In the Inquiry, information is requested with respect to the month of October on wages and hours of work for as many as possible of 159 occupations in 49 industries, for the whole country. The types of data sought (which are defined in the relevant resolutions of the International Conferences of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) ¹ with the exception of hours paid for, for which there is not internationally accepted definition) are as follows:

Wage or salary rates are the rates paid for normal time of work, comprising: basic wages and salaries, cost-of-living allowances and other guaranteed and regularly paid allowances. The following should be excluded: overtime payments, bonuses and gratuities, family allowances, other social security payments made by the employer directly to employees and ex gratia payments in kind supplementary to normal wage and salary rates.

Normal hours of work are the hours of work fixed by or in pursuance of laws or regulations, collective agreements or arbitral awards, or the number of hours in excess of which any time worked is remunerated at overtime rates or forms an exception to the rules or customs of the establishment relating to the classes of workers concerned.

Earnings are the remuneration in cash and in kind paid to employees, as a rule at regular intervals, for time worked or work done, together with remuneration for time not worked, such as for annual vacation, other paid leave or holidays, and including those elements of earnings which are usually received regularly, before any deductions are made by the employer in respect of taxes, contributions of employees to social security and pension schemes, life insurance premiums, union dues and any other obligations of employees. The following should be excluded: employers' contributions in respect of employees paid to social security and pension schemes and also the benefits received by employees under these schemes, severance and termination pay, irregular bonuses such as year-end and other one-time bonuses which accrue over a period longer than a pay period.

(a) Hours actually worked are the hours actually worked during normal periods of work, time worked in addition to normal periods of work and generally paid at higher rates (overtime), time spent at the place of work on work such as the preparation of the workplace, repairs and maintenance, preparation and cleaning of tools, and the preparation of receipts, time sheets and reports, time spent at the place of work waiting or standing by for such reasons as lack of supply of work, breakdown of machinery or accidents, or time spent at the place of work during which no work is done but for which payment is made under a guaranteed work contract and time corresponding to short rest periods at the workplace, including tea and coffee breaks. The following should be excluded: hours paid for but not worked (see below), such as paid leave, paid meal breaks and time spent travelling between the home and the workplace.

(b) Hours paid for are generally the hours actually worked (see above) plus the hours paid for but not worked, such as paid annual leave, paid public holidays, paid sick leave, paid meal breaks and time spent travelling between the home and the workplace.

Respondents are asked to supply data relating to adult full-time employees who are fully qualified, that is, employees who have acquired the training and experience normally necessary for the occupation in question, and who are working on a full-time basis. If possible, the information should be supplied separately for men and for women. In a few cases, extra information is requested with regard to a particular industry or occupation, such as the type of worker, plantation, agricultural crop produced, mine, and so on. Detailed descriptions ² of the occupations covered are annexed to the questionnaire to help respondents to identify the survey occupations, and also to ensure, to the extent possible, that data are provided for the same occupations each year and to promote the international comparability of the results.

The table O1 contains the information supplied by countries with respect to October, and wherever available, since 1983. The statistics refer to the whole country or to a maximum of three major towns or regions. A separate table is presented for each country (and each town or region, as appropriate), showing only those occupations for which data have been furnished. The complete list of occupations and industries is given in English, French and Spanish in Appendix I.

Wages are expressed in national currency. In the tables, the currency shown next to the country name is the current one. In case of change of currency in a country, the equivalence between the old and new currencies is indicated by a footnote on the relevant year.

A number of different types of sources have been used by countries in completing the questionnaire. In general, the minimum wage rates and normal hours of work shown are taken from the relevant laws or regulations, collective agreements or arbitral awards. Sample surveys of establishments, such as occupational or industry wage surveys, are usually the source of data on average earnings and hours of work. In some cases, administrative records of bodies such as social security agencies have been used.

A table showing the sources of the data published and the relevant national publications is given in Appendix III of the printed publication. Its contents will be updated regularly with each issue.

Where possible, the results are presented separately according to sex, otherwise they concern both men and women. Where available, information relating to particular occupations or industries, or to any departures from the Inquiry specifications concerning the types of data reported, reference periods, individual occupations and so on, is given in footnotes.

Care should be taken in using and interpreting the published data, particularly for international comparisons. Although every effort has been made to promote the comparability and consistency of the results, there are some unavoidable differences between the concepts used, specifications of occupations, reference periods and types of sources. Particular attention should be paid by users to the types of wage rates presented in the tables. Some are the minima fixed by laws or regulations, collective agreements or arbitral awards, others are the average rates paid or the rates predominantly paid, and in a few cases ranges of minimum-maximum rates are shown. Similarly, the average hours of work may be either hours actually worked or hours paid for. The data are presented in the form supplied by respondents, without any adjustment. As much information as possible has been provided in the column headings and footnotes, which should be taken into account by users.

Although desirable, it has not been possible to avoid the use of abbreviations and symbols in the tables.

¹ Resolution concerning an integrated system of wages statistics adopted by the Twelfth ICLS, 1973 (Wage rates and Earnings); Resolution concerning statistics of hours of work adopted by the Tenth ICLS, 1962 (Normal hours of work and hours actually worked).

² The descriptions of the occupations may be obtained from the ILO on request.