Basic Monthly Survey Methodology and Documentation Page
The purpose of this chapter is to define the concepts related to employment.
Employed. Employed persons are those who are working at a paid job or business for at least one hour during the reference week, or are working without pay in a family business for 15 or more hours during the reference week or who did not work last week, but held a job or owned a business from which they were temporarily absent during the reference week.
The chapter is broken down as follows:
1.B Employment Concepts
1.C Business
1.D Work
1.E Job
1.F Absence from a Job
1.G Multiple Jobs
1.H Hours Worked
Further details on individual questions dealing with employment are in Part C, Chapter 4.
As stated in Chapter A1, employed persons are those who are working at a paid job or business for at least one hour during the reference week, or are working without pay in a family business for 15 or more hours during the reference week, or did not work in the reference week but had a job or business from which they were temporarily absent.
Business, work, and job are all important concepts in understanding who is employed. Most of the cases you face when interviewing will be straightforward. That is, the respondent will be able to tell you if the specified person was working and had a job or business. However, there will be some borderline or atypical cases that will require your knowledge of the inclusions and exclusions that follow.
Business. A business exists when one or more of the following conditions is met:
Business is a particularly important concept in classifying a person as being absent from work during the reference week. Knowing whether a person holds a job or has a business allows us to determine if persons who did not work during the reference week should be classified as employed at work or employed but temporarily absent. It also helps to obtain a good description of the person's industry and occupation, determine class of worker, and to find out whether a person holds multiple jobs.
Although paying employees is a common function of businesses, by itself, it is not sufficient to determine if a business exists. For example, households may hire people to work as maids, gardeners, etc., but that does not make the households businesses.
Unless one of the above conditions is met, there is no business. In addition, the following arrangements are specifically excluded from being counted as a business:
Yard sales
The sale of personal property (for example, garage or yard sales or the sale of a car) is not a business or work.
Seasonal businesses
Exclude businesses in the off-season if no one in the household worked in the business during the off-season. Consider the examples below.
The following household would not have a business in July: Members of a household had a business chopping and selling Christmas trees from October through December. No one worked in the business during any of the off-season months.
The following household would have a business in July: Members of a household ran a ski resort from October through March. During the off-season they continued to trim the slopes, buy equipment, train staff, keep books and take reservations for the next season.
Distributors
Distributing products (such as cosmetics, Tupperware, or newspapers) is WORK if the selling was done during the reference week. However, it is not a business UNLESS the person buys the goods directly from a wholesale distributor or producer, sells them to the consumer, and bears any losses resulting from failure to collect from the consumer.
Work. Work includes any activity for wages or salary, for profit or fees, or for payment in kind. One hour or more of such activity constitutes work. Work also includes unpaid activity of at least 15 hours a week on a family farm or business.
Use Table B1, on the next page, as a checklist to determine if you should count an activity as work.
NOTE. If a person receives part of the profits from the business/farm, or would have received part of the profits if the business/farm had not operated at a loss, consider him/her to be working. This is regardless of the number of hours worked during the reference week unless (s)he owns the business for investment purposes only. The part of the profit received can be in cash or pay "in kind".
For example, count all of the following as receiving part of the profits from the business/farm:
Table B1. Determining Which Activities are Considered as Work.
Activity Included as Work? Include
as
work?
Paid work for Cash wages or salary cash wages or salary, at piece YES
rates, on commission, or for tips.
Exchange or sharework on farms, YES
such as when farmers may help each other during peak farming
periods, without compensation.
Jury Duty NO
National Guard/Reserve Duty (Weekend, NO
summer training)
Ownership of a business solely for investment purposes. NO
No participation in the management or actual operation of
the business.
Paid training in which the person receives wages or YES
salary for training they must complete before starting the job.
Work for Pay "in kind" such as meals, living YES
quarters, room and board, or supplies received in place of cash
wages.
Work for profit or fees in own business, YES
profession, or farm. (Includes those who intend to earn a
profit whose business produced a loss.)
Set up own new business. Includes: YES
searched for a place of business; dealt with prospective
suppliers, contractors, or advertisers; ordered equipment or
inventory; readied the building or obtained work permits;
searched for or met potential clients; interviewed future
employees.
Unpaid Work YES
In a family business or farm (other than housework at home) of
15 hours or more which contributed to operating a farm or
business run by a member of the household who is related by
marriage, blood, or adoption.
Unpaid work that did not contribute to operating a family farm NO
or business
Unpaid work in the business of an unrelated member of the NO
household
Unpaid work for a relative not in the household NO
Volunteer work without pay NO
Job. A job exists when there is a definite arrangement for regular work every week, or every month, for pay or other compensation (e.g., profits, anticipated profits, or pay in kind, such as room and board).
A formal, definite arrangement with one or more employers to work on a continuing basis for a specified number of hours per week or days per month, but on an irregular schedule during the week or month, is also a job.
The difference between a job and work is particularly important in identifying persons who did not work during the reference week, but who had a job from which they were absent. Consider this example:
Joan was paid to clean a friend's house 2 weeks before the reference week, but does not clean houses on an ongoing basis.
In this instance Joan does not have a job. However, if she had an arrangement to clean a person's house for pay every Tuesday of the month, but happened to be sick during the reference week, then she would have a job from which she was temporarily absent.
It is possible to have worked during the reference week and not have a job. A person may not have a definite arrangement for work on a continuing basis. (See Table B2 to determine which activities are considered a job) Consider the following example:
Fred was paid to build a deck for a friend last week. He does not usually build decks for a living. Fred would have worked during the reference week, but he would not have a job.
The concept of job is also important in getting a good description of the person's industry and occupation and in determining whether a person holds multiple jobs.
The following is a list of reasons for being temporarily absent from a job or business that are accepted in the CPS interview. ( Instructions for selecting individual reasons are in Part C, Page C4-9.)
Table B2. Determining Which Activities are Counted as a Job
Activity Included as a Job? Include
as a
job?
Domestic or day work. An arrangement to YES
work on a continuing basis for each of one or more employers.
Leave of absence. On a leave of absence from YES
a regular job (for example, to attend school or travel) and
has an arrangement to return to that job.
Maternity/paternity leave. Must YES
intend to return to work, and have an agreement with an
employer to hold a job or find a place for him/her upon
return.
Persons "on call". Arrangements with a union NO
hiring hall or a professional service (for example, nurses,
substitute teachers) to be called to work with little or no
advance notice and there is NOT a definite arrangement to work
a specified period of time each week or each month.
Seasonal job during "off" season NO
For example, in the summer, you would not consider a
non-working ski instructor as having a job or being absent
from a job.
Seasonal job, work in season. For YES
example, count a ski instructor who was on vacation or
otherwise absent from work during the reference week as having
a job only if the reference week was part of the ski season.
Student attending school. Students NO
who have gone back to school and are not currently working DO
NOT HAVE A JOB from which they are temporarily absent. Having
an arrangement to return to work when the school year is over
(for example as a waiter or waitress) does not make him/her
absent from a job.
Summer vacation for school personnel. YES
If they have definite arrangements or contracts,
either oral or written, to return to work.
Unpaid work on a family farm or business. NO
Usually does unpaid work on a family
farm or business but did not work during the reference week.
Work as needed. Work done as needed, and not NO
done on a continuing basis. An example would be a consultant
who works on an as-needed basis.
Multiple jobholders are persons who have more than one job or business. In the CPS, we ask persons who worked during the survey week if they had more than one job or business and if so, how many they had. This information allows us to collect additional information about the person's main job and other jobs separately.
Main Job. The job at which the person usually works the most hours is his/her main job. If a person usually works the same number of hours at two jobs, the "main" job is the job at which the person has been employed the longest.
Refer to the discussion of JOB and BUSINESS to determine whether multiple jobs exist. Persons who started and ended jobs in the same week are considered multiple jobholders. The guidelines below will help you in situations that are NOT considered multiple jobholding.
It is possible for individuals to have more than one employer, but only one job. If an individual does the same type of work for more than one employer in an occupation where it is common to have more than one employer, do not consider the individual a multiple jobholder. Examples include private household or domestic workers including baby-sitters, chauffeurs, gardeners, handypersons, cooks, and maids.
It is possible for individuals to have more than one client, but only one job. If an individual does the same type of work for more than one client in an occupation where it is typical to have more than one client (s)he should not be considered a multiple jobholder. Examples include artists, consultants, doctors, and lawyers.
It is possible for individuals to have more than one contract or piece of work without having more than one job. For example, a general contractor working at more than one construction site would not be a multiple jobholder. If an individual has more than one piece of work or more than one contract (for example, contractors, construction workers), and all the work is the same type, then (s)he has only one job. (S)he would not be a multiple jobholder.
There are two different concepts measured in the hours series of questions in the CPS. First, you ask respondents the number of hours (s)he usually works per week. The objective of this question is to measure the usual full-time/part-time status of employed persons. Next, you ask a series of questions to determine the number of hours (s)he actually worked last week. From this it is determined whether (s)he actually worked full-time or part-time during the reference week.
For multiple jobholders, questions on usual and actual hours are asked separately for "the main job" and "all other jobs combined".
You ask all employed persons, both those who were at work and those who were absent from work, about the number of hours they usually work. In addition to providing information on full-time/part-time status, asking usual hours before actual hours provides a frame of reference for the subsequent actual hours worked questions. (You further improve this estimate by asking about the main job and other jobs separately.)
Usually. 50% of the time or more, or the most frequent schedule during the past 4 or 5 months.
It is possible for a person who worked during the reference week to not usually work. In such cases his/her usual hours are zero. For example, a retired person worked 20 hours in a friend's business during the reference week, but usually does not work. His/her usual hours are 0 and actual hours are 20.
The question on usual hours worked prompts the respondent to think about his/her usual schedule. The questions on actual hours then prompt the respondent to think about any deviations from that schedule in order to report actual hours worked more accurately.
In this series of questions you first determine if the person lost or took off any hours from work. You then
identify any extra hours or overtime worked. At this point you ask for actual hours. For multiple jobholders, you ask for actual hours for "main" and "other" jobs separately.
More information about how to record usual and actualhours is Part C, Chapter 4, Sections 4.B.4 and 4.B.5, respectively.
Full-time. Generally speaking, any job that is usually 35 hours or more per week is considered full-time. In some occupations, usual weekly schedules of less than 35 hours per week are considered to be full-time (for example, air-traffic controllers). For these cases, the option "Regular hours are full-time" is provided.
If a person usually works part-time, or worked part-time in the previous week, we ask about the main reason for part-time work. Based partially on the reason why people are working part-time, shown in Figure B1, we classify these individuals either as part-time for economic reasons or part-time for noneconomic reasons.
Figure B1. Reasons for Working Part-Time
Usually Works Full-Time
Usually Works Part-Time
The distinction between the two types of part-time work is important because the number of workers who are part-time for economic reasons is an important indicator of the health of our economy.
Part-time for non-economic reasons. Individuals who choose to work part-time for personal reasons (for example, to allow time to attend school, care for children or elderly parents, or to avoid exceeding social security limits on yearly earnings).
Part-time for economic reasons. Individuals who want and are available to work full-time but who are working part-time because of poor economic conditions or an inability to find full-time work.
Examples of part-time for economic reasons are: individuals who usually work full-time, but worked part-time because of slack work/business conditions, seasonal work, or their job started or ended during the survey week.
If an individual usually works part-time, (s)he is economic part-time only if (s)he wants to work full-time AND is working part-time due to slack work/business conditions or because (s)he could only find part-time work or seasonal work AND is available to work full-time.
Further details on individual questions dealing with employment are in Part C, Chapter 4.
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