Regional Course on SDGs Indicators: Measuring decent work using
microdata from labour force surveys
Classification of ICSE, ISCO and ISIC including Women in managerial
positions (SDG 5.5.2)
Chiba (Japan)
30 September – 4 October 2019

Concepts of industry, occupation andstatus in employment – Overview
Status in employment• The status of an employed person with respect to his/her employer• The type of implicit or explicit contract of employment with other persons or•organizations
International Classification of Status in Employment (ICSE)

Occupation• The type of work done by the person employed regardless of the industry,••or under what status in employment.
A “set of jobs whose main tasks and duties are characterized by a highdegree of similarity”
International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO)

Industry• The economic activity of the establishment in which a person worked• What the establishment does, not what the individual does when working
for that establishment• International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities
ilostat.ilo.org (ISIC)

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International Classification ofStatus in Employment (ICSE-93)• Adopted through a resolution of the Fifteenth International
Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) in January 1993
• It has been replaced in October 2018 by ICSE-18 during the20th ICLS.
• ICSE-93 remains the classification used up to now in all
countries but will gradually been replaced with the newframework.
• Classifies jobs with respect to the type of explicit or implicit
contract of employment between the job holder and theeconomic unit in which he or she is employed3

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ICSE-93
Paid employment
jobs

Self-employmentjobs• 1. Employees• 2. Employers• 3. Ownaccountworkers• 4. Membersof producers’
cooperatives• 5.
Contributing
familyworkers

ilostat.ilo.org• 6. Workers
notclassifiable bystatus4

Employees
Employees are all those workers who hold thetype of job defined as paid employment jobs
• More detailed categories of employees are notprovided as a formal part of the classification• The definition of this group provides guidance on thedefinition of employees on stable contracts and of‘regular employees’• Typically comprise 60 – 90% of the employed
population.
• More than 80% of workers are employees indeveloped regions• In some less developed countries employees
comprise a relatively small percentage of total
employment
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Employers and Own-account workers
Both Employers and Own-accountworkers• Work on their own account or with one ora few partners

Employers• Have engaged one or more persons towork for them in their business asemployee(s)’.

Own-account workers• Have not engaged any employees on acontinuous basis• May have engaged employees during thereference period but not on a continuous
basis• May work with or without the assistance ofcontributing family workers
ilostat.ilo.org• Globally, own
account workers
are the second
largest group• Employers rarely
comprise morethan 5% of total
employment• In some countries
own-accountworkers are more
numerous thanemployees

6Contributing family workers•

Hold a self-employment job in amarket-oriented establishment
operated by a related person living inthe same household•

Contributing family
workers are a significant
group in many countriesIn most industrialized or
wealthy countries they
represent a very small
percentage of total
employment

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7ICSE-18
Comprises ten detailed categories that can be organised according to
the two dimensions type of authority and type of economic risk
Creates two different hierarchies:
International Classification of Status in Employment according totype of authority (ICSE-18-A) - Creates a dichotomy between
independent workers and dependent workers
Classification of Status in Employment according to type of
economic risk (ICSE-18-R) - Creates a dichotomy between workers forprofit and workers for pay

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ICSE-18 dichotomy between independent anddependent workers based on type of authority
Independent workers

 Own the economic units inwhich they work, and control its
activities
 Make the most important
decisions about the activities ofthe economic unit and theorganization of their work.
 Are not supervised by otherworkers
 Are not dependent on a single
other economic unit or person
for access to the market
 May work on their own accountor in partnership with otherindependent workers and mayor may not provide work forothersDependent workers• Do not have complete

authority or control over the
economic unit in which orfor which they work.
• If employed for profit they

Have no employees
Do not make the mostimportant decisions about
the activities of theeconomic unit for which
they work

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Classification of status based ontype of Authority (ICSE-18-A)
Independent workers

Dependent workers

Employers• Employers in corporations• Employers in householdmarket enterprises

Employees• Permanent employees• Fixed-term employees• Short-term and casualemployees• Paid apprentices, trainees
and interns

Independent workers
without employees• Owner-operators ofcorporations without
employees• Own-account workers inhousehold market
enterprises without
employees
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Dependent contractors• Dependent contractors
Contributing family workers• Contributing familyworkers
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ICSE-18-A : International Classification of Status in
Employment according to type of authority
Independent workers are classified into the following groups:
A.
Employers:
11 – Employers in corporations.
12 – Employers in household market enterprises.
B.
Independent workers without employees:
21 – Owner-operators of corporations without employees.
22 – Own-account workers in household market enterprises without employees.
Dependent workers are classified into the following groups:
C.
Dependent contractors:
30 – Dependent contractors.
D.
Employees:
41 – Permanent employees.
42 – Fixed-term employees.
43 – Short-term and casual employees.
44 – Paid apprentices, trainees and interns.
E.
Contributing family workers:
51 – Contributing family workers.

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Dichotomy based on type of economic risk
- analogous to self-employment and paid employment
Workers in employment
for profit Remuneration is directly
and entirely dependent
on the profit or loss
made by the economic
unit in which they areemployed Do not receive a wage orsalary in return for time
worked.

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Workers in
employment for pay Receive, or expect toreceive, remunerationin cash or in kind, in
return for time
worked or for eachpiece or serviceproduced.

12Classification of status based on the typeof economic Risk (ICSE-18-R)
Workers in
employment for profit

Workers in employment
for pay

Independent workers inhousehold market
enterprises

Owner-operators ofcorporations••

Employers in householdmarket enterprises
Own-account workers inhousehold market
enterprises without
employees

Dependent contractors•

Dependent contractors

Contributing family
workers•••

Employers in corporations
Owner-operators ofcorporations without
employees

Employees••••

Permanent employees
Fixed-term employees
Short-term and casual
employees
Paid apprentices, trainees
and interns

Contributing family workers

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13ICSE-18-R: Classification of Status in Employment
according to type of economic risk
Workers in employment for profit are classified into the following groups:
F.
Independent workers in household market enterprises:
12 – Employers in household market enterprises.
22 – Own-account workers in household market enterprises without employees.
C.
Dependent contractors:
30 – Dependent contractors.
E.
Contributing family workers:
51 – Contributing family workers.
Workers in employment for pay are classified into the following groups:
G.
Owner-operators of corporations:
11 – Employers in corporations.
21 – Owner-operators of corporations without employees.
D.
Employees:
41 – Permanent employees.
42 – Fixed-term employees.
43 – Short-term and casual employees.
44 – Paid apprentices, trainees and interns.

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Occupation – Concept and uses
Occupation• Refers to the type of work done by the person employed•••irrespective of where (the industry), or under what statusin employment, it is being done
An occupation is a “set of jobs whose main tasks andduties are characterized by a high degree of similarity”
Major component of national labour market information
Is usually applied to jobs in employment but may also beapplied to other forms of work

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International Standard Classification ofOccupations (ISCO)
 Current version was endorsed by the ILO Governing Body in2008:• For this reason it is known as ISCO-08• Structure and group definitions available on ILO Website• Hierarchically structured classification comprising: 10 major groups 43 sub-major groups 130 minor groups 436 unit groups

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What is ISCO used for?
 International reporting, comparison and exchange ofstatistical and administrative data A model for development of national and regionalclassifications of occupations
 Used directly in countries that have not developed anational classification

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Underlying concepts adopted with
ISCO-08
 Job : a set of tasks and duties performed by one person
including for an employer or in self employment
 Occupation: a set of jobs whose main tasks and duties arecharacterised by a high degree of similarity:• A person may be associated with an occupation through themain job currently held, a second job, or a job previously held
 Occupations are organized into groups according to skill
level and skill specialization:• Skill level is applied mainly at the top (major group) level of theclassification.
• Within each major group occupations are arranged into unitgroups, minor groups and sub-major groups, primarily on thebasis of aspects of skill specialization.

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18Number of groups at each level of ISCO-08(Numbers for ISCO-88 are shown in brackets where different)

Major groups

Sub-major Minor
Groupsgroups

Unitgroups

1 Managers

4 (3)

11(8)

31 (33)

2 Professionals

6 (4)27(18)

92 (55)

3 Technicians and associate professionals

5 (4)20(21)

84 (73)4 Clerical support workers

4 (2)

8 (7)

29 (23)5 Service and sales workers

4 (2)13 (9)

40 (23)

6 Skilled agricultural, fishery, and forestry workers

3 (2)

9 (6)

18 (17)

7 Craft and related trades workers

5 (4)14 (16)66 (70)314 (20)40 (70)9 Elementary occupations

6 (3)

11 (10)33(25)

0 Armed forces occupations

3 (1)

3 (1)

3 (1)

Total ISCO-08 (ISCO-88)

43 (28)8 Plant and machine operators, and assemblers

130 (116) 436 (390)ilostat.ilo.org

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Occupation – Information needed forcoding For accurate coding to any level of ISCO (and relatednational classifications) information is needed on:• Name or title of occupation• Main tasks or duties usually performed in the job
 Information about the level of skill or qualifications ofan individual is not necessary
 Questions need to focus on a specific job (for example
the main job)

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Purpose of International Standard
Industrial Classification (ISIC) Since its creation in 1948, ISIC had two goals:• Provide a tool for international comparison• Provide guidance to countries for a national activity
classification structure ISIC is periodically updated to keep it relevant witheconomic developments.
• Side effect: Increasing need for detailed data has lead tomore detailed versions of ISIC

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The concept of industry – or branchof economic activity
 The activity of the economic units (such as establishment)
in which an employed person worked
 What the establishment does, not what the individual does
when working for that establishment
 Collected in labour statistics with reference to a job or work
activity held by a person
 Most countries are changing to a classification compatible
with ISIC, Revision 4
 The industry classification used in labour force surveys
must be consistent with that used for other relevant
statistics, including economic statistics

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Objectives of the ISIC revision
 Relevance• Reflect new industries, new production pattern, new needs
for economic analysis
 Comparability• Improve linkages to major regional classifications
 Continuity• Maintain close links to the previous version of ISIC Main task: balancing these three objectives

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ilostat.ilo.org

Industry: information needed
for coding
Industry question generally requires twocomponents:
1. The name of the place of workwith details of division or branch for larger private
enterprises, and government institutions

this information may be recorded under a place of work
variable
Full name and address is required if an establishment
register is to be used for coding
2. A clear description of the main products or functions of theestablishment

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ISIC Rev.4 main categories
A - Agriculture, forestry and fishing
B - Mining and quarrying
C – Manufacturing
D - Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply
E - Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities
F – Construction
G - Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles
H - Transportation and storage
I - Accommodation and food service activities
J - Information and communication
K - Financial and insurance activities
L - Real estate activities"
M - Professional, scientific and technical activities
N - Administrative and support service activities
O - Public administration and defence; compulsory social security
P – Education
Q - Human health and social work activities
R - Arts, entertainment and recreation
S - Other service activities
T - Activities of households as employers
U - Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies
X - Not elsewhere classified
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