Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2000, published 89th ILC session (2001)

Labour Statistics Convention, 1985 (No. 160) - El Salvador (Ratification: 1987)

The Committee notes the Government’s report. It asks the Government to provide further information on the following points:

Article 7 of the Convention.  The Committee again draws the Government’s attention to the obligation (under Article 5) to communicate to the ILO, as soon as practicable, the published statistics compiled in application of this Article.

Article 9.  The Committee notes that the statistics of average earnings and hours actually worked are derived from the establishment survey Encuesta de Empleo, Horas y Salarios, and that steps are being taken to extend the scope and increase the frequency of this survey, which were, up until now, limited to wage-earners in manufacturing and compiled annually. It notes, however, that the survey is still limited to two, possibly three, branches of economic activities and that its results are not yet available. The Committee asks the Government to keep the ILO informed as to developments of this establishment survey, to produce and publish the methodological description of the new survey, and to communicate this information to the ILO together with the resulting statistics, as soon as practicable.

The Committee notes that annual data on average monthly earnings of contributing workers, in all branches of economic activity, are derived from the social security records of the Instituto Salvadoreño del Seguro Social (ISSS), and that statistics of average earnings in the main activity, covering all branches of economic activity and all important categories of employed persons (among which are various employee categories), were derived from the 1997 Encuesta de Hogares de Propósitos Múltiples,although this household survey does not provide regular (annual) statistics of earnings and hours of work. It notes that the statistics of average earnings and hours of work derived from these three sources are not readily comparable, due to differences in scope, coverage, data collection methods, etc. Therefore, the Committee encourages the Government to take the necessary steps in order to adopt a common methodology concerning the scope, coverage, etc., and thus to facilitate the analysis of and comparison between these statistics.

The Committee further notes that the requirements of this Article are fulfilled through the conduct of an Encuesta de Salarios y Horas de Trabajo, which collects and provides statistics of average, prevailing or minimum, wage rates and normal hours of work, average earnings and hours actually worked, by occupation and by sex, in order to meet the ILO requirements with regard to the October Inquiry. However, this survey is limited to the San Salvador metropolitan area. Thus, the Committee hopes the Government will be able to extend the territorial coverage of this survey, so as to be more representative of the country as a whole.

Article 10.  The Committee notes that statistics on the distribution of employees by levels of monthly earnings and weekly hours of work in the main activity, by sex and employee category, were compiled on the basis of the 1997 Encuesta de Hogares de Propósitos Múltiples. It asks the Government to indicate the measures taken or contemplated to compile statistics on the structure of earnings and hours of work in accordance with international guidelines such as Paragraph 5(1) and (2) of Recommendation No. 170.

Article 11.  The Committee notes that statistics on the level and structure of labour cost are not compiled at present. It asks the Government to indicate the measures taken or contemplated to compile statistics on the level and structure of labour cost, according to the guidelines provided under Paragraph 6(1) and (2) of Recommendation No. 170.

Article 12.  The Committee asks the Government to continue to communicate regularly to the ILO the consumer price indices: monthly data for all-items and food group indices (which are published in the quarterly ILO Bulletin of Labour Statistics) and yearly data for all-items, food, fuel and light, clothing, rent and all-items without shelter (which are published in the ILO Yearbook of Labour Statistics).

Article 13.  The Committee notes that the coverage of the HIES (Encuesta Nacional de Ingresos y Gastos de los Hogares Urbanos) is limited to urban areas. It asks the Government: (i) whether it intends to extend the coverage of the HIES; and (ii) when the next survey will be carried out.

Article 14.  The Committee notes the progress made with regard to the scope of the statistics on occupational injuries, which was extended in April 1998 to include workers in the public sector. However, it notes that the statistics currently compiled on occupational injuries cover only about 26 per cent of all persons employed. Although they appear to cover a majority of employees, the self-employed do not seem to be included. The Committee requests information as to any plans the Government may have to extend the coverage of the statistics, so as to be more  representative of the country as a whole.

The Committee again asks the Government to indicate which specific standards or guidelines are followed with respect to the statistics covered by this Article, for example, the resolutions adopted by the International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) (in accordance with Article 2). It also asks the Government to indicate the manner in which representative organizations of employers and workers have been consulted in designing or revising the methodology used with respect to the statistics of occupational injuries and occupational diseases (Article 3).

Regarding the obligation under Article 6 to produce, publish and communicate to the ILO detailed methodological information, please include the following information: (i) clarification as to the methods of reporting (by whom and to whom), with an explanation of the concepts of "reported accidents" and "compensated accidents" (casos subsidios); (ii) information in respect of fatal injuries (casos mortales de accidentes de trabajo) (to indicate whether this information is presently included in the statistics of work accidents, and, if so, to provide it separately); and (iii) information regarding the number of workdays "lost" or not worked as a result of work accidents and further information on subsidios por incapacidad temporal (subsidy for temporary incapacity), and particularly días de casos terminados (days of finished cases), and días subsidiados en el año (days subsidized in the year). Please also state whether it is intended to collect information on work time lost with respect to the reported accidents, and on occupational diseases.

Article 15.  Please provide information on the specific standards and guidelines followed (Article 2) with respect to the statistics covered by this Article.