amounts paid from the Unique National Health Insurance Fund and Work-Related Accidents and Occupational Diseases Insurance Budget), in accordance with the legal provisions in force;
allowances for the employees who were in quarantine/home isolation, in accordance with the legal provisions in force (excluding the amounts paid from the Unique National Health Insurance Fund);
amounts paid for work interruptions non-imputable to employees;
allowances of which the employees benefit for the period when the labour contract is temporary suspended at the employer initiative (technical unemployment), irrespective if are borne by the employer or from state budget, in accordance with the legal provisions in force;
allowances of which the employees benefit for the days off granted to parents in order to supervise their children, in cases of temporary closure of educational institutions, in accordance with the legal provisions in force;
allowances of which the employees benefit as a result of working hours reduction, in accordance with the legal provisions in force.
3. Gross amounts paid from salary fund as payments in kind and cash aids include the equivalent value of the payments in kind and of the cash aids, paid as work remuneration (in accordance with the legal provisions in force and/or established by labour contracts/agreements);
4. Gross amounts paid to the employees (as incentives) from net profit of the unit, including the amount corresponding to the share of the manager or administrator, as the case may be, excluding dividends paid from the net profit;
5. Gross amounts paid from other funds (including the payments in kind, cash aids, food allowance/norm, other allowances) than the salary funds, including incentives granted from a fund established by applying a percentage to the amounts obtained from turning into account seized goods from penalties coming from amounts cashed based on enforced legal acts in accordance to the Fiscal procedure code, those cashed based on judicial restructuring and bankruptcy, other incentive granted besides the salary funds, the amounts paid for activity performed in projects financed from European funds, payments in kind as products, rents, fuel, energy, transport; the values tickets equivalent (meal tickets, gift tickets, nursery tickets, cultural tickets, holiday vouchers/tickets), all amounts granted based on legal provisions force.
The average gross earnings disseminated monthly do not contain severance payments, backdated paid arrears as consequence of wining the lawsuits involving the money rights related to previous years.
The gross amounts paid include: all amounts, including deductions for the payment of rates, seizures, social security contribution, respectively social health insurance contribution paid by employees, tax, as well as refunds for reductions for non-production.
According to the national legislation provisions in force (GEO No. 79/2017, as subsequently amended and supplemented), the social security contribution and the social health insurance contribution paid by the employer were transferred to the employee; thus, starting with January 2018, these contributions are borne entirely by the employee, and reflected in the gross amount of the nominal earnings. Consequently, the indicator "average monthly gross earnings" produced and disseminated starting with the reference month January 2018 is no longer comparable to data series prior to 2018.
For detailed information see STS_Annex - Compulsory social contributions and tax (comparative table)
Planned changes in information collected
None.
Accounting conventions
Data are collected monthly; the reference period is the previous calendar month.
3.5. Statistical unit
Reporting unit:
Close to the local unit.
Observation unit(s):
Close to the local unit.
3.6. Statistical population
The sampling frame used for the sample selection is drawn from the Romanian Business Register (REGIS), which contained all enterprises, authorities and organisations as well as their local units that carried out any economic activity irrespective of their size or if they belong to the private or public sector. The Business Register is updated, yearly, on the balance sheets and contains the latest information on each enterprise in the statistical population such as the identification items (unique identification code, address etc.), economic activity codes (NACE Rev.2), number of employees (giving the enterprise size class).
3.7. Reference area
Geographical area covered
The entire country is covered.
No activities outside the geographical coverage are included.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Date of first use as a source
Since 1992 collecting data on the main activity of the unit. From 2001 data are collected for the homogenous activity. Data are aggregated and sent to Eurostat in accordance with the EBS requirements.
3.9. Base period
Under EBS regulation indices are transmitted to Eurostat (2021 as base period).
Data are transmitted to Eurostat as indices (%). At national level, the data are published as absolute values (national currency - lei).
Calendar month.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Legal basis
All statistics collected and published by INS are governed by:
European level:
Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics, repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics (EBS-Regulation)
Commission Implementing Regulation 2020/1197 laying down technical specifications and arrangements pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistic (General Implementing Act)
National level:
Statistical Law no. 226/2009 regarding the organization of official statistics, published in Romania's Official Journal First part, no. 397/2009, with further amendments National Legal basis.
Obligation on units to provide data
Participation is compulsory.
Planned changes in legal basis, obligation to respond and frame used
None.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Data on gross wages and salaries are sent to OECD and IMF.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
All statistics collected and published by INS are governed by the statistical Law no. 226/2009 regarding the organisation of official statistics, published in Romania's Official Journal First part, no. 397/2009, with further amendments. The Law specifies that: the official statistical services are authorised to ask for and receive free of charge statistical data and information from all natural and legal persons who are located, hold any kind of capital or carry out any type of activity on the Romanian territory.
Also, under the provision of this law, INS cannot publish, or otherwise make available to one individual or organisation, statistics that could enable the identification of data for any individual person or entity.
No government official outside the National Institute of Statistics has access to the data before release to the public.
INS has been repeatedly and publicly recognised by the government as fully intellectually independent: it decides by itself which data to collect, which methodology to use, and which results, methodological notes and commentaries are published.
The most important aspects on the organisation of the official statistics in Romanian are posted on the National Institute of Statistics Internet website (National Legal basis). Copies of the statistical laws are available in Romanian from the library of the National Institute of Statistics, 16, Libertăţii Avenue, Bucharest, District 5.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Treatment of confidential data
A rule of a minimum number of units is applied. Generally, confidential data are aggregated to avoid disclosure.
Also, under the provision of the statistical law, INS cannot publish, or otherwise make available to an individual or organisation, statistics that could enable the identification of data for any individual person or entity.
8.1. Release calendar
There is an advance release calendar of data dissemination which can be found on the website (Advance release calendar).
The results of the monthly survey are disseminated by press release and via INS Internet website (M+40/M+45 days from the end of the reference month) (Press releases), Monthly Statistical Bulletin, Monthly Statistical Bulletin of Industry (Press releases), TEMPO data base (M+43/M+46 days from the end of the reference month) (TEMPO data base), respectively Eurostat (M+40/M+45 days from the end of the reference month).
At national level, the monthly data on wages (The average gross earnings - lei), are available to all users simultaneously at the time of release through the press release (Press releases). At Eurostat level, the data are transmitted as indices (%), and not as absolute values.
Identification of internal government access to data before release
No government official outside the National Institute of Statistics has access to the data before release to the public.
Transmission to Eurostat and further use of the statistics
Data are transmitted to Eurostat as indices by e-DAMIS using SDMX application in XML format.
Eurostat: the data are disseminated with monthly frequency.
National level: the disseminated indicator is “Average gross earnings” (lei), with monthly frequency.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
Identification of ministerial commentary on the occasion of statistical releases
No ministerial commentary is attached to the release of data by the statistical office.
News releases on gross wages and salaries are available each month.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
Name of national paper publications
Data on “Average gross earnings” (lei) by NACE Rev.2 sections and divisions are published in the monthly publications "Buletinul statistic lunar" (Monthly Statistical Bulletin), "Buletinul statistic lunar al judetului" (Monthly County Statistical Bulletin), “Buletinul Statistic al Industriei“ (Monthly Statistical Bulletin of Industry).
Name of national electronic dissemination
Same titles as for paper versions, available on website of INS.
Not required by the European legal provision in force.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
Planned changes in national dissemination methods
Data are transmitted to Eurostat.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
Dissemination of documentation on methodology and sources used in preparing statistics
Brief details of the methodology are included with the published data.
Description of standard tables produced
At national level, the data on “Average gross earnings” (lei) are presented at the Division level (2-digit level) and Section level of NACE Rev.2, in Ron/Employee (aggregated by homogenous activity). The “Monthly Statistical Bulletin” and “Monthly Statistical Bulletin of Industry” publishes time series on wages, expressed in Ron/Employee for the current month and the previous months broken down by economic activities.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
The quality indicators are calculated taking into account Eurostat defined methodology, in accordance with the following quality criteria: relevance, accuracy, timeliness and punctuality, accessibility and clarity, comparability, consistency, and completeness.
11.1. Quality assurance
Summary description of quality criteria calculated for national purposes
Under ESS Code of Practice.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Users’ needs are met taking into account the usefulness and timeliness of data.
The data are presented in various dissemination formats and breakdowns.
The data are transmitted in accordance with the national and Eurostat timetable.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The main international user: Eurostat.
The main national users are grouped as following: governmental bodies: Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labour, Family, Youth and Social Solidarity, National Agency for Employment; National Commission for Strategy and Prognosis; employers and employers’ associations; trade unions; professional associations; research institutes and universities; mass-media; students, doctorates.
Their main needs:The Monthly Survey on Short-Term Statistics outcomes, in relation with the information provided by other surveys, are used by policy makers in establishing the actions and measures for economic development strategies as well as for implementing the programs on active measures for reducing the unemployment and on remuneration and pension system.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
The below publication presents the way in which the statistical data produced and the methodological information of the INS meet the information needs of the various user categories.
All breakdowns and variable forms are provided, according to the EU regulations in force.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Accuracy in the statistical sense denotes the closeness of computations or estimates to the exact or true values. Statistics are not equal with the true values because of variability (the statistics change from implementation to implementation of the survey due to random effects) and bias (the average of the possible values of the statistics from implementation to implementation is not equal to the true value due to systematic effects).
Sampling bias is a possible source of sampling errors. It leads to sampling errors which either have a prevalence to be positive or negative. Such errors can be considered to be systematic errors.
13.2. Sampling error
For detailed information see Annex 2.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Response rate
On average the response rate for:
STS_IND having 2024 as reference year is 98.9% (counting responses and other responding units), of which 9.5% enterprises were imputed from administrative sources (were imputed the enterprises found with data in the administrative sources and had one of the following non-response causes in the survey: refusal, contact not established, outside scope of survey, unidentified, dormant, ceased, other events); the refusal rate after data imputation was about 0.2%; the initial refusal rate was about 6.4%.
STS_CONS having 2024 as reference year is 98,0% (counting responses and other responding units), of which 12,6% enterprises were imputed from administrative sources (were imputed the enterprises found with data in the administrative sources and had one of the following non-response causes in the survey: refusal, contact not established, outside scope of survey, unidentified, dormant, ceased, other events); the refusal rate after data imputation was about 0.3%; the initial refusal rate was about 7.1%.
STS_RTD having 2024 as reference year is 98,6% (counting responses and other responding units), of which 11,7% enterprises were imputed from administrative sources (were imputed the enterprises found with data in the administrative sources and had one of the following non-response causes in the survey: refusal, contact not established, outside scope of survey, unidentified, dormant, ceased, other events); the refusal rate after data imputation was about 0.2%; the initial refusal rate was about 5.7%.
STS_SERV having 2024 as reference year is 98,6% (counting responses and other responding units), of which 11,4% enterprises were imputed from administrative sources (were imputed the enterprises found with data in the administrative sources and had one of the following non-response causes in the survey: refusal, contact not established, outside scope of survey, unidentified, dormant, ceased, other events); the refusal rate after data imputation was about 0.4%; the initial refusal rate was about 7.1%.
Actions to speed up or increase the rate of response
Starting with 2011, the on-line data collection was introduced in order to increase the response rate and reduce the burden on statisticians' responsible with data collection and entry. When necessary, telephone and e-mail contacts are used.
14.1. Timeliness
Timeliness
All the activities carried out by INS during a year are scheduled through the Activity Plan with several months earlier. Annually, INS issues for the users a press release calendar and a catalogue of statistical products and services containing the names, periodicity, short descriptions and release dates for all publications.
The publication dates for the monthly indicators were disseminated in accordance with the legal requirements as follows:
European level (Eurostat): M+40/M+45 days from the end of the reference month;
National level:
Press releases M+40/M+45 days from the end of the reference month; Monthly Statistical Bulletin (MSB)/Monthly Industry Bulletin and TEMPO data base: M+43/M+46 days from the end of the reference month.
Timetable of data collection
The activities for preparing and carrying out the Monthly Survey on Short-Term Statistics 2024 are described in the Annex.
14.2. Punctuality
The process concerning the deadlines for the respondents to reply was performed as follows:
the units have to fill in the paper questionnaires and send them to the territorial statistical offices until 15th of the month following the reference month.
the units can also fill in the on-line questionnaires until around 23rd of the month following the reference month.
The process concerning the covering recalls and follow-ups was performed as follows:
from 15th till the 25th of the month following the reference month, the territorial statistical offices had to perform data entry and data checking.
In this phase, the covering recalls and follow-ups are taking place. The statisticians from the local offices contact or re-contact the units/respondents who did not sent the data, irrespective of their size classes, but the stress was more on the enterprises with more than 50 employees, who are exhaustively surveyed and on those from the public sector. Since not all respondents comply with the deadline requested, a small proportion of questionnaires reach with delay the territorial statistical offices.
Data processing steps and the related periods were:
At local level (regional/county statistical office) the data processing consisted in:
data collection – until 15th of the following month of the reference month;
data entry and validation - from 15th of the following month of the reference month till the 25th day of the month;
At central level (INS) the data processing consisted in:
data validation – errors were detected and sent for correction or explanations to the statistical offices;
comparative analysis with the previous month, the same month of the previous year and with other data sources (surveys and administrative data);
the analysis of the non-weighted data;
the weighting procedures;
the analysis of the weighted data;
data tabulation;
monthly data preparation for dissemination in the press releases, the Monthly Statistical Bulletin, the TEMPO (on-line) database;
transposing into the STS standard format for data transmission designed by Eurostat;
transmission of final results to Eurostat.
All deadlines are met.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Definition of statistical units - There is no deviation from European concepts:
The unit ofselection was the enterprise defined according to the communitarian rules for enterprises statistics as: ,,the smallest combination of legal units that is an organisational unit producing goods or services, which benefits from a certain degree of autonomy in decision-making, especially for the allocation of its current resources. An enterprise carries out one or more activities at one or more locations. An enterprise may be a sole legal unit”.
The observation unit of the Monthly survey on short term statistics was close to local unit.
Populations - There is no deviation from European concepts:
The Romanian Business Register was designed and implemented based on the administrative files (REGIS, which is the Fiscal Register, updated annually) and statistical sources in addition (Trade Register, Balance Sheet files, VAT files, feedback from other surveys, used as consultation data sources for improving the quality of the register data).
According to the Council Regulations, REGIS contained the following types of statistical units: legal unit, enterprise, and local unit. All the enterprises having the main activity in the section A to S - NACE Rev.2, whatever their size (number of employees) were covered.
The Romanian Business Register contained all enterprises, authorities and organisations as well as their local units in Romania that carried out any economic activity irrespective of their size or if they belong to the private or public sector. The following institutional sectors were covered:
Non-financial corporate and quasi-corporate enterprises
Central and local administration
Social security institutions and private non-profit institutions serving households
In respect to the budgetary institutions and public administration REGIS was the most complete register in Romania, based on Official Journal and the collaboration with a lot of administration institutions.
Reference times - There is no deviation from European concepts:
The statistics on wages were produced with monthly periodicity.
Classifications - There is no deviation from European concepts:
The national classification of economic activities is covered by CAEN Rev.2 fully harmonized with NACE Rev.2
Definitions of variables -There is no deviations from European concepts:
The definitions of the variable was developed and adopted in accordance with European standards (Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics and Commission Implementing Regulation 2020/1197 laying down technical specifications and arrangements pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
15.2. Comparability - over time
No relevant changes were made for the earnings indicators from the beginning of the data collection.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Dissemination of information that support statistical cross-checks and provide assurance of reasonableness
The different sources of data allow comparisons to be made and for checks of reasonableness. Users need to be aware of the differences in methodology which are made clear in the publications.
The “Monthly Statistical Bulletin” publishes time series data (monthly data for the current month and the previous months) on wages broken down by economic activities. The “Monthly Statistical Bulletin of Industry” publishes data on wages by industrial activities.
Wages by economic activities are also disseminated on-line, via TEMPO data base.
Confrontation with other data sets
Confrontation is done with the results of the annual survey on labour costs.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Data are coherent at different NACE Rev. 2 aggregation levels.
The burden per indicator and domain in 2012 was as follows:
1. Industry
Unit/enterprise level:
Average number of persons: 6721
Time spent (man-hour)/year: 40011
The estimated burden per indicator in 2012 was about 30 minutes per month for each person per indicator.
Territorial +Central Level (statistical offices):
Average number of persons: 481
Time spent (man-hour)/year: 52825
2. Construction
Unit/enterprise level:
Average number of persons: 1989
Time spent (man-hour)/year: 12944
The estimated burden per indicator in 2012 was about 33 minutes per month for each person per indicator.
Territorial + Central Level (statistical offices):
Average number of persons: 285
Time spent (man-hour)/year: 11028
3. Wholesale and retail trade
Unit/enterprise level:
Average number of persons: 1771
Time spent (man-hour)/year: 9341
The estimated burden per indicator in 2012 was about 26 minutes per month for each person per indicator.
Territorial +Central Level (statistical offices):
Average number of persons: 497
Time spent (man-hour)/year: 12906
4. Services
Unit/enterprise level:
Average number of persons: 7822
Time spent (man-hour)/year: 41249
The estimated burden per indicator in 2012 was about 26 minutes per month for each person per indicator.
Territorial + Central Level (statistical offices):
Average number of persons: 496
Time spent (man-hour)/year: 56999
17.1. Data revision - policy
Revisions (very rare) when major methodological changes occurred and the users are informed through metadata when the figures are published.
No revisions are expected, data are considered final.
17.2. Data revision - practice
Provision of information about revision and advance notice of major changes in methodology
Data are operative but final.
18.1. Source data
Type of source
All labour input data are obtained from a monthly statistical survey on enterprises, namely” Monthly Survey on wages and salaries”. The overall monthly sample for 2024 was about 23300 units. About 72% of these units belong to the economic activities that cover the STS scope.
Frame on which the source is based
REGIS – Romanian statistical business register, which contains all enterprises, authorities and organisations as well as their local units in Romania that carry out any economic activity irrespective of their size or if they belong to the private or public sector.
Sample or census
Stratified sample survey.
Criteria for stratification
Activity (2-digit level of NACE Rev. 2) and size class of the units.
Threshold values and percentages
For economic sector, the monthly statistical survey covers the units with 4 employees and over, which represents 88,34% of total employees in this sector. All economic units with 50 employees or more are included.
Frequency of updating the sample
Annually.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Monthly
18.3. Data collection
Questionnaires used in the survey: All labour input variables are collected on the same questionnaire sent to all units irrespective of their activity. For activities corresponding to industry, construction, wholesale and retail trade and services, the questionnaire is included in the monthly survey on short term statistics.
Planned changes in national questionnaires : None
Data collection media : Data are collected by paper questionnaire or on-line through eSOP application posted on INS web-site. The paper questionnaire and methodological notes are available on INS web-site (word or pdf) or are sent to the reporting units and then collected by territorial statistical offices.
Planned changes in data collection methodology : None.
18.4. Data validation
The IT solution for Monthly survey on short-term statistics was developed to find out the measurement and processing errors occurred in different stages of the survey. The application was designed for on-line data collection and validation.
The IT solution allowed to perform on line data entry and validation at unit level. Also, the IT solution allowed to perform data entry and validation for questionnaires received on paper by post/email at county level (42 counties in total – NUTS3 level).
The IT solution contained the following categories of logical tests that check:
the primary data from the questionnaires;
the logical flows among the questionnaire chapters;
the data integrity and correctness;
the data comparability with the previous month.
The logical tests have the scope:
to follow and check the logical flows of the questionnaire;
to correlate data from related chapters of the questionnaire;
to define and check certain limits to which the indicators should belong compared to their evolution over time and between them;
to find out the outliers or non-logical values.
The tests for data integrity check the identification information from the sample of units with the information from respondent files.
At central level more accurate and detailed procedures were developed using Visual Fox for checking data integrity and correctness:
data comparison with the previous months;
data comparison with other sources (Wages survey for month October for the distribution of employees by major groups of occupations, Labour Cost Survey and Administrative sources);
non-weighted procedures;
adjustment and weighting procedures;
data tabulation;
automatic transformation of final results into the STS standard format designed by Eurostat;
data transmission to Eurostat.
As concerning the logical test in total 44 logical tests were performed for data checking and correlation on all the indicators collected through the survey. Since the same tests were conducted at local level (unit and county) as well as at central level, the largest part of the errors found was solved from the beginning (at local level). The figures were corrected after re-contacting the corresponding enterprises by the statistical offices.
The questionnaire design, detailed explanatory notes and the IT solution developed had as result a complete and of good quality data set.
The non-negligible measurement on wages indicators concerns mainly the evolution from one month to another, input errors, methodological errors, errors regarding the correlation between the average number of employees and the gross amounts paid or between the average number of employees and hours worked.
The information below was an estimation of errors at central level, after the data files were received from all over the country. Statistics on the first level of checking (local level) are not available. If the figures correspond to reality due to unusual phenomena, figures were accepted as such and no correction was made.
Most frequent errors that occurred during data checking period:
Error coded E7: Gross amounts paid from salary funds must be equal or higher than the payments in kind and cash aids and bonuses paid from salary funds;
Error coded E8: The payments in kind and cash aids and bonuses paid from salary funds cannot be higher than gross amounts paid from salary funds;
Error coded E9: the bonuses paid occasionally must be less or equal with the bonuses paid from salary funds;
Error coded AT16: the increases/decreases in the gross earnings as against the previous month exceeds 10%;
Error coded AT10: gross amounts paid from the salary fund must be higher than the gross amounts paid to employees (as incentives) from the net profit or amounts paid from other funds;
Error coded E16: If the average number of employees is not equal with 0 than there must be gross amounts paid from the salary funds;
Error coded A23: the average monthly gross earnings are outside the predetermined range;
Error coded A24: the average hourly gross earnings are outside the predetermined range.
18.5. Data compilation
Estimates for non-response:
Survey results are adjusted using the Horvitz-Thompson estimator, weighted with the response probability in order to compensate the non-responses.
Estimates for grossing-up to population levels:
The results are grossed up using Horvitz-Thompson estimator.
Type of index:
Data are transmitted to Eurostat as indices (%). At national level, the data are published as absolute values (national currency - lei).
Method of weighting and chaining:
Survey results are adjusted using the Horvitz-Thompson estimator, weighted with the response probability in order to compensate the non-responses.
Planned changes in production methods:
None
18.6. Adjustment
WDA, SA and other calculations
Seasonal adjustments (WDA) are carried out having as the starting point the first quarter of 2005. See Annex 3.
Labour input indicators are collected through the monthly survey on short term statistics (UNICA) for Sections B to N (IND-TS, CON-TS, SERV-TS) and through the monthly survey on earnings (S1) for Sections A, O to S.
Until the end of 2004, the same survey was used (monthly survey on earnings). Starting from January 2005, for Sections B to N, the questionnaire used for monthly survey on earnings was enclosed (together with others on turnover, industrial production etc.) in a common survey on short term statistics.
17 March 2025
List and definition of variables
The “Wages and salaries” that is monthly provided to Eurostat is collected in accordance with the Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics, repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics (EBS-Regulation) and Commission Implementing Regulation 2020/1197 laying down technical specifications and arrangements pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistic (General Implementing Act).
The data is collected only for the “number of employees”. The number of persons employed, other than employees does not represent a significant proportion in total “number of persons employed.
In 2024, for STS_IND the overall proportion is about 0.01%.
In 2024, for STS_CONS the overall proportion is about 0.00%.
In 2024, for STS_RTD the overall proportion is about 0.02%.
In 2024, for STS_SERV the overall proportion is about 0.02%.
Concerning the WAGE variable, the national questionnaire contains indicators on:
1. Gross amounts paid from the salary funds for time worked:
basic salaries corresponding to the hours actually worked in full-time and overtime (including indexations, leadership allowances, performance salaries and other rights which, according to the legislation, are included in the basic salary);
bonuses and allowances granted as percentage of the basic salary or as flat rates;
bonuses/awards/benefits granted over the year or annually in different forms (including the 13th salary, holiday bonuses);
exceptional payments/bonuses (occasional) paid to the employees who are leaving the enterprise (including retirement bonuses), only if the respective amounts are not related to a labour contract;
amounts paid to employees for transportation to/from the workplace;
amounts granted for the payment of employees for holiday leaves not taken;
amounts related to the risk incentive granted to the medical staff, in accordance with the legal provisions in force;
other amounts paid in accordance with the legal provisions in force and/or established by the labour contracts/agreements (including those to support utility expenses at the place where they carries out their activity, such as electricity, heating, water and data subscription, and the purchase of office furniture and equipment, within the limits set by the employer through the labour contract or internal regulations, within a monthly ceiling limit, corresponding to the number of days in the month in which the employee is in tele-work);
payment of the manager or, as the case may be, the gross allowances of administrators or performance bonuses granted to them, in accordance with the management, administration, mandate or performance contracts, in accordance with the legal provisions in force;
2. Gross amounts paid from the salary funds for hours not worked:
amounts paid for hours not worked (holiday or study leaves, legal holidays, special family events, etc.) in accordance with the legal provisions in force and/or established by the labour contracts/agreements;
allowances for temporary work incapacity caused by common diseases or non-related to work injuries, professional diseases and work injuries paid from the salary funds (excluding the amounts paid from the Unique National Health Insurance Fund and Work-Related Accidents and Occupational Diseases Insurance Budget), in accordance with the legal provisions in force;
allowances for the employees who were in quarantine/home isolation, in accordance with the legal provisions in force (excluding the amounts paid from the Unique National Health Insurance Fund);
amounts paid for work interruptions non-imputable to employees;
allowances of which the employees benefit for the period when the labour contract is temporary suspended at the employer initiative (technical unemployment), irrespective if are borne by the employer or from state budget, in accordance with the legal provisions in force;
allowances of which the employees benefit for the days off granted to parents in order to supervise their children, in cases of temporary closure of educational institutions, in accordance with the legal provisions in force;
allowances of which the employees benefit as a result of working hours reduction, in accordance with the legal provisions in force.
3. Gross amounts paid from salary fund as payments in kind and cash aids include the equivalent value of the payments in kind and of the cash aids, paid as work remuneration (in accordance with the legal provisions in force and/or established by labour contracts/agreements);
4. Gross amounts paid to the employees (as incentives) from net profit of the unit, including the amount corresponding to the share of the manager or administrator, as the case may be, excluding dividends paid from the net profit;
5. Gross amounts paid from other funds (including the payments in kind, cash aids, food allowance/norm, other allowances) than the salary funds, including incentives granted from a fund established by applying a percentage to the amounts obtained from turning into account seized goods from penalties coming from amounts cashed based on enforced legal acts in accordance to the Fiscal procedure code, those cashed based on judicial restructuring and bankruptcy, other incentive granted besides the salary funds, the amounts paid for activity performed in projects financed from European funds, payments in kind as products, rents, fuel, energy, transport; the values tickets equivalent (meal tickets, gift tickets, nursery tickets, cultural tickets, holiday vouchers/tickets), all amounts granted based on legal provisions force.
The average gross earnings disseminated monthly do not contain severance payments, backdated paid arrears as consequence of wining the lawsuits involving the money rights related to previous years.
The gross amounts paid include: all amounts, including deductions for the payment of rates, seizures, social security contribution, respectively social health insurance contribution paid by employees, tax, as well as refunds for reductions for non-production.
According to the national legislation provisions in force (GEO No. 79/2017, as subsequently amended and supplemented), the social security contribution and the social health insurance contribution paid by the employer were transferred to the employee; thus, starting with January 2018, these contributions are borne entirely by the employee, and reflected in the gross amount of the nominal earnings. Consequently, the indicator "average monthly gross earnings" produced and disseminated starting with the reference month January 2018 is no longer comparable to data series prior to 2018.
For detailed information see STS_Annex - Compulsory social contributions and tax (comparative table)
Planned changes in information collected
None.
Accounting conventions
Data are collected monthly; the reference period is the previous calendar month.
Reporting unit:
Close to the local unit.
Observation unit(s):
Close to the local unit.
The sampling frame used for the sample selection is drawn from the Romanian Business Register (REGIS), which contained all enterprises, authorities and organisations as well as their local units that carried out any economic activity irrespective of their size or if they belong to the private or public sector. The Business Register is updated, yearly, on the balance sheets and contains the latest information on each enterprise in the statistical population such as the identification items (unique identification code, address etc.), economic activity codes (NACE Rev.2), number of employees (giving the enterprise size class).
Geographical area covered
The entire country is covered.
No activities outside the geographical coverage are included.
Calendar month.
Accuracy in the statistical sense denotes the closeness of computations or estimates to the exact or true values. Statistics are not equal with the true values because of variability (the statistics change from implementation to implementation of the survey due to random effects) and bias (the average of the possible values of the statistics from implementation to implementation is not equal to the true value due to systematic effects).
Sampling bias is a possible source of sampling errors. It leads to sampling errors which either have a prevalence to be positive or negative. Such errors can be considered to be systematic errors.
Data are transmitted to Eurostat as indices (%). At national level, the data are published as absolute values (national currency - lei).
Estimates for non-response:
Survey results are adjusted using the Horvitz-Thompson estimator, weighted with the response probability in order to compensate the non-responses.
Estimates for grossing-up to population levels:
The results are grossed up using Horvitz-Thompson estimator.
Type of index:
Data are transmitted to Eurostat as indices (%). At national level, the data are published as absolute values (national currency - lei).
Method of weighting and chaining:
Survey results are adjusted using the Horvitz-Thompson estimator, weighted with the response probability in order to compensate the non-responses.
Planned changes in production methods:
None
Type of source
All labour input data are obtained from a monthly statistical survey on enterprises, namely” Monthly Survey on wages and salaries”. The overall monthly sample for 2024 was about 23300 units. About 72% of these units belong to the economic activities that cover the STS scope.
Frame on which the source is based
REGIS – Romanian statistical business register, which contains all enterprises, authorities and organisations as well as their local units in Romania that carry out any economic activity irrespective of their size or if they belong to the private or public sector.
Sample or census
Stratified sample survey.
Criteria for stratification
Activity (2-digit level of NACE Rev. 2) and size class of the units.
Threshold values and percentages
For economic sector, the monthly statistical survey covers the units with 4 employees and over, which represents 88,34% of total employees in this sector. All economic units with 50 employees or more are included.
Frequency of updating the sample
Annually.
Eurostat: the data are disseminated with monthly frequency.
National level: the disseminated indicator is “Average gross earnings” (lei), with monthly frequency.
Timeliness
All the activities carried out by INS during a year are scheduled through the Activity Plan with several months earlier. Annually, INS issues for the users a press release calendar and a catalogue of statistical products and services containing the names, periodicity, short descriptions and release dates for all publications.
The publication dates for the monthly indicators were disseminated in accordance with the legal requirements as follows:
European level (Eurostat): M+40/M+45 days from the end of the reference month;
National level:
Press releases M+40/M+45 days from the end of the reference month; Monthly Statistical Bulletin (MSB)/Monthly Industry Bulletin and TEMPO data base: M+43/M+46 days from the end of the reference month.
Timetable of data collection
The activities for preparing and carrying out the Monthly Survey on Short-Term Statistics 2024 are described in the Annex.
Definition of statistical units - There is no deviation from European concepts:
The unit ofselection was the enterprise defined according to the communitarian rules for enterprises statistics as: ,,the smallest combination of legal units that is an organisational unit producing goods or services, which benefits from a certain degree of autonomy in decision-making, especially for the allocation of its current resources. An enterprise carries out one or more activities at one or more locations. An enterprise may be a sole legal unit”.
The observation unit of the Monthly survey on short term statistics was close to local unit.
Populations - There is no deviation from European concepts:
The Romanian Business Register was designed and implemented based on the administrative files (REGIS, which is the Fiscal Register, updated annually) and statistical sources in addition (Trade Register, Balance Sheet files, VAT files, feedback from other surveys, used as consultation data sources for improving the quality of the register data).
According to the Council Regulations, REGIS contained the following types of statistical units: legal unit, enterprise, and local unit. All the enterprises having the main activity in the section A to S - NACE Rev.2, whatever their size (number of employees) were covered.
The Romanian Business Register contained all enterprises, authorities and organisations as well as their local units in Romania that carried out any economic activity irrespective of their size or if they belong to the private or public sector. The following institutional sectors were covered:
Non-financial corporate and quasi-corporate enterprises
Central and local administration
Social security institutions and private non-profit institutions serving households
In respect to the budgetary institutions and public administration REGIS was the most complete register in Romania, based on Official Journal and the collaboration with a lot of administration institutions.
Reference times - There is no deviation from European concepts:
The statistics on wages were produced with monthly periodicity.
Classifications - There is no deviation from European concepts:
The national classification of economic activities is covered by CAEN Rev.2 fully harmonized with NACE Rev.2
Definitions of variables -There is no deviations from European concepts:
The definitions of the variable was developed and adopted in accordance with European standards (Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics and Commission Implementing Regulation 2020/1197 laying down technical specifications and arrangements pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
No relevant changes were made for the earnings indicators from the beginning of the data collection.
