The employment index in short-term business statistics is defined as the total number of persons working in an observation unit (inclusive of working proprietors, partners working regularly in the unit and unpaid family workers), as well as persons who work outside the unit who belong to it and are paid by it (e.g. sales representatives, delivery personnel, repair and maintenance teams).
It includes persons absent for a short period (e.g. sick leave, paid leave or special leave), and also those on strike, but not those absent for an indefinite period. It also includes part-time workers who are regarded as such under the laws of the country concerned and who are on the payroll, as well as seasonal workers, apprentices and home workers on the payroll. The number of persons employed excludes manpower supplied to the unit by other enterprises, persons carrying out repair and maintenance work in the observation unit on behalf of other enterprises, as well as those on compulsory military service.