Local government sector wages and salaries: documentation of statistics
Basic data of the statistics
Data description
The statistics on local government sector wages and salaries describe the numbers and earnings level of wage and salary earners working in the local government sector by such variables as occupation, education, gender and age.
Statistical population
Statistical unit
Unit of measure
Reference period
The Statistics Act obliges Statistics Finland to treat the data as confidential and use them only for statistical purposes. Data will be provided for Local Government and County Employers KT based on section 9 of the act 254/1993. Statistics Finland can also authorise municipalities, joint municipal authorities and organisations to use data based on the Statistics Act (280/2004).
Reference area
Sector coverage
Time coverage
Frequency of dissemination
Concepts
Basic pay
Bonuses and allowances not paid in each pay period
Structural statistics on wages and salaries:
Holiday supplement paid for days off not taken is not included in these bonuscomponents in the structural statistics on wages and salaries.
Index of wage and salary earnings:
The index of wage and salary earnings measures the development of earnings from regular working hours regardless of the mode of payment. Components paid on the basis of performance are included in the earnings concept so that they are divided evenly over the whole calendar year. Similarly, bonuses and allowances not paid in each pay period based on collective agreements are evenly divided for the whole year. All these components belonging to the concept of index of wage and salary earnings, such as holiday bonuses are not included in data on wages and salaries used in the calculation of the index, but they are taken into consideration in index calculation only in case changes in their relative share are agreed in collective bargaining. In the index of wage and salary earnings contractual pay increases paid retrospectively are also taken to the quarter when they were earned.
Labour cost survey:
In the concepts of the labour cost survey compensations for termination of an employment relationship belonging to bonuses and allowances not paid in each pay period are included in social costs.
Labour cost index:
In the labour cost index bonuses and allowances not paid in each pay period also include contractual pay increases paid retrospectively from previous pay periods. The labour cost index also contains incentive stock options according to their exercise value.
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Bonuses and allowances not paid in each pay period are not published in the statistics on private sector and local government wages and salaries. These components are not included in the index of regular earnings.
Collective agreement sector
Employee
In statistics on wages and salaries, wage and salary earners are as a rule not divided into salaried employees and workers. A division can, however, be made according to profession or pay system. In statistics on wages and salaries, entrepreneurs paying their own salaries are not classified as wage and salary earners, as their earnings usually differ too much from the earnings of other similar wage and salary earners. In these statistics a single wage and salary earner may have several employment relationships that are, however, all treated as separate instances of wage and salary earner in the statistics.
Self-employed persons who pay even part of their earnings as salary to themselves are recorded as wage and salary earners in the labour cost statistics.
Employer sector
The classification used in statistics on wages and salaries has the following structure:
Local government sector
Operating units of municipalities and joint municipal boards, and municipal enterprises
Central government sector
Agencies and institution financed from the State budget
Private sector
Private enterprises, enterprises with central or local government majority holding and state enterprises. Non-profit corporations, parishes, and organisations and foundations are also included in the private sector in statistics on wages and salaries.
The structure of the classification of sectors used in statistics on labour costs and in the labour cost index is similar to that of the classification used in statistics on wages and salaries.
In the index of wage and salary earnings, non-profit corporations, parishes and organisations form a separate employer sector of their own (Others).
Full-time
In structural statistics on wages and salaries, the division into full-time and part-time employment is based on regular weekly working hours. In these statistics, employment relationships with regular weekly working hours exceeding 90 per cent of the general working time in the industry are defined as full-time. It has not been possible to define employment as full-time or part-time for wage earners whose regular working hours are not known. This may be due to non-reporting or irregular working hours of the person in question. For public sector teachers, full-time and part-time employment has been defined on the basis of the conditions of the employment relationship. In the structural statistics on wages and salaries, private sector teachers whose weekly teaching duty is at least 16 hours are defined as working full-time.
Statistics on private sector wages and salaries:
For private sector monthly wage earners, the definition of full-time employment is based on weekly working hours, as in the structural statistics of wages and salaries. In these statistics, wage and salary earners whose regular weekly working hours exceed 90 per cent of the general working time in the industry are defined as working full-time.
Information on other wage and salary earners' full-time employment is obtained through inquiries or defined according to the employment relationship. If a wage and salary earner's regular weekly working hours are not known, also information on earnings is used to define full-time employment.
The distinction between full-time and part-time employment is not made separately for private sector hourly wage earners.
Statistics on public sector wages and salaries:
For wage and salary earners in the public sector, full-time and part-time employment is defined on the basis of the character and conditions of the employment relationship. Information on full-time and part-time employment is usually obtained through inquiries.
Labour cost survey:
In statistics on labour cost, an employee whose working hours are specified in the collective agreement for government employees or the collective agreement, or the regular working time of the unit in question, is defined as working full-time.
Cf. Part-time
Hourly wage earner
Hours worked
In statistics on wages and salaries, statistics on earnings in the industries which pay hourly wages are compiled for hours actually worked. Hours actually worked refers to the working time an employee has spent on his/her actual duties. Hours actually worked include time and piece rate work and contract work hours as well as Sunday and overtime hours. Working hours are based on the Working Hours Act.
Labour cost survey:
Hours actually worked refer to the working time an employee has spent on his/her actual duties. They also include Sunday and overtime work. Hours actually worked include time spent in training, but not unpaid overtime. In labour cost statistics, hours actually worked can be defined also as paid hours minus paid leave.
Monthly wage earner
Occupation
In respect of the private sector the occupational titles used in statistics on wages and salaries derive from the nomenclature of occupations and tasks of the fields covered by the collective labour agreements of the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK, the nomenclature of tasks of Kirkon työmarkkinalaitos (labour market organisation of the Church) and the nomenclature of occupations of Näyttämöväen Vanhuudenturvasäätiö (foundation for pension security of stage and screen employees). The titles of occupations and tasks in the local government sector are based on the Local Government Pensions Institution's classification of occupations. The titles of occupations and tasks in the central government sector comply with the titles of occupations or tasks of letters of appointment or collective labour agreements.
The occupations in statistics on wages and salaries are classified basing on these nomenclatures of occupational titles by taking into consideration the employer sector, educational qualification and industry of the wage and salary earner. Field-specific titles of occupations or tasks are not published in statistics on wage and salary structures, where only the classification of occupations is used in describing occupations.
Part-time
In structural statistics on wages and salaries, the division into full-time and part-time employment is based on regular weekly working hours. In these statistics, employment relationships with regular weekly working hours that are more than 10 per cent shorter than the general working time in the industry are defined as part-time. It has not been possible to define employment as full-time or part-time for wage and salary earners whose regular weekly working hours are not known. This may be due to either non-reporting or irregular working hours of the person in question. For public sector teachers, full-time and part-time employment has been defined on the basis of the conditions of the employment relationship. In the structural statistics on wages and salaries, private sector teachers whose weekly teaching duty is less than 16 hours are defined as working part-time.
Statistics on private sector wages and salaries:
For private sector monthly wage and salary earners, the definition of part-time employment is generally based on weekly working hours, as in the structural statistics of wages and salaries. In these statistics, wage and salary earners whose regular weekly working hours are over 10 per cent shorter than the general working time in the industry are defined as working part-time.
Information on other wage and salary earners' part-time employment is obtained through inquiries or defined according to the employment relationship. If a wage and salary earner's regular weekly working hours are not known, also information on earnings is used to define part-time employment.
The division between full-time and part-time employment is not made separately for private sector hourly wage earners.
Statistics on public sector wages and salaries:
For public sector wage and salary earners, full-time and part-time employment is defined on the basis of the character and conditions of the employment relationship. Information on full-time and part-time employment is usually obtained through inquiries.
Labour cost survey:
In statistics on labour cost, an employee whose working hours are shorter than the working hours specified in the collective agreement for government employees or the collective agreement, or the general working time of the unit in question, is defined as working part-time.
Cf. Full-time
Regular wages
- basic pay
- supplements based on duties, professional skill, years of service etc.
- supplements based on location and conditions of workplace
- premium pay
- performance-based pay components for salaried employees, workers' performance-based earnings
- taxation value for fringe benefits
- (in structural statistics on wages and salaries also pay for working hours not worked).
Regular wages do not include one-off items, such as holiday and performance bonuses. The concept of regular wages including performance-based bonuses is, however, also used in statistics on wages and salaries.
Regular wages are used in all statistics on wages and salaries, but the content may vary according to the statistics. In statistics on hourly wages, for example, regular wages include wages for time and piece rate work and contract work for the regular working time as well as the basic component of Sunday and overtime pay, but not the premia.
Cf. Total earnings
Total earnings
Total earnings for each pay period include
- basic pay
- supplements based on duties, professional skill, years of service etc.
- supplements based on location and conditions of workplace
- premium pay
- performance-based pay components for salaried employees, wage earners' performance-based earnings
- taxation value for fringe benefits
- earnings for extra and overtime work
- in part also eventual compensation for on-call or urgent work
- other irregularly paid supplements
- (in structural statistics on wages and salaries also pay for working hours not worked).
Total earnings do not include one-off items, such as holiday and performance-based bonuses.
In statistics on wages and salaries, the concept of total earnings including performance bonuses is also used.
The concept of total earnings is used in all statistics on wages and salaries, but its content may vary according to the statistics. In statistics on private sector hourly wages and salaries, for example, total earnings include earnings from regular working hours as well as Sunday and overtime pay premia.
Cf. Regular wages
Type of employment relationship
The data is usually directly obtained from inquiries for statistics on wages and salaries. In statistics on the structure of earnings, data on persons employed with employment promotion subsidies are supplemented by data obtained from the register of job seekers of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy.
Contractual employment relationship is the corresponding concept referred to in the statistics on wages and salaries in the private sector.
Cf. atypical employment in the Labour Force Survey (fixed-term and/or part-time).
Usual weekly working hours
In the private sector, regular weekly working hours must average out to 40 hours per week within a reference period defined in the collective agreement. For public sector wage and salary earners with office working hours, average weekly working hours are 36.25 hours a week, and for those with general working hours 38.25 hours a week.
In structural statistics on wages and salaries, the regular 40-hour week of workers in industries which pay hourly wages has been shortened with industry-specific solutions, according to the so called "pekkassopimus". The basic consideration has been to secure the earlier income level. The shortening of working time with separate days off has been taken into account in determining regular weekly working hours in such a way that the regular weekly working hours for workers with a 40-hour week are 37.89 hours. The shortening of the working time of municipal hourly wage earners has been executed by shortening regular weekly working hours, not by adding paid or unpaid days off.
Regular wages are based on regular weekly working hours. Cf. Regular wages
Cf. Total working hours
Classifications
Accuracy, reliability and timeliness
Overall accuracy
The data are mainly sent from local government employers’ payroll systems by means of data transfers. Key errors in the dataset include the payment period related to premium pay, meaning that the reported period does not correspond to the reported euros, or the dataset includes retroactive pay components. The aim is to identify these during a review and replace them with a corrected dataset.
Timeliness
Punctuality
Comparability
Comparability - geographical
Comparability - over time
In 2007, the calculation of local government sector earnings was changed so that the earnings of teachers composed of weekly overtime hours were regarded as earnings during regular working hours. Teachers’ earnings during regular working hours are therefore not comparable with preceding years’ data. This change also affects the averages of the earnings in question in the local government sector as a whole.
In 2014, the position of a few pay factors in different earnings concepts was adjusted. This correction resulted in a roughly 0.5 per cent increase in earnings during regular working hours for teachers and a roughly 0.1 per cent increase in the local government sector as a whole compared with previous years.
Since 2015, the classification of occupations in the statistics on local government sector wages and salaries has been included in employment statistics. This change affected the classification of some 27,000 employees in the 2015 statistics on local government sector wages and salaries, some of which concerned specifications in the classification from a more approximate level. The most significant changes concerned the two-digit level in the classification of occupations regarding the following occupations: 53 (-4,400), i.e. care service and healthcare employees, from which wage and salary earners mainly transferred to occupational group 91 (+4,100), i.e. cleaners, domestic helpers and other cleaners.
The classifications of occupations in the 2014 and 2015 statistics on local government sector wages and salaries are therefore not fully comparable.
Since the 2017 statistical year, Statistics Finland’s 2016 national classification of education has been used in the statistics on local government sector wages and salaries. The classification includes a new level ‘4 Post-secondary non-tertiary education’. Fields of education have undergone more changes. For example, data processing and data communications have been divided into separate categories. As a result, education data are not fully comparable with previous years. The division of education levels and fields in the 2016 national classification of education follows the international ISCED 2011 classification.
Data on local government sector wages and salaries are used in calculating the index of wage and salary earnings. It measures the development of earnings paid for wage and salary earners’ regular working hours. The data included in the statistics on local government sector wages and salaries are also published in the structure of earnings statistics.
Coherence - cross domain
Coherence - internal
Source data and data collections
Source data
Data collection
Frequency of data collection
Methods
Data compilation
Data validation
At the last stage, final inspections are conducted for the dataset and any outliers are removed.
Principles and outlines
Contact organisation
Contact organisation unit
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Legal acts and other agreements
COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) N:o 530/1999 of 9 March 1999
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) N:o 1916/2000 of 8 September 2000
Confidentiality - data treatment
the data are based on data on fewer than 30 employees or fewer than three enterprises, or if one enterprise covers 80 per cent of all data observations.
Release policy
Data sharing
Accessibility and clarity
The statistical release is published annually on the home page of the statistics https://www.stat.fi/til/ksp/index_en.html. During the publication, six database tables are published
Data revision - policy
Revisions – i.e. improvements in the accuracy of statistical data already published – are a normal feature of statistical production and result in improved quality of statistics. The principle is that statistical data are based on the best available data and information concerning the statistical phenomenon. On the other hand, the revisions are communicated as transparently as possible in advance. Advance communication ensures that the users can prepare for the data revisions.
The reason why data in statistical releases become revised is often caused by the data becoming supplemented. Then the new, revised statistical figure is based on a wider information basis and describes the phenomenon more accurately than before.
Revisions of statistical data may also be caused by the calculation method used, such as annual benchmarking or updating of weight structures. Changes of base years and used classifications may also cause revisions to data.
Lisäksi suhdannetilastoihin tarvittaessa tämä lisäys:
Seasonally adjusted data in statistics on economic trends become revised because of the calculation method used. Additional information on a new time series observation is exploited in model-based calculation methods and this is reflected as changes in previous releases. Revisions of the latest figures to be seasonally adjusted are elaborated on in the releases and quality reports of statistics.
A summary table of the revisions that have taken place is also published in connection with key statistics on economic trends and some annual statistics. The table shows how the data for the statistical reference periods have changed between the first and the most recent statistical release.
Quality assurance
The quality of the dataset for the statistics on local government sector wages and salaries is assessed using a feedback report as statistical production progresses. The feedback report includes information on municipality-specific earnings by earnings concept, pricing identifier and pay factor.
At the last stage, final inspections are conducted for the dataset, and any outliers are removed.
User access
Data are released to all users at the same time. Statistical data may only be handled at Statistics Finland and information on them may be given before release only by persons involved in the production of the statistics concerned or who need the data of the statistics concerned in their own work before the data are published.
Further information: Publication principles for statistics
Unless otherwise separately stated in connection with the product, data or service concerned, Statistics Finland is the producer of the data and the owner of the copyright. The terms of use for statistical data