The implementation of the new classification ICSE-2018 in
Italy as a way to achieve greater systemic consistency of
employment statistics.
Group of experts on quality of employment - UNECE
Geneva, 16 May 2024
Ciro Baldi, Maria Carla Congia, Roberta Rizzi, Alessia Sabbatini, Laura Serbassi
Contents
• The role of labour indicators in the statistical system
• The Labor Register (LR) and the Integrated System of Registers (ISR) in Italy
• The implementation of ICSE18 with a systemic view
• Quality indicators derivable from the LR
2
The centrality of labour statistics
3
Labour variables
(measures of
employment,
Time paid/worked,
Labour cost/income
National Accounts
Number of jobs
Number of hours worked
Compensation of employees
Mixed Income
by economic activity and
institutional sector
….
Incomes R.
Education
&Training R.
Representation
by Individual
Labour
Register (LR)
Integrated System of Registers and Labour Statistics
4
Business
Register
Population
Register
Places
Register
Representation
By Economic Unit
Base Registers Thematic Registers
Representations/
Extended Registers
Household
Statistics
E
x
te
rn
a
l
R
e
le
a
s
e
s
Other
processes
Integrated System of Registers
Representation
By Job
Business
Statistics
National
Accounts
The Labour Register
• On going project
• It is derived from information of a large number of Administrative sources (about 50)
• It aims to list all regular work relationships in the economy (about 25 millions)
• The main statistical unit is the job position constitued by the employer, the worker, the
starting date, the labour form
• The Labour Form is the form the work relationship takes in the Administrative/Legal/Tax
System
• Monthly information on:
– characteristics of the job position (type of working time, type of contract, national
collective agreement, contractual hours…)
– measures of working time (hours paid, hours worked…)
– Labour Income/Labour Cost (wages and salaries, social contributions)
• It is released yearly within 18 months from the reference year
5
The implementation of ICSE18 in Italy: a systemic view
Step1
Mapping the national
labour forms into:
ICSE18
Step 2.1
Operationalization
in the LR
Use of the LR
in Business Statistics
(ICSE-R)
Use of LR and LFS
in National Accounts
(ICSE-R)
Step 2.2
Operationalization
in the LFS
Use of LR and LFS
in Population Census
(ICSE-A/ICSE-R)
Set the standard to
design the
questionnaires of other
household surveys
(ICSE-A/ICSE-R)
6
• Study of each labour form
• Syinthetic table of characteristics
• Mapping into ICSE18
• Taking into account a systemic view
• Eurostat Guidelines
• Questionnaire Design/
rules
• Pilot Test
➔ICSE18 variable
• Intermediate mapping: info of
Admin Data ➔ labour forms
• Info from the BR
➔ICSE18 variable
The case of Coordinated and Continuous Collaborators (Co.Co.Co.)
Characteristic
Type of contract/agreement Employment Contract. It defines the object of the collaboration, work modalities, the starting date, duration,
compensation. Any dispute is submitted to the labor court.
Social Contributions Social Contributions are borne for 2/3 by the Employer\Client and for 1/3 by the Worker. Both parts are paid by
the Employer\Client to the Social Security institution.
The part of the contribution rate borne by the worker are slightly higher than that of a standard employee and the
total contribution rate is slightly lower than that for a standard employee
Income Taxes Income taxes are retained by the Employer\Client and paid by them to the Tax Authority. Moreover, from the
fiscal point of view, the compensation is equated to the income of standard employees.
Type of remuneration The remuneration is frequently paid periodically, often on a monthly basis (theoretically based on work
progress). The remuneration rates are set in some cases according to parameters fixed in National Agreements
between Employers Associations and Workers Unions.
Economic Risk for the worker There is no business risk. More generally, the worker does not risk his/her personal wealth.
Working Time The contract cannot set any constraints on the working time
Means of production The means of production can be either those of the Employer\Client or those of the Worker
Work place The work place can be either that of the Employer\Client or that of the Worker or elsewhere. There must be no
obligation set solely by the Employer/Client in this regard
Work performed with the aid of collaborators No, the work has to be prevalently personal. It’s not possible for the workers to have their employees)
Continuity Within the contract, which has a set duration (usually a few months to a year), the work has to be performed on a
regular\continual basis.
Coordination\Supervision Yes, the work is coordinated by the Employer\ Client
Directive and Disciplinary Power by the
Employer/Client
No, The Employer\Client has no directive\disciplinary power over the worker.
Payroll Yes, the worker has to be registered on the payroll.
Deferred compensation paid at the end of the
contract
No, the contract normally does not foresee any deferred compensation as the contract of standard employees
does
Entitlement to paid holidays and other paid
leaves (excluding sickness, maternity, work
accidents, short time allowance)
No, the type of contract excludes any entitlement to these paid leaves.
Entitlement to Social Benefits related to
sickness, maternity, work accidents
Yes, paid by the Social Security. These rights are lower than those of the standard employees.
Entitlement to Social Benefits related to
short time allowance
No, there is no entitlement to these benefits.
Entitlement to Social Benefits related to
unemployment
Yes, paid by the Social Security. These rights are lower than those of the standard employees.
Entitlement to work related retirement
pensions
Yes, paid by the Social Security.
From a legal point of view,
Co.Co.Co. is an intermediate form
between an employee and a self-
employed. In Italy they are deemed
Para-subordinate
The case of Coordinated and Continuous Collaborators (Co.Co.Co.)
Type of
contract/agreement
Employment Contract. It defines the object of the
collaboration, work modalities, the starting date, duration,
compensation. Any dispute is submitted to the labor court.
Social Contributions Social Contributions are borne for 2/3 by the Employer\Client
and for 1/3 by the Worker. Both parts are paid by the
Employer\Client to the Social Security institution.
The part of the contribution rate borne by the worker are
slightly higher than that of a standard employee and the total
contribution rate is slightly lower than that for a standard
employee
Type of remuneration The remuneration is frequently paid periodically, often on a
monthly basis (theoretically based on work progress). The
remuneration rates are set in some cases according to
parameters fixed in National Agreements between Employers
Associations and Workers Unions.
Economic Risk for the
worker
There is no business risk. More generally, the worker does not
risk his/her personal wealth.
Systemic issues and work in progress
• The mapping of labour forms into ICSE18 categories has to take into account a
systemic view
• The main issue is that if a worker is classified as a worker for profit the Statistical
Business Register must have an economic unit as HME which corresponds to them
• And viceversa: if the business register has an HME, its working owner is a worker for
profit
9
The following are only proposals
They are still currently being discussed within the dedicated
Istat Task Force (sometimes very lively!)
They will have to be approved by the management.
Two main forms of Co.Co.Co.
Co.Co.Co
In strict sense Employees
Members of the
administrative and
control bodies
(and no personal
ec.unit)
In
Corporations
Without
controlling
ownership
With
controlling
ownership
Independent
for pay
In HME
Independent
for profit/DC
10
Occasional services suppliers.
Occasional
services
suppliers
Voucher-paid
workers
Employees
Occasional
collaboration
workers
Owner of an
economic unit
in extended
sense(*)
Independent
For Profit/ DC
11
OR
(*) These include workers registered in relation to tax on the profits made from economic activities, which does not
imply registration of an enterprise
Labor form Current situation (ICSE93) New situation (ICSE18) N. Jobs (yearly
average)
(tentative evaluation)
Co.Co.Co.
In strict sense
LFS: Self-Employed
SBR: not counted in employment (counted
separately as outworkers)
NA: Self-Employed in Household sector
Employees 160k
Co.Co.Co.
Member of Admin
bodies (and no
personal ec.unit)
LFS: Self-Employed
SBR: Self-Employed if owners and
not counted if not
NA: Self-Employed (derogation to ESA for
Corporations and QC)
If in Corporations without
controlling ownership➔Employees
If in Corporations with controlling
ownership➔Independent for pay
If in HME➔Independent for profit
360k(based on Hp:
share <50%)
110k(based on Hp:
share >50%)
18k
Voucher-paid
workers
LFS: Self-Employed
SBR: not counted in employment
NA: Employees
Employees (casual workers) 9k
Occasional
workers-
Collaboration
LFS: Self-Employed
SBR: not counted in employment
NA: mostly not counted in registered
employment (if < threshold on income)
Employees
OR
Independent for profit/DC
(New economic units created)
305k
(1710k)
Consistency between LR and LFS
• LFS Advantages
– Timeliness
– Information on Price setting, Ownership of working tools, Decision on the start
and end of working time, Degree of autonomy on tasks in main or last job ➔
Identification of the DC, probably not obtainable by the LR
– Includes unregistered employment
• LR Advantages
– Complete (take-all) coverage of all registered jobs
– Higher precision in the measurement of most of the ICSE18 categories (but not
DC)
• The operationalization in the two sources is very different
• Conceptual consistency not necessarily a measurement consistency
13
Operationalisation of ICSE18 in the LFS
The implementation in the LFS has to take into consideration also the constraints set by
an Eurostat-led Task Force:
• Minimum impact principle=Keep as far as possible the current approach in the
questionnaire.
• Do not touch variables involved in the calculation of the labour status.
• Top-down approach.
• “Component variables” approach, adopting a set of needed variables to derive ICSE.
The definitions of such component variables should ensure enough degrees of
freedom not to collide with national specificities.
Moreover it has to take into account the understandability of the questions and of
response modalities➔cognitive interviews and pilot testing
Implementation of legal form of economic unit to discriminate between corporations
and HME
Issues with: controlling ownership status, the classification of co.co.co….
14
Unece employment quality indicators derivable from LR
15
N. UNECE
INDICATORS
N. AVAILABLE
INDICATORS FROM
LR
N. AVAILABLE
INDICATORS FROM
LR + OTHER
SOURCES
DIMENSION 1: SAFETY AND ETHICS OF EMPLOYMENT 12 2 2
DIMENSION 2: INCOME AND BENEFITS FROM EMPLOYMENT 10 6 0
DIMENSION 3: WORKING TIME AND WORK-LIFE BALANCE 15 1 10
DIMENSION 4: SECURITY OF EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL PROTECTION 12 5 3
DIMENSION 5: SOCIAL DIALOGUE 4 1 0
DIMENSION 6: SKILLS DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING 6 0 0
DIMENSION 7: EMPLOYMENT-RELATED RELATIONSHIPS AND WORK MOTIVATION 8 0 1
67 15 16
DIMENSION 1: SAFETY AND ETHICS OF EMPLOYMENT
1c1 pay gap
Pay gap between
subpopulation groups (e.g.,
gender pay gap) 1a1
Fatal occupational
injuries
Rate of fatal occupational
injuries per 100,000
employed persons
1c2
Access to
managerial
occupations
Percentage of employed
persons in population
subgroups (e.g., women) in
managerial occupations
(ISCO-08 major group 1) 1a2
Nonfatal
occupational
injuries
Rate of nonfatal
occupational injuries per
100,000 employed persons
DIMENSION 2: INCOME AND BENEFITS FROM
EMPLOYMENT
2a1 Average earnings
Mean nominal monthly /
hourly earnings of
employees (local currency)
2a2
Employees with
low pay
Percentage of employees
with low pay
2a3 Earnings by deciles
Nominal monthly / hourly
earnings of employees by
deciles (local currency)
2a4
Employment-
related income of
self-employed
Employment-related
income of self-employed by
deciles (local currency)
2b1
Paid leave
entitlement
Percentage of employees
entitled to paid annual
leave
2b4
Sick leave
entitlement
Percentage of employees
entitled to paid sick leave
N. AVAILABLE INDICATORS FROM LR N. AVAILABLE INDICATORS FROM LR + OTHER SOURCES
N. AVAILABLE INDICATORS FROM LR N. AVAILABLE INDICATORS FROM LR + OTHER SOURCES
For instance, with respect to dimension 1 and 2…
Other indicators
• Beyond the Unece indicators, from the LR+ISR other indicators (not available from the LFS) are
obtainable leveraging its information and characteristics of longitudinality. Some examples that
can be analized by ICSE categories are:
• Indicators on the work intensity based on:
– N. of hours paid(worked) in a year (or other reference period)
– Extensive (along the period) and intensive (along the day) margins of working time
• Indicators on the stability based on:
– N. of days in which each worker has had an active work relationship in a reference period
– N. of days spent without a job
– N. of jobs changed in a reference period
– Changes from an ICSE category to another
• Indicators on employment related income and its changes and relationships with job-changes
based on:
– Number of workers who changed their income significantly
– Movement along the income distribution (across quantiles, in/out low wage area…)
16
Thank You very much for the attention!
- Slide 1: The implementation of the new classification ICSE-2018 in Italy as a way to achieve greater systemic consistency of employment statistics.
- Slide 2: Contents
- Slide 3: The centrality of labour statistics
- Slide 4: Integrated System of Registers and Labour Statistics
- Slide 5: The Labour Register
- Slide 6: The implementation of ICSE18 in Italy: a systemic view
- Slide 7: The case of Coordinated and Continuous Collaborators (Co.Co.Co.)
- Slide 8: The case of Coordinated and Continuous Collaborators (Co.Co.Co.)
- Slide 9: Systemic issues and work in progress
- Slide 10: Two main forms of Co.Co.Co.
- Slide 11: Occasional services suppliers.
- Slide 12
- Slide 13: Consistency between LR and LFS
- Slide 14: Operationalisation of ICSE18 in the LFS
- Slide 15: Unece employment quality indicators derivable from LR
- Slide 16: Other indicators
- Slide 17: Thank You very much for the attention!
