PURPOSE : to adapt the list of variables for the Community's sample survey on the organisation of the labour force.
LEGISLATIVE ACT : Regulation 2257/2003/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation 577/98/EC on the organisation of a labour force sample survey in the Community to adapt the list of survey characteristics.
CONTENT : the labour force sample survey to be carried out under Council Regulation 577/98/EC (refer to CNS/1997/0202) should adequately cover new and recently emerging features of the labour market. According to the European social policy agenda adopted by the Nice European Council in December 2000, Council Decision 2002/177/EC of 18 February 2002 on guidelines for Member States' employment policies for the year 2002 and Council Recommendation 2002/549/EC of 21 June 2002 on the broad guidelines of the economic policies of the Member States and the Community, the way in which work is organised must be adapted to the needs of both businesses and individuals.
The survey characteristics laid down in Regulation 577/98/EC were determined according to statistical needs and the labour market situation prevailing at the time. Data collection should not impose on respondents a burden out of proportion with the results which users of the survey can reasonably expect.
The aim of this Regulation is to amend Regulation 577/98/EC as follows:
- labour status : labour status during the reference week, continuing receipt of wages and salary, reason for not having worked though having a job, search for employment for person without employment, type of employment sought (self-employed or employee), methods used to find a job, availability to start work;
- employment characteristics of the main job: professional status, economic activity of the local unit, occupation,
supervisory responsibilities, - number of persons working at the local unit, country of place of work, region of place of work, year and month when the person started working in current employment, involvement of public employment service in finding the current job, permanency of the job (and reasons), duration of temporary job or work contract of limited duration, full-time/part-time distinction (and reasons), contract with a temporary work agency, working at home;
- hours worked: number of hours per week usually worked, umber of hours actually worked, number of hours of overtime in the reference week, main reason for hours actually worked being different from usual hours;
- search for employment: type of employment sought, duration of search for employment, situation of person immediately before starting to seek employment, registration at public employment office and whether receiving benefits, for person not seeking employment, willingness to work, reasons why person has not sought work, lack of care facilities.
Other information on atypical work times include : shift work, evening work, night work, Saturday work, Sunday work.
On a proposal from the Commission, a list of variables may be identified from among the survey characteristics specified above which need to be surveyed only as annual averages with reference to 52 weeks rather than as quarterly averages.
Spain, Finland and the United Kingdom may survey the structuralvariables with reference to a single quarter during a transition period until the end of 2007.
ENTRY INTO FORCE : 12/01/2004.�