This showed that wage freeze or cut was still quite common in the preceding twelve months. Decreases in wage rates were mainly observed in the restaurants and hotels industries. The increase in average wage rate was partly due to an increase in payment of guaranteed allowances in a number of manufacturing industries over the year. Both wage indices and payroll indices are compiled quarterly based on the results of the Labour Earnings Survey conducted by the Census and Statistics Department. Payroll indices, on the other hand, cover employees at all levels and proprietors actively engaged in the work of the establishments.
Wage rate includes basic wages and other regular and guaranteed allowances and bonuses.
Payroll includes elements covered by wage rate as well as other irregular payments such as discretionary bonuses and overtime allowances. It should also be noted that wage statistics are conceptually different from the payroll statistics. First, wage rate for an employee refers to the sum earned for his normal hours of work, and does not include earnings from overtime work and discretionary bonuses, which are however included in payroll per person engaged. Second, the payroll index of an industry is an indicator of the simple average payroll received per person engaged in the industry. Its movement is therefore affected by changes in wage rates, the number of hours of work and occupational composition in the industry.