Commission Regulation (EC) No 1897/2000 of 7 September 2000 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 on the organisation of a labour force sample survey in the Community concerning the operational definition of unemployment
Date: 2000-09-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: sample survey, sampling, statistical method, unemployment, working population

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Official Journal of the European Communities

8.9.2000

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1897/2000

of 7 September 2000

implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 on the organisation of a labour force sample
survey in the Community concerning the operational definition of unemployment

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 of 9
March 1998 on the organisation of a labour force sample
survey in the Community (1), and in particular Article 4(3)
thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

In accordance with Article 4(3) of Regulation (EC) No
577/98, the definition of the variables and a list of
principles for the formulation of questions concerning
the labour status is to be drawn up.

The international comparability of
statistics
requires that the Member States and the Community
institutions measure employment and unemployment
according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO)
definition of employment and unemployment.

labour

The Commission needs
to
monitor and assess progress as an effect of the imple-
mentation of the Employment Guidelines (2).

comparable

indicators

A common definition of unemployment in all Member
States, combined with a greater harmonisation of labour
force survey questionnaires,

is therefore needed.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
Statistical
accordance with

opinion

the

the

of

Programme Committee established by Council Decision
89/382/EEC, Euratom (3),

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The definition of unemployment is laid down in Annex I

1.
to this Regulation.

2.
The principles for the formulation of the questions on the
labour status are laid down in Annex II to this Regulation.

Article 2

1.
The questions on the labour status for the purposes of
the Community labour force sample survey shall comply with
the principles laid down in Annex II to this Regulation, and
allow the measurement of unemployment as defined in Annex
I therein.

However, paragraph 1 may not apply during the time
2.
needed to adapt the labour force sample survey. In such case,
Member States shall accompany the transmission to Eurostat of
the Community labour force sample survey results with a clear
identification of the deviations from the definition and princi-
ples referred to in paragraph 1.

Article 3

This Regulation shall enter
into force on the 20th day
following its publication in the Official Journal of the European
Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 7 September 2000.

For the Commission

Pedro SOLBES MIRA

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 77, 14.3.1998, p. 3.
(2) OJ C 69, 12.3.1999, p. 2.

(3) OJ L 181, 28.6.1989, p. 47.

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ANNEX I

Labour force survey: definition of unemployment

1. In accordance with the ILO standards adopted by the 13th and 14th International Conference of Labour Statisticians
(ICLS), for the purposes of the Community labour force sample survey, unemployed persons comprise persons aged 15
to 74 who were:

(a) without work during the reference week, i.e. neither had a job nor were at work (for one hour or more) in paid

employment or self-employment;

(b) currently available for work, i.e. were available for paid employment or self-employment before the end of the two

weeks following the reference week;

(c) actively seeking work, i.e. had taken specific steps in the four week period ending with the reference week to seek
paid employment or self-employment or who found a job to start later, i.e. within a period of at most three
months.

For the purposes of point 1(c), the following are considered as specific steps:

— having been in contact with a public employment office to find work, whoever took the initiative (renewing

registration for administrative reasons only is not an active step),

— having been in contact with a private agency (temporary work agency, firm specialising in recruitment, etc.) to find

work,

— applying to employers directly,
— asking among friends, relatives, unions, etc., to find work,
— placing or answering job advertisements,
— studying job advertisements,
— taking a recruitment test or examination or being interviewed,
— looking for land, premises or equipment,
— applying for permits,

licences or financial resources.

2. Education and training are considered as ways of improving employability but not as methods of seeking work.
Persons without work and in education or training will only be classified as unemployed if they are ‘currently available
for work’ and ‘seeking work’, as defined in points 1(b) and (c).

3. Lay-offs are classified as unemployed if they do not receive any significant wage or salary (significant is set at ≥50 %)
from their employer and if they are ‘currently available for work’ and ‘seeking work’. Lay-offs are treated as a case of
unpaid leave initiated by the employer — including leave paid out of government budget or by funds (16th ICLS). In
this case, lay-offs are classified as employed if they have an agreed date of return to work and if this date falls within a
period of three months.

4. During the off-season, seasonal workers cannot be considered as having a formal attachment to their high-season job
— because they do not continue to receive a wage or salary from their employer although they may have an assurance
of return to work. If they are not at work during the off-season, they are classified as unemployed only if they are
‘currently available for work’ and ‘seeking work’, as defined in points 1(b) and (c).

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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Labour force survey: principles for the formulation of the questions on the labour status

ANNEX II

1. The questions on the labour status according to the ILO definition (employed, unemployed or inactive) are in general
the first questions in the individual questionnaire, immediately following the questions on the demographic character-
istics of the household members. In particular, they are not preceded by questions on the main or the usual activity
(student, housekeeping, retired, etc.) or on the administrative status of a registration at the public employment office
to claim unemployment benefits, where this would prejudice the response to the questions on the ILO labour status.

In the case of dependent interviewing in later waves and when the labour status as an employed or inactive person is
apparently permanent or stable, their labour status can be shortly verified with reference to their status in the
previous wave.

2. The sequence of the questions on employment consists of at least two separate questions: one question on currently
working and another question on having a job when being temporarily absent from work (persons on leave). The
question on being at work must precede the question on having a job so that the contrast between both questions
contributes to a complete identification of the temporarily absent.

The identification of lay-offs (unpaid leave initiatied by the employer) and their classification as employed (or
unemployed) persons depends on two conditions of a formal job attachment: an assurance of return to work after the
end of the contingency and the short duration (≤3 months) of the suspension of the labour contract. Both conditions
are determined by a question following the question about the reason for their temporary absence or the season why
they did not look for a job in the previous four weeks or by response categories in these questions.

3. The questions on employment and job search must contain a cue for the identification of persons with a minor job

of just a few or even one hour.

4. The questions on employment must contain a cue for the identification of unpaid family workers. Alternatively, they

are identified by a separate question about being at work.

5. The questions on employment must clearly indicate that only work for pay or profit is considered as an economic

activity within the ILO framework.

6. The reference period of employment must be clearly specified. The question on employment refers as a rule to the
last week, defined as ‘from Monday to Sunday’, giving the exact date. The reference periods of job search and
availability must be clearly specified. The two questions on job search and job search methods refer to the past four
weeks including the reference week and the question on availability to the period until the end of the two weeks
following the reference week.

7. All persons who were asked the questions on employment and were identified as having no job are asked the
question on job search. No other filter question precedes this question. In the case of dependent interviewing in later
waves and when the labour status as an employed or inactive person is apparently permanent or stable, their labour
status can be shortly verified with reference to their status in the previous wave.

8. The question on job search must refer to any effort, even irregular, by the respondent to find a job or to establish
her/his own business. The wording of the question must avoid that only a continuous search throughout the entire
reference period is considered as a sufficient condition of job search.

9. The question on job search methods must contain active and passive search methods. The following are considered as

active search methods:

— having been in contact with the public employment office to find work,

— having been in contact with a private agency to find work,

— applying to employers directly,

— asking among friends, relatives, trade unions, etc., to find work,

— placing or answering job advertisements,

— studying job advertisements,

— taking a recruitment test or examination or being interviewed,

— looking for land, premises or equipment,

— applying for permits,

licenses of financial resources.

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10. The ‘contact with the public employment office to find work’ is a two-way contact. It can be initiated by the
registered unemployed person or by the employment office. This contact must be included as the first (response
category in the) question on job search methods. It is distinct from the administrative renewal of a registration to
claim unemployment benefits (when this was not preceded by a spell of employment or inactivity). It is also distinct
from the assistance provided by the employment office to improve the employability of the registered unemployed
person. The ‘contact with the public employment office to find work’ as an active step only involves:

— putting the respondent's name in the employment office file for the first time (after a spell of employment or

inactivity),

— finding out about possible job vacancies, or
— ‘at the initiative of the employment office a suggestion of a job opportunity’, which may be accepted or refused

by the job searcher.

11. Job search methods are enumerated until at least three active methods have been mentioned.

12. Persons who are currently not employed and who are not looking for a job because they have already found a job
i.e. within a period of at most three months must be identified as a separate category.

which will start later,