Modifying the Sampling Design, Coverage and Frequency of Conduct of the Occupational Wages Survey

NSCB Resolution No. 1
Series of 1998

MODIFYING THE SAMPLING DESIGN, COVERAGE AND FREQUENCY OF CONDUCT OF THE OCCUPATIONAL WAGES SURVEY

WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 352 - Designation of Statistical Activities That Will Generate Critical Data for Decision-Making of the Government and the Private Sector issued on July 1, 1996 designated the Occupational Wages Survey (OWS) to be conducted on a semestral basis by the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES);

WHEREAS, from 1980 to 1995, the OWS was conducted by the BLES to monitor the wage rates of 22 low-paid occupations in 21 non-agricultural industries for the purpose of generating statistics in aid to minimum wage determination/setting;

WHEREAS, recent developments towards globalization which pressed the need for employment and wage estimates led the BLES to redesign the OWS to focus on the wage rates of selected or key occupations, particularly in industries likely to be affected by the changing local and global economic structure;

WHEREAS, the redesigning of the survey not only involved the revision of scope and coverage, reference period and sampling design but also the frequency of conduct;

WHEREAS, the shift in frequency from semi-annual to annual is being recommended considering that previous results of the survey indicated that there were no appreciable differences in wage rates from one quarter to another;

WHEREAS, with the reduced frequency of conduct, more industries and occupations will be covered, and new items of inquiry will be introduced;

WHEREAS, in view of the above-mentioned considerations, the Technical Committee on Survey Design (TCSD) recommends the redesign and shift in the frequency of the conduct of OWS from semi-annual to annual, and that a study be pursued to further determine the possibility of conducting the OWS with frequency other than annual. It further recommends that the OWS be a joint activity of BLES and the National Statistics Office (NSO) with the NSO conducting the field operations and that the designated period of release of the survey results will be one year from the reference period;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED AS IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, that the Board approve the above-mentioned recommendations of the TCSD.

Approved this 17th day of April 1998.