Labour Cost Survey

Detailed information for 2001

Status:

Inactive

Frequency:

One Time

Record number:

2601

The Labour Cost Survey was intended to collect information on wage and non-wage benefit costs which is necessary to construct a Labour Cost index.

Data release - This was a pilot survey. No data were released.

Description

The Labour Cost Survey was intended to collect information on employees, payrolls, hours and on each component of employee compensation, percentage of employees 'exposed' to each type of employer expenditure and union membership. This information is necessary to construct a Labour Cost Index. Such an index is used to measure the change in the average cost (wage and non-wage) of one hour of labour for a fixed basket of occupations. It can help labour and management in their collective agreement negotiations and can be used by businesses in contract escalation clauses.

Subjects

  • Labour
  • Wages, salaries and other earnings

Data sources and methodology

Sampling

This is a sample survey with a cross-sectional design.

The survey design comprises a census of the large employers (those with over 2500 employees) listed in the business register and a stratified sample of employers with less than 2500 employees. The sample is stratified on the basis of major industry group, province and size of reporting unit (as used in the ES1 Surveys).

Data sources

Responding to this survey is voluntary.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents.

Advance notices are mailed approximately three months before the questionnaires. Questionnaires are mailed during the last week of January and the first week of February which follow the end of the calendar year being surveyed. Approximately 6 weeks are allowed for the return of completed questionnaires after which a mail follow-up is undertaken. The mail follow-up includes a second questionnaire. Two weeks are normally allowed for respondents to reply. In mid-April the collection of non-respondents is assigned to the regional offices of field division.

View the Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s) .

Estimation

Data obtained are blown up on the basis of the sample weights assigned at the outset. Additional weighting is used to compensate for non-response.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects that could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential. If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data.

In order to prevent any data disclosure, confidentiality analysis is done using the Statistics Canada Generalized Disclosure Control System (G-Confid). G-Confid is used for primary suppression (direct disclosure) as well as for secondary suppression (residual disclosure). Direct disclosure occurs when the value in a tabulation cell is composed of or dominated by few enterprises while residual disclosure occurs when confidential information can be derived indirectly by piecing together information from different sources or data series.

Revisions and seasonal adjustment

This methodology does not apply to this survey.

Data accuracy

Data goal is to be reliable at 2-digit SIC level for Canada and economic regions and 1-digit SIC level for each province and territory.

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