NATIONAL STATISTICAL INSTITUTE
1038 Sofia, 2 P. Volov Str. tel.:(+359 2) 9857 700, fax:(+359 2) 9857 640, e-sgn: , e-mail:
Theme 32: Labour Market Statistics
Tests on the “European Socio-economic Classification”
GRANT AGREEMENT No 32100.2007.001-2007.689
FINAL REPORT
(Project leader: Svetlana Ganeva (), “Statistical Classifications and Standards” Division, NSI)
Sofia, June 2009
1IMPLEMENTATIONOFTHENATIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF OCCUPATIONS AND DUTIES (NCOD) IN THE GOVERNANCE OF THE LABOUR AND SOCIAL POLICY AND IN THE STATISTICAL PRACTICE
2PROBLEMS CONCERNING THE PECULIARITIES OF THE NATIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF OCCUPATIONS AND DUTIES IN COMPARISON WITH ISCO 88 (COM)
3EUROPEAN SOCIO-ECONOMIC CLASSIFICATION (ESEC) AND ITS USAGE IN BULGARIA
4TESTING THE ESEC USING DATA FROM THE LABOUR FORCE SURVEY 2007 AND FROM THE STRUCTURE OF EARNINGS SURVEY 2002 AND 2006.
5MAIN PROBLEMS ORIGINATED IN THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE OCCUPATIONS TO THE ESEC CATEGORIES
6SOME PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED DURING THE CODING AND PROVIDING THE OCCUPATIONAL DATA IN THE LABOUR FORCE SURVEY AND IN THE STRUCTURE OF EARNINGS SURVEY
7TEST FOR APPLICABILITY OF ISCO 2008 IN THE NATIONAL PRACTICE AS A BASIS OF ESEC MATRIX
8GENERAL CONCLUSIONS CONCERNING THE USABILITY OF ESEC FOR SOCIAL AND LABOUR POLICY GOVERNANCE
9INVESTIGATION OF THE ISCO REVISION INFLUENCE ON THE NATIONAL PRACTICE. PRACTICAL RULES FOR ITS IMPLEMENTATION
10IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CLASSIFICATION OF STATUS IN EMPLOYMENT IN TESTING OF ESeC
11TESTING OF ESEC AIMING AT THE QUALITY IMPROVEMENT OF STATISTICAL DATA AND RESULTS
12APPLICABILITY OF ESEC ON 2-DIGIT LEVEL
13TESTING OF ESEC WITH UNEMPLOYMENT DATA
14QUALITY ISSUES IN IMPLEMENTATION OF ESEC MATRIX IN THE LFS AND SES
15CONCLUSIONS
Introduction
This report presents the work of the Bulgarian team working on the Project “Tests on the “European Socio-economic Classification” (Theme 32: Labour Market Statistics), Grant Agreement No 32100.2007.001-2007.689
The expected results from the project by the agreement were:
1. Definition of the possibilities and problems of the application of the ESeC in the statistical and governance practice in the Republic of Bulgaria. Definition of the suggestions for improvement of the ESeC derived from the Bulgarian practice.
2. Definition of the directions for improvement of the National Classification of Occupations based on the gained experience during the test of ESeC and implementation issues concerning ISCO 88 and ISCO 2008.
3. Preparation for implementation of ISCO 2008 in the Bulgarian practice from 2010 or 2011.
4. Improvement of statistical data quality in the surveys based on use of ISCO 88 categories.
During the 18-months period all the activities described in the project contract were realized exhaustively as far as possible. The presented paper describes the results. As it is the final report, it covers also the results, presented earlier in the Interim Report.
The presented results are the output of the following activities:
- DescriptionoftheactivitiesconcerningtheimplementationoftheNational Classification of Occupations and Duties (NCOD) based on ISCO 88aswellasonthe nationalexperienceindatacollectionbyoccupations – statisticalpractice, registeroftheNSSI, the Employment Agency practice in services concerning the employer necessities; social services and practice for definition of the minimum thresholds for the taxable earnings.
- DescriptionandanalysisofthedifficultiesandissuesconcerningimplementationoftheNCODanddefinitionoftheoriginofthemainproblems – whatisthereasonfordifficulties – arethereanynationalspecificitiesorlackofcorrespondencebetweenthe nationalclassificationandISCO 88, is there not a correct definition of the required skills and qualification concerning the occupations on national level.
- DevelopmentofmatrixoftheESeCandNCOD – correspondingtables (matrix) andpriorityrulesforthe classificationofoccupationsinESeCcategories.
- Support of the defined problems and conclusions using data from the national statistical practice – LFS and Structure ofEarnings Surveyby occupations (data from 2002 and probably from 2006).
- DefinitionofthemainproblemsoriginatedintheclassificationofoccupationstotheESeCcategories – reasons, whatclarificationstobeaddedintheexplanations.Assessment and analysisoftheapplicabilityofthecriteriausedinthe nationalpracticeforoccupationdefinition. New directions of ESeC implementation.
- Analysisofthequalitycheck – usingtheproposedtemplatesandquestions - reasonsconcerningtheinaccurateclassificationofoccupationsinthe NCOD (comparingwithISCO 88).
- Analysisofthe applicabilityofISCO 2008 fornationaluse – testof the applicabilityofISCO 2008 inthe nationalpracticeasabasisofESeCmatrixes.
- Quality analysisoftheusability issues concerning thecategoriesoftheESeCprototypeforassessmentandgovernance (management solutions)ofthesocio-economicpolicyinBulgaria done by the MLSP experts , based on theresultsofESeCapplicationusingstatisticaldata provided by the NSI experts.
- LFS and investigation of the ISCO revision impact on the categories of the ESeC formation. Applicability of the definitions in the national practice. Practical rules for its implementation.
- Definition of the specific cases in the Bulgarian practice and their detailed analysis. Impact of the concrete cases on the national practice – quality analysis.
- Implementation of the Classification of Status in Employment – self employed and “paid employment” jobs and implementation of the ESeC – analysis of the comparability and usability issues.
- Definition of the possible solutions concerning inaccuracy of the classification descriptions and the problems originating in other factors - analysis aiming at quality improvement of the statistical data and results.
- Preparation and analysis of the existing matrixes on the lower level and definition of the 2-digit level if applicable in the national practice: assessment of the applicability of ESeC on 2-digit level:
Preparation of correspondingtablesandrecalculationofthestatisticaldata;
Determination of the issues concerning the categories definitions of the ESeC;
Definition of the problemsinusageofthestatisticaldata – consistency, clarityofthedefinitionsandcategories;
Analysis of the applicability in the statistical surveys and the applicability in evaluation and definition of the socio-economic policy.
- Investigation of the applicability of additional dimensions and the information sources for them.
- Dimensions for the unemployed and non active persons.
- Quality issues – analysis of the directions included in the quality reports with underlining the issues concerning the ISCO and ESeC usage in the statistical practice – in the templates, foreseen for that project. Classification’s issues and the classification’s accuracy in the definition of their positions and coverage.
Additionally, the team has elaborated the European Socio-economic Classification in Bulgarian language. It was useful not only for the proper implementation of the ESeC-matrix in especcialy for that project. Preparing this document, the team has defined some requirements concerning the harmonized usage of the ESeC in the Member States.
The project was realized in co-operation between experts from the National Statistical Institute and the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. The conclusions are a result of the common discussions.
In the Final Report there are not included all prepared papers, but only those which prove the presented theses.
1IMPLEMENTATIONOFTHENATIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF OCCUPATIONS AND DUTIES (NCOD) IN THE GOVERNANCE OF THE LABOUR AND SOCIAL POLICY AND IN THE STATISTICAL PRACTICE
1.1NATIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF OCCUPATIONS AND DUTIES
The National Classification of Occupations and Duties 2005 (NCOD-2005) is in force since 1 January 2006. The NCOD-2005 is adopted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy with order N742/27.12.2005 and is available on the Ministry web site:
The NCOD-2005 is developed based on the International Classification of Occupation ISCO 88 with a small number of exclusions because of the national purposes. The NCOD-2005 has fivehierarchical levels, the first four of them are corresponding to the hierarchical levels of ISCO 88. The fifth level is a level of the duties, 8-digit level, defining the alphabetical index, used mainly in the governance of the labour and social policy.
The NCOD-2005 is developed as a set of:
-structure,
-regulation,
-methodological rules for use and implementation;
-explanatory notes for the positions on the level “unit group” (corresponding to level “unit group” of ISCO 88)
-correspondence tables to ISCO 88, ISCO 88 (COM) and to the previous National Classification of Occupations used in Bulgaria from 1996 to 2005.
In the next chapters and annexes to the report are given the available description of the national exclusions and related problems in its implementation as well as the classification structure on the required levels.
Before 2006 (1996-2005), theNational Classification of Occupations (NCO-1996) was used in the national practice. It was based on ISCO 88. The NCO-1996 was developed on 4 hierarchical levels corresponding to ISCO-88 hierarchical levels. The necessity of a list of duties and alphabetical index was one of the reasons for revision of the national occupational classification in 2005.
1.2USE OF THE NATIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF OCCUPATIONS AND DUTIES IN GOVERNANCE OF THE EMPLOYMENT, LABOUR MARKET, SOCIAL SECURITY AND SOCIAL PROTECTION ACTIVITIES
The National Classification of Occupations and Duties (NCOD-2005) is used in governance of the employment, labour market, security and social protection activities as follows:
Registers of the National Social Security Institute and the National Revenue Agency
For the purposes of the social security system the following registers are held for theinsured persons:
-Register of the insured persons collecting data about the person’s occupation coded at 1-digit level (major group) of NCOD-2005. This information is submitted by the employer on a monthly basis;
-Register of the labour contracts collecting data about the person’s occupation coded at 8-digit level (duty) within the Unit group of NCOD-2005. Within three days from the conclusion or modification of the employment contract and within seven days from its termination, the employer or an individual thereby authorized is obliged to send a notification thereof to the respective regional offices of the National Revenue Agency. The Duties that are registered shall be corresponding to the approved jobs schedule within the enterprise;
-Register of the accidents in work and occupational diseases collecting data about the person’s occupation coded at 8-digit level (duty) within the Unit group of NCOD-2005. The employer or an individual thereby authorized is obliged to send information thereof to the respective regional offices of the National Social Security Institutewithin three days from the accident of work..
Employment Agency
Job-seekers shall be registered by the job mediator within a registration file, consisting of information about the previous duties carried out coded at 8-digit level within the Unit group of NCOD-2005.
Employers that want to make use of the Labour offices’ intermediation in hiring unemployed persons may submit an application for their vacancies by entering job information coded at 8-digit level (duty) within the Unit group of NCOD-2005. This information is being further generalized on a monthly and/or yearly basis for the purposes of the state policy in the field of employment.
The comprehensive list of occupations and duties as coded in NCOD-2005 is used within the Employment Agency’s web page where an “E-labour exchange” is organized. Thus the Employment Agency provides information on the profiles of job-seekers registered at the Labour Offices Directorates so that employers can find the labour force needed by themselves. On the other hand Employment Agency benefits from the e-labour exchange by getting actual information about the employer’s needs of qualified personnel. In accordance to those necessities the Employment Agency can organize short run vocational training courses. During the e-labour exchange each employer is given the horizon of 3 to 12 months to set up its own future needs of qualified labour force.
Vocational Education and training System
The training for acquiring qualification is implemented under professions and specialties included in the List of Professions for Vocational Education and Training. The List is approved by the Minister of Education and Science after consultation with the Minister of Labour and Social Policy and other respective ministers as well as with the social partners on national level. The List provides correspondence between the training for acquiring of vocation and a number of NCOD-2005 Unit Groups where the successful trainees can find realization. This information is coded at 4-digit level within the Unit group of NCOD-2005.
The same correspondence can be found in the State Educational Requirements for acquiring vocational qualification.
Unified Classification of Duties in the Administration (UCDA)
The NCOD-2005 fully comprises the UCDA which is used within the state and municipality administrations. According to the Regulation for the Implementation of UCDA it is compulsory that jobs schedule indicates duties of NCOD-2005 coded at 8-digit level within the Unit group (Duty ).
Employer
When jobs schedule is being developed by an employer or an individual thereby authorized the positions used must be coded at 8-digit level (duty) within the Unit group of NCOD-2005 after an analysis of the job substance and complexity is done. The functions, tasks and the educational and qualification requirements for the occupation as stated in the job description should be taken into account.
1.3USE OF THE NATIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF OCCUPATIONS IN STATISTICAL SURVEYS, CARRIED OUT BY THE NATIONAL STATISTICAL INSTITUTE
The National Classification of Occupations and Duties NCOD-2005 is used in the data collection and data coding of data in the surveys, carried out by the National Statistical Institute.
As a rule, the data gathered by the NCOD were presented to Eurostat in accordance with the EC regulations and recommendations by ISCO 88 (COM).
In the following description one could find mentioned the surveys, the classification used and what are the classification hierarchical levels applied.
Population Census 2001
In the Population Census 2001, the National Classification of Occupation NCO-1996 was used. Data were coded at 4-digit level (unit group).
Data at national and regional level by occupations were published in specialized publications with the Population Census results at 3-digit (minor group) level of NCO.
Data by occupations were sent to Eurostat at 3 digit (minor group) level of ISCO-88.
Labour Force Survey
The Labour Force Survey has been carried out since 1993.
The National Classification of Occupation (version 1996) was used from 1997 to 2005, and the National Classification of Occupation and Duties (2005) has been used since 2006.
Data on occupation were collected and coded at 4 digit level for:
-Main current job (for employed persons);
-Last job (for persons not in employment during the reference period).
Quarterly and annual data on employment by occupational classes (1- digit level) were published in a specializedpublication “Employment and Unemployment”.
Quarterly micro-data from the Labour Force Survey were transmitted to Eurostat at 3-digit level of ISCO-88(COM).
Annual Enterprise Survey on the Number of Employed Persons, Wages and Salaries and Other Labour Costs
The National Classification of Occupation has been used since 1996.
Aggregated data on employment and wages by occupational classes (1- digit level) were collected from the enterprise.
Data on employment by occupational classes were published in the Statistical Yearbook and in the publication “Bulgaria – Social Economic Development”.
Annual data on the number of employees and average annual wages by occupational classes (1- digit level) were transmitted to Eurostat.
Structure of Earnings Survey
The Structure of Earnings Survey (SES) is a four-yearly survey. The objective of this survey is to provide detailed and comparable at European Union level information on distribution and relationship between the level of remuneration, the individual characteristics of employees and their employer.
The National Classification of Occupation were used:version of NCO-1996 in 2002 and version NCOD-2005 in 2006 surveys.
Data were collected from the enterprise but refered to individuals. In 2002, the survey data were coded at 4-digit level of NCO-1996, but 3-digit codes were also accepted. In 2006, survey 4-digit codes by NCO-1996 or 8-digit codes by NCOD-2005 were required. The 2006 was a transition period for the enterprises to move to the revised classification.
The SES data by occupations were published at 1-st digit level in the specialized publications "Structure of Earning Survey 2002”, "Structure of Earning Survey 2006” and on the NSI website.
SES micro-data were transmitted to Eurostat coded at 3-digit level of ISCO-88 (COM).
Household Budget Survey (HBS)
The National Classification of Occupations – 1996 was used up to 2004 and since 2006 –the National Classification of Occupations and Duties – 2005. (Data on occupations are coded at 2-digit level).
Data by occupation were not published and delivered to Eurostat.
Time Use Survey
The survey was carried out in 2001. The National Classification of Occupation (Version 1996) was used. Data were coded and provided to Eurostat at 3-digit level of NCO (1996). No data by occupations were published.
Survey on Careers of Doctorate Holders
The survey was carried out in 2007. Data werecoded at 3-digit levelof the National Classification of Occupations and Duties - 2005.
Adult Education Survey (AES)
AES was carried out in 2007. The National Classification of Occupations and Duties – 2005 was used according to the Eurostat requirements for coding the following variables:
-Occupation at the main job – at 2-digit level (for employed);
-Occupation one year before the survey – at 2-digit level (everybody);
-Main occupation of the father when the interviewee was between the ages of 12 and 16 - at 1-digit level (everybody);
-Main occupation of the mother when the interviewee was between the ages of 12 and 16 - at 1-digit level (everybody).
Micro-data were delivered to Eurostat in a format according to the requirements, and also data on occupations in the way described above.
EU SILC
EUSILC was carried out for the first time in 2006. The National Classification of Occupations and Duties – 2005 was used for coding the current occupation of employed and for the last job of persons. Data were coded at 4-digit level.
Data by occupation were not published.
Data on occupations were delivered to Eurostat at 2-digit level.
Multi-topic Household Survey
Multi-topic Household Survey was carried out in 2003. The National Classification of Occupations – 1996 was used for coding the occupation at 4-digit level.
Data by occupation were not published.
Information and Communication Technologies Usage by Households and Individuals Survey (ICT Usage by Households and Individuals)
The National Classification of Occupations and Duties – 2005, was used in 2007 in the ICT Usage by Households and Individuals Survey for coding the occupation of employed persons. Coding was done according to the Eurostat requirements - at 3-digit level and at 4-digit level only for some ICT specialists. In the same way data were delivered to Eurostat.
Data by occupation were not published.
Implementation of the European Core Health Interview Survey
In 2006,a pilot survey was carried out under the 2003 PHARE Multi-beneficiary Statistical Co-operation Programme.The National Classification of Occupations and Duties – 2005 was used for coding the occupation of employed persons and for the occupation on the last job.
Data on occupations were coded at 2-digit level. In the same way data were delivered to Eurostat.