6342.0 - Working Time Arrangements, Australia, November 2009 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 21/05/2010   
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REVISION OF POPULATION BENCHMARKS

Revisions were made to population benchmarks for the Labour Force Survey and supplementary surveys in 2009 to take account of the 2006 Census of Population and Housing. Estimates from supplementary surveys conducted from and including February 2009 are based on the revised benchmarks.

CHANGES IN THE SCOPE OF THE SURVEY

From November 2009 the WTA was conducted in both urban and rural areas in all states and territories, but excluded people living in Indigenous communities in very remote parts of Australia.

REVISION OF DATA ITEMS

Key changes made to the Working Time Arrangement data items since 1993 include:

  • Exclusion of employees attending school from August 1995.
  • In the November 2000 survey the terms 'Permanent' and 'Casual' were replaced to more accurately reflect what is collected in the survey. The term 'Permanent' was replaced with 'With leave entitlements', and 'Casual' has been replaced with 'Without leave entitlements'.
  • From November 2003 people who were away from work for four weeks or more were asked if they worked shift work in the last four weeks. This group has been shown separately in the category 'Away from work for the last four weeks'.
  • Those people who usually work 35 hours or more were not asked if they work in a job-share arrangement from November 2003. This group was shown separately in the category 'Does not usually work part-time'.
  • From the November 2003 survey, data on hours worked in main job are used to derive full-time or part-time status of employees in main job.
  • In 2006 the Working Arrangements Survey was redeveloped and renamed the Working Time Arrangements Survey.
  • Information for the data item, 'Whether compensated for extra hours or overtime worked' presented in the 2006 publication was collected for employees who usually worked unpaid extra hours or overtime. This has been replaced with the data item, 'Whether usually worked extra hours or overtime and how compensated for overtime worked'. Information for this item was collected from employees who usually worked any extra hours or overtime, regardless of whether it was paid or unpaid.
  • Additionally in 2006, only employees who did not usually work the same number of hours of work each week received questions about whether they were guaranteed a minimum number of hours of work each week. In 2009, all employees were asked whether they were guaranteed a minimum number of hours of work each week.
  • The data item, 'Whether had a formal system of working flexible hours' presented in the 2006 publication has been replaced with 'Whether had an agreement with employer to work flexible hours' in 2009.
  • The data items, 'Whether usually worked any hours between 7pm and 7am in all jobs' and 'Whether usually worked extra hours or overtime' presented in the 2006 publication are not available in 2009 as this information was not collected in November 2009.
  • An additional data item has been presented in the 2009 publication. This item is 'Whether usually worked shift work and type of shift usually worked'.