GLOSSARY

The definitions in this glossary are from the ABS monthly Labour Force Survey (LFS), and as such reflect both the concepts outlined in this standard, as well as the scope and coverage of the LFS and the level of detail collected in the Labour Force Survey questionnaire module.

Actively Looking for Work
Actively looking for work includes: written, telephoned or applied to an employer for work; had an interview with an employer for work; answered an advertisement for a job; checked or registered with a Job Services Australia provider or any other employment agency; taken steps to purchase or start your own business; advertisement or tendered for work; and contacted friends or relatives in order to obtain work.

Actual Hours Worked
Actual hours worked refers to a specified reference period and includes:

• hours actually worked during normal periods of work;
• time spent in addition to hours worked during normal periods of work (including overtime);
• time spent at the place of work on activities such as the preparation and cleaning of the workplace, putting on work clothing, repairs and maintenance, preparation and cleaning of tools, and the preparation of receipts, time sheets and reports;
• time spent at the place of work waiting or standing by;
• time corresponding to short rest periods;
• travel time connected to work; and
• training and skills enhancement.

Excluded are:

• hours paid for but not worked, such as paid annual leave, public holidays or paid sick leave;
• meal breaks; and
• time spent on travel to and from work (e.g. commuting time).

For multiple job holders actual hours worked includes the hours worked in all jobs.

Aggregate monthly hours worked
Aggregate monthly hours worked measures the total number of actual hours worked by employed persons in a calendar month. It differs from the actual hours worked estimates (and the usual hours worked estimates) since these refer only to the hours worked in the reference week. The methodology used to produce aggregate monthly hours worked means that these are synthetic estimates. Further information on the methodology used to produce the aggregate monthly hours worked estimates is available on the ABS website in Information Paper: Expansions of Hours Worked Estimates from the Labour Force Survey, 2009 (cat. no. 6290.0.55.001).

Contributing Family Worker
A contributing family worker is a person who works without pay in an economic enterprise operated by a relative.

Currently available for work
Currently available for work is defined as being available for work in the reference week.

Duration of Job Search
The elapsed period to the end of the reference week since the time the person began looking for work, or since the person last worked, whichever is the shorter. For persons who may have begun looking for work while still employed, the Duration of Job Search is defined as the period from the time the person last worked to the end of the reference week.

Employed
Employed persons include all people aged 15 years and over who, during the reference week:

• worked for one hour or more for pay, profit, commission or payment in kind, in a job or business or on a farm (comprising employees and owner managers);
• worked for one hour or more without pay in a family business or on a farm (i.e. contributing family workers);
• were employees who had a job but were not at work and were:
  • away from work for fewer than four weeks up to the end of the reference week;
  • away from work for more than four weeks up to the end of the reference week and received pay for some or all of the four week period to the end of the reference week;
  • away from work as a standard work or shift arrangement;
  • on strike or locked out;
  • on workers' compensation and expected to return to their job; or
• were employers or owner managers who had a job, business or farm, but were not at work.

Employee
Persons who work for a public or private employer and receive remuneration in wages, salary, on a commission basis (with or without a retainer), tips, piece-rates, or payment in kind, and who do not operate his or her own incorporated or unincorporated enterprise.

Full-time/part-time status
Full-time/part-time status is determined by the actual and/or usual number of hours worked by an employed person in the reference week in all jobs. For unemployed persons, it is determined whether the work sought is full-time or part-time. Full-time work is defined as 35 hours or more per week.

Full-time Workers
Full-time workers are employed persons who usually worked 35 hours or more in a week (in all jobs) and those who, although usually working less than 35 hours a week, worked 35 hours or more during the reference week.

Hours paid for
The number of hours for which employees were paid in their main job, not necessarily the number of hours actually worked during the reference week (e.g. an employee on paid leave for the week was asked to report the number of hours for which they were paid).

Labour Force
The labour force is the labour supply available for the production of economic goods and services in a given period, and is the most widely used measure of those employed or unemployed. Persons in the labour force are classified as either employed or unemployed, as defined.

Labour Force Status
Labour force status is a classification of the civilian population aged 15 years and over into the categories employed, unemployed or not in the labour force, as defined.

Owner manager of incorporated enterprise with employees
Persons who operate his or her own incorporated enterprise, that is, a business entity which is registered as a separate legal entity to its members or owners (also known as a limited liability company), and hires one or more employees in addition to themselves and/or other owners of that business.

Owner manager of incorporated enterprise without employees
Persons who operate his or her own incorporated enterprise, that is, a business entity which is registered as a separate legal entity to its members or workers (also know as a limited liability company), and hires no employees apart from themselves or other owners of that business.

Owner manager of unincorporated enterprise with employees
Persons who operate his or her own unincorporated enterprise, and hires one or more employees in addition to themselves and/or other owners of that business.

Owner manager of unincorporated enterprise without employees
Persons who operate his or her own unincorporated enterprise or engages independently in a profession or trade, and hires no employees apart from themselves or other owners of that business.

Part-time Workers
Part-time workers are employed persons who usually worked less than 35 hours a week (in all jobs) and either did so during the reference week, or were not at work in the reference week.

Persons Not in the Labour Force
Persons not in the labour force are those persons who were not in the categories employed or unemployed, as defined (e.g. retirees, etc).

Unemployed
Unemployed persons include all people aged 15 years and over who were not employed during the reference week, and:

• had actively looked for full-time or part-time work at any time in the four weeks up to the end of the reference week; and were available for work in the reference week; or
• were waiting to start a new job within four weeks from the end of the reference week and could have started in the reference week if the job had been available then.

Usual Hours Worked
Usual hours worked refers to a typical period rather than to a specified reference period. The concept of usual hours applies both to persons at work and to persons temporarily absent from work, and is defined as the hours worked during a typical week. The time includes all regular paid and unpaid overtime.