Instituto Nacional de Estadística de España (INE).

Labour Market Statistics Directorate

Paseo de la Castellana 183
28046 Madrid
Spain

Hours actually worked in Other Services include hours actually worked by employees. Self-employed persons are not covered.

The hours actually worked corresponds to the sum of the hours in a normal working day, i.e. the usual working day of the employee, plus overtime, less time lost (hours not worked) for whatever reason.

The not worked hours are classified in the following way:

-          Not worked hours remunerated. The following situations are specified: paid leave, public holidays in the month, sick leave, permit days because of maternity, adoption and personal reasons, etc.

-          Not worked hours not remunerated as working conflict, absenteeism, etc.

The source of the data is the Quarterly Labour Cost Survey (QLCS).

NACE Rev. 2.

The activities covered by the QLCS are NACE Rev. 2. Sections B-S at division level.

All size classes are covered by the survey.

Data sent include Divisions 45 and 46, Sections H, I, J and  the groups 69, 70.2, 71, 73 and 74, and  78, 79, 80, 81.2 and 82.

Hours actually worked in Other Services include hours actually worked by employees. Self-employed persons are not covered.

The average monthly number of hours actually worked by employees during a quarter is estimated based on the information directly available from the questionnaire. It is calculated distinguishing by full-time and part-time employees:

(A) Average monthly number of employees

(a)   Average monthly normal contractual hours of a employee

(b)   Average monthly overtime of a employee

(c)   Average monthly number of hours of holiday entitlement

(d)   Average daily number of contractual plus overtime hours worked by a employee

(e)   Average monthly number of days of holidays/vacation per employee, granted by the employer

(f)    Average monthly number of days of official public holidays per employee

(g)   Average monthly number of days of sickness and maternity leave per employee

(h)   Average monthly number of days of short-time working and labour disputes per employee

(i)     Average monthly number of other days not actually worked per employee (e.g. special leave for medical examinations, births, marriage, funerals, moving house, following an accident, etc.).

The average monthly number of hours actually worked by employees during a quarter is defined as:

(B) = (A) × [(a+b+c) – d x( e + f + g + h+i)].

The unit used is the "account of contributions". It is an administrative concept that companies use to pay the social contributions of their employees and usually coincide with the local unit.

The populationis formed by all local units (the accounts of social security contribution) with independence of their size, included in the General Regime of the social security, in the Special Regime of the Mining of the Coal and in the Special Regime of the sea workers related to maritime transport.

Within each account, all the employees associated with the account are investigated (employees with obligation of contributing at least one day in the reference period, with independence of the type of contract and the length of the working day).

The geographic area includes the whole national territory. All units located in all regions of the country are researched in the survey. Only national activities are covered. Activities outside the geographical coverage are not included.

The length of the time series is from the first quarter of 2008 onwards.

2015

Data are transmitted as indices.

The reference period for the data asked in the questionnaire is the calendar month. The results are presented as quarterly average.

The collection, processing and dissemination of statistical operations data for national purposes is set by Law 12/1989, of May 9, Public Statistical Function ( LFEP ) and Fourth Additional Provision of the Law 4/1990 , of June 29 . The LFEP provides that the National Statistical Plan is the main instrument governing statistical activities of the State Administration and contains the statistics to be developed in four years for the services of the State Administration or any other entities dependent on it and those that are to be completed wholly or partly with participation of the Autonomous Communities and local governments under cooperative agreements with state statistical services or, where appropriate, in implementing the provisions of the law. All statistics included in the National Statistical Plan are statistics for national purposes and mandatory. The National Statistical Plan 2020-2024, approved by Royal Decree 1110/2020, of 15th December, is the plan currently in effect (Statistics of the State Administration).

The Quarterly abour Cost Survey (QLCS) is the fundamental source of information for the development of the Labour Cost Index ( LCI ) . It is therefore subject to regulation of the statistical operation.

Regulation of the European Parliament and Council No. 450/2003 establishing a common framework for the production, transmission and evaluation of comparable labour costs indices.

STS data are not sent to other Institution except Eurostat.

Law 12/1989 of the Public Statistics INE states that can not disseminate, or make available in any way, individual or aggregate data that could lead to the identification of any individual person or entity. Moreover, the European Regulation 223/2009 on European statistics establishes the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of the data used to produce European statistics and the access to those confidential data taking into account the technical developments and the needs of users in a democratic society.

The INE takes the necessary logical, physical and administrative provisions for the protection of confidential data from data collection to publication.
A legal clause is included in the survey questionnaires informing about the protection of the data collected.
During the stages of information processing,  information allowing direct identification is only preserved while is strictly necessary to ensure the quality of processes. Direct identification data are not stored together with the own statistics, after the data collection phase.
The results to be published are analysed in detail before to prevent that confidential data of the statistical units can be derived . In cases in which  microdata are disseminated, they are always anonymous.

Confidential data is not published. It is aggregated with other confidential or non-confidential cells to produce a non-confidential data aggregate. For example section B at division level is confidential so only section level is published.

Data from the Quarterly Labour Cost Survey (QLCS) and from the Labour Cost Index (LCI) are released according to a national calendar.

The advance release calendar that shows the precise release dates for the coming year is disseminated in the last quarter of each year. The calendar is presented to the media at a news conference, and is also disseminated on the INE's website.

Data for this STS indicator are not  disseminated nationally. They are only transmitted to Eurostat.

http://www.ine.es/en/daco/daco41/calen_en.htm

QLCS and LCI Data are released simultaneously to all interested parties by issuing a press release. At the same time, the data are also sent by fax to subscribers, and are posted on the INE's website (http://www.ine.es/en/welcome.shtml).

Some users may receive under embargo information as specified in the Code of Practice of the European Statistics.

The frequency dissemination of the data is quarterly.

The main results of the survey, the series of Total Labour cost, wage costs, other labour costs (per employee and per worked hour) and hours worked (per employee) are disseminated in a special release with a brief explanation of the results each quarter. The very detailed set of series is disseminated without explanation. The microdata are not disseminated.

The data are available on INE's web site and are free of charge.(http://www.ine.es/en/prensa/prensa_en.htm)

Users can access to QLCS and LCI data via the INE website:

- Press Release and Main Results : A summary of the results of the reference quarter .
- Main series from quarter 1Q/2000 : The main series since the start of the survey.
- Series calendar and seasonally adjusted  of the main series for the total economy (total labour cost per employee and per worked hour, wages and salaries per employee and per worked hour and other costs per employee and per worked hour).
- Quarterly Series from quarter 1Q/2008 : series in NACE- 2.
- Back cast estimates 2000-2007. Base 2008 : In order to provide time series of labor costs with a lenght sufficient to allow for analysis have been developed retrospective series in NACE -2 at section level of activity since 2000.

 Publications  "on line " contain information form QLCS and LCI  as  " Spain in figures ",  " Statistical Yearbook of Spain ", " Monthly Statistical Bulletin ", etc. .

INEbase is the system used to store and disseminate at INE Website all statistical information. It contains all the information produced by the INE in electronic format. It is organized basically following the thematic classification of the Inventory of Statistical Operations of the State General Administration. The basic unit is the statistical operation, defined as the set of activities that lead to the collection of statistics for a particular sector or theme, from data collected individually.

Data from QLCS and LCI are in INEbase\Labour market\ Wages and labour costs

http://www.ine.es/en/inebmenu/indice_en.htm

Microdata are not disseminated.

STS data are transmitted to Eurostat.

Customised information must be requested in the Information Area, clearly indicating the details of the contact person (name, postal address, telephone, fax and e-mail, if you have one), and detailing as much as possible the information that you require.

Requests will pass through a viability analysis process, programming and subsequent verification that the data obtained safeguard statistical secrecy and are representative.

Customised requests

The methodology of the Quarterly Labour Cost Survey that is the source for the elaboration of the indices are published with the data on the INE's Internet website Methodology

Quality Reports are the same as for the Labour Cost Index and are prepared according to Eurostat Regulation 1216/2003, annually since 2004. Following quality criteria relevance, accuracy, timeliness and punctuality, accessibility and clarity, comparability, consistency, and completeness. The latest available is for the year 2019.

The quality assurance framework for INE statistics is based on the Code of Good Practice of the European Statistics Eurostat. The Code consists of 15 principles, grouped into three areas: Institutional Environment, Process and Productos. Each principle is associated with a number of indicators to measure. To assess quality different tools provided by Eurostat are used: the indicators mentioned above, DESAP, Peer Review, Quality Audits and user satisfaction surveys.

The process of carrying out the statistics has established controls to detect and correct errors in order to ensure the quality of it since the beginning of the process. The collection, recording and validation phases are key development stages of any statistical research . The collection of questionnaires and the recording thereof are carried out in the provincial offices of the INE .

Before processing the information is carried out a comprehensive control over the data provided by the reporting units to ensure their validity .

The received data are double-inspected :
- A first debugging, is made simultaneously with the recording in the provincial offices to detect incomplete and erroneous questionnaires and ensure the consistency of the recorded data.
- A second control is made in the central office in order to avoid inconsistencies between related variables and time-series combined.

In any case, if something wrong or inconsistent data is found , the responsible provincial office of the questionnaire established telephone contact with the informant to clarify information .

Overall debugging focuses on the following aspects :
- Detect incomplete questionnaires : partial non-response is not allowed.
- Ensure consistency of data: The data must respect the legal limits in terms of working hours, minimum wages, etc. .. On the other hand , the questionnaire is divided into five distinct blocks but closely interrelated among which should be some consistency. Thus, for example , quesionnaires with overtime data are not supported without overtime payments; there can not be dismissed workers and not include his compensation, nor vice versa;etc.
- To ensure the temporal coherence of the main study variables: The aim is to identify possible errors in the data by comparing the main variables for the same in previous quarters.

The Quarterly Labour Cost Survey  is a high quality product. The sample size offers labour cost indicators within a reasonable sampling errors. The harmonized methodology used allows international comparisons with a high level of solvency and provides an invaluable measure of the evolution of labour costs.

As for the limitations of the survey should be pointed out the inherent to the sampling statistical operations such as no response rates and the aforementioned sampling errors or variation coefficients of the estimates. In both cases are kept within reasonable limits. Detailed information on sampling errors is provided periodically  in the tables of results published in INEBASE.

Sampling errors

The main users could be classified in the following groups:

- International Organisations: European Union Institutions, OECD, International Monetary Fund, International Labour Organisation, etc.

- Public Organisms: different Ministries such as the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Employment and Social Security, etc.; the National Statistical Institute itself for several of its units, such as National Accounts; the Bank of Spain; Regional Institutions, etc.

- Social Institutions such as trade unions, employers’ organisations, political parties,...

- Research Centres and Universities

- The media

Each of these users have different needs depending on the destination and usefulness of the information they need. Specifically, changes in labor costs per hour worked is an important indicator for analyzing the short and medium term economic developments. The Commission and the European Central Bank are based on the Labour Costs Index, which shows the short-term evolution of labor costs, to assess the potential inflationary pressures due to the evolution of labor in the labor market .

The INE has carried out general user satisfaction surveys in 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019 and it plans to continue doing so every three years. The purpose of these surveys is to find out what users think about the quality of the information of the INE statistics and the extent to which their needs of information are covered. In addition, additional surveys are carried out in order to acknowledge better other fields such as dissemination of the information, quality of some publications, etc.

On the INE website, in its section Methods and Projects / Quality and Code of Practice / INE quality management / User surveys are available surveys conducted to date  (Users surveys)

No specific user satisfaction survey to the QLCS has been carried out although the User Satisfaction Survey indicates the degree of satisfaction of users of labor market statistics. In the user satisfaction survey conducted in 2016, which can be consulted on the website of INE in the category of Quality -> Quality Management -> System evaluation and quality monitoring -> User surveys , you can see the evaluation of "labor market" group in which it is framed this statistical operation . This can give us indications of user opinions of this statistical operation.

It is known  the opinion of users who have received information on request or who have asked for methodological details.
In general, these users are satisfied. Nevertheless they consider that the survey should have a bigger sample size to offer more detailed breakdown of some variables (in particular of regions, branch of activity and cost components).

The QLCS meets all requirements established by national and international regulations related to labour costs statistics aimed at local units or enterprises.

As the main source of information to produce the Labour Cost Index (LCI), is subject to the regulation of this statistical operation (Reg. 450/2003)

Regarding to STS indicators, QLCS provides all the time series required for variable 220 in annex A, C and D. (Reg 1165/1998 concerning short-term statistics amended by Reg. 1158/2005 and Reg. 1503/2006).

The design of the sample attempts to minimize sampling errors and the various processes of the survey are intended to eliminate or reduce as far as possible the errors both in the collection phase (response rate and debugging control) as in  subsequent stages of editing and imputation.

The calculation of the coefficients of variation of key variables is performed in each survey implementation and disseminated in the publication of their results  and the successive quality reports.

Sampling errors

A control of non sampling errors is performed in every statistical process. It also has specific information on the non-response rate.

The study population consists on all employees who work for an employer during the reference month of the survey. The framework used for the sample selection was the General Register of Accounts of Social Security Contributions, held by the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs. When the Register is received from the Social Security, a first debugging is made prior to the selection of the sample, which implies several stages:

- To eliminate economic activities regarding agricultural activities, livestock, fishery, households with domestic employees and extra-territorial organisms since these are not part of the survey.

- To eliminate the units that belong to the special regime of Social Security sales agents, whose main compensation consists in commissions on sales and who, consequently cannot be surveyed either.

After this, the sample is selected and the questionnaires are sent to the selected units; the data collection and debugging stages reveal the errors in the surveyed units.

Frame errors:

Data collection for 2020 showed that 3.3% in average of the units were inactive or closed . Only 0.4% were erroneously included units. All these units are replaced by others that belong to the same stratum in the next quarter survey. A 2.5% showed no activity during the month surveyed but remain in the sample since they can be units with seasonal activities.

Measurement and processing errors:

The questionnaire has been elaborated approaching the required information to documents (payslips and social contributions bulletins) that the employer must fill in in relation to their employees, this way the answer is easier to the informants.

Debugging errors:

This first debugging consists in using filters referring to errors that allow separating valid questionnaires from those with inconsistencies to be revised.

The filters are of two kinds: those detecting type I and type II errors.

Type I errors:

If they are not thoroughly corrected, the questionnaire cannot be considered as valid.

Type II errors:

They affect norms that have to be complied with towards the coherence of the data. The non-satisfaction of these norms does not necessarily mean that the questionnaire is not valid, but it should be explained why an error is stated. In cases of doubts, a telephone call is made to the respondent for him to elucidate them. There are more than 200 rules that are checked in each questionnaire.

After the tabulation, the results obtained are analysed to check the coherence.

Non-response rate:

The average non-response for year 2020 has been 18.3%. It is higher than in previous years due to the difficulty of contacting informants because of the situation created by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The QLCS results refer to quarter t are published at t +80 days. The same day the STS indicator is sent to Eurostat.

The results of the survey are published according to Short-term Statistics Availability Calendar of INE.
Each publication has been released on the date announced in the calendar.

The availability of a methodology, a design and a common process for collecting, filtering, editing and elevation throughout its geographic scope, ensures comparability of results between the different regions.

Regarding the international comparability of the survey, the methodology follows the concepts and definitions of Regulation (EC) No 530/1999 of the Council of 9 March 1999 concerning structural statistics on earnings and labor costs, in turn based on the European System of National and Regional Accounts (ESA 2010). It also follows current international recommendations on labor statistics (ILO). Therefore international comparability is assured.

The results broken down by sections and divisions of NACE-2 are comparable in time since 2008.

The use of a single national classification of economic activities allows the possibility to compare the information with other economic statistics on common variables such as National Accounts.

Estimates of the labour cost variables  and hours worked have complete internal consistency as they are based on the same corpus of microdata and are calculated using the same methods of estimation.

In order to achieve a balance between  sample stability and the informants burden in the QLCS are carried out the following actions:

- Distribution of the sample in three monthly sub-samples during the quarter:

The sample is distributed in three monthly sub-samples during the quarter, such that the first sub-sample is always interviewed in the first month of each quarter, the second sub-sample is interviewed in the second month of each quarter and the third sub-sample in the last month of each quarter. This way, each unit is interviewed for only four times a year instead of every month reducing the burden of the informants and distributing the monthly workload of INE provincial offices.
At  the end of the quarter data collected over the 3 months is aggregated to assess both costs and hours per employee per month during the reference quarter .

- Renewal or annual rotation of the sample:

The total sample was divided into five groups of rotation so that in the first quarter of each year the oldest group is replaced, representing an annual renewal of 20% of the sample. In this way it is guaranteed that most companies will collaborate in the survey for five years .An exception is made for the units in the exhaustive strata (units with more than 500 employees and those belonging to strata so small that their sampling size necessarily coincides with the population), that are not renovated unless they cease to exist. These units represent 28% of the sample.

- To help answer the informants , we have tried to approximate the required information to documents ( payslips and social contributions bulletins ) that the employer must fill in in relation to their employees. In particular , the last section of the questionnaire . Moreover from the first quarter of 2015 section E of the questionnaire was reduced, asking only those variables that are essential to check the internal consistency of the information provided in the questionnaire. The breakdowns of this information are provided by the Social Security from their administrative records.

The estimation of the budgetary credit necessary to finance these statistics, as foreseen in the 2020 Annual Programme, comes to a total of 3,426.86 thousand euros.

The data are final when first released and are not subject to revision.

Advance notice of major changes in methodology expected to take place during a particular year is given in the annual publication " Programa Anual del Instituto Nacional de Estadística" (in Spanish), which is published in the last quarter of the previous year.

The data are final when first released and are not subject to revision.

The source is the Quarterly Labour Cost Survey (QLCS). It is a sample survey. The population is formed by all employees working for an employer. The framework used for the selection was the General Register of Accounts of Social Security Contributions, held by the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs. An Account of Social Security Contribution is an administrative concept that companies use to pay the social contributions of their employees and usually coincides with the local unit.

The procedure for random selection of units corresponds to stratified sampling with optimal allocation, in which the sampling units are the accounts.

The stratification criterion is accomplished attending to three variables: Autonomous Community (17 regions), the economic activity (division level of NACE rev.2, from B to S) and eight size intervals. The size of the unit is the number of employees in the unit. 

The following groups are considered for the stratification:

1.         1-4 employees

2.         5-9 employees

3.         10-19 employees

4.         20-49 employees

5.         50-99 employees

6.         100-199 employees

7.         200-499 employees

8.         500 and more employees

The stratum eighth was researched exhaustively.

Within each stratum, the units are selected through systematic sampling with random start.

The sample is composed of around 28.000 units that they will be interviewed each quarter. The total sample is split into five groups of rotation so that in the first quarter of each year the oldest group is replaced such that one-fifth of the sample is replaced.

An exception is made for the units in the exhaustive strata (units of more than 500 employees and those belonging to strata so small that their sampling size necessarily coincides with the population), that are not renovated unless they cease to exist. These units account for 28% of the sample.

There is only one questionnaire format for the whole survey population. The questionnaire is revised periodically. It changes when the labour legislation makes it necessary. No changes are currently planned.

The survey is carried out by postal questionnaire, web questionnaire, etc.

Separate ratio estimators are used based on the number of employees in the Register of Accounts of Social Security Contributions as the auxiliary variable.

The index is calculated from the results obtained from the survey comparing its value directly with the base period average value.

The QLCS  conducted quarterly. The reference period for the information requested in the questionnaire is a month. However, the reference for the results is the quarter. The sample is distributed among the months of the quarter and the estimates are calculated as the average of the whole quarter.

The survey is carried out by postal questionnaire, web questionnaire, etc. The main method used by respondents is the Web-based questionnaire. The enterprise receives a letter the first time that it is interviewed with the username and the password to access to the web site and then it could fill in the questionnaire directly field by field or upload the XML file. There is a minimal validation process to consider the questionnaire sent and the process ended. The following times INE sends an email  to the respondent reminding the contacts and the survey to be filled.

There is a free telephone number in the letter to contact with INE where the respondents could ask all their doubts and also request an excel questionnaire and email address to send it.

The sample is composed of around 28.000 units that they will be interviewed each quarter.The sample is distributed in three monthly sub-samples during the quarter, such that the first sub-sample is always interviewed in the first month of each quarter, the second sub-sample is interviewed in the second month of each quarter and the third sub-sample in the last month of each quarter. This way, each unit is interviewed for only four times a year instead of every month reducing the burden of the informants and distributing the monthly workload of INE provincial offices .
At  the end of the quarter data collected over the 3 months is aggregated to assess both costs and hours per employee per month during the reference quarter.

The process of carrying out the statistics has established controls to detect and correct errors in order to ensure the quality of it since the beginning of the process. The collection, recording and validation phases are key development stages of any statistical research . The collection of questionnaires and the recording thereof are carried out in the provincial offices of the INE .

Before processing the information is carried out a comprehensive control over the data provided by the reporting units to ensure their validity .

The received data are double-inspected:
- A first debugging, is made simultaneously with the recording in the provincial offices to detect incomplete and erroneous questionnaires and ensure the consistency of the recorded data.
- A second control is made in the central office in order to avoid inconsistencies between related variables and time-series combined.

 In any case, if something wrong or inconsistent data is found , the responsible provincial office of the questionnaire established telephone contact with the informant to clarify information .

Overall debugging focuses on the following aspects:
- Detect incomplete questionnaires: partial non-response is not allowed.
- Ensure consistency of data: The data must respect the legal limits in terms of working hours, minimum wages, etc. .. On the other hand , the questionnaire is divided into five distinct blocks but closely interrelated among which should be some consistency. Thus, for example, quesionnaires with overtime data are not supported without overtime payments; there can not be dismissed workers and not include his compensation, nor vice versa;etc.
- To ensure the temporal coherence of the main study variables: The aim is to identify possible errors in the data by comparing the main variables for the same in previous quarters.

In cases of empty units (produced either by incident or by non-response) imputations are made of questionnaires to increase the quality of quarterly estimates. Two methods are used:
- The application of the wage rise established in collective agreements to those questionnaires with response in the same quarter of the previous year.

- The imputation of the average value in the strata to those units that never have responded.

Partial non-response is not allowed.

To obtain grossing-up estimations separate ratio estimators are used based on the number of employees in the Register of Accounts of Social Security Contributions as the auxiliary variable.

Once the data are estimated, the index is calculated from the results obtained from the survey comparing its value directly with the base period average value.

In order to allow a full interpretation of the results, the index series are obtained in the following ways:
a) gross Series: the original series.
b) working-day adjusted series (including the effect of Easter).

The method used is the Regression correction method using as a regressor an specific serie obtained from the QLCS data.

The adjustment of these indicators has been performed according to Standard of INE to correct  seasonal and calendar effects and it is available in the section Methods and standards of the INE website.

This standard is the result of the working group of Seasonal adjustment in INE, which was created by the Board of Directors of INE in May 2012, and follow the recommendations of the European Union included in ESS guidelines on seasonal adjustment (Standard for adjusting seasonal and calendar effects in short-term series).

More information on: Methodology