During 2012, mean annual labour costs per employee amounted to €21,290, with the highest average recorded in financial and insurance activities and the lowest in accommodation and food service activities.

Labour Cost Survey: 2012

This news release presents the findings of the Labour Cost Survey 2012, an enterprise based survey carried out every four years. An estimated 129,124 employees within the target population covered by the survey accounted for a total labour cost of €2.75 billion in 2012.

The overall labour costs per hour were €11.78. These include outlay on wages and salaries, social contributions, vocational training and other labour-related expenditure, such as the cost of uniforms or protective clothing. At the NACE section level the highest hourly labour costs per employee - €18.99 - were recorded in financial and insurance activities. The lowest - €7.69 - were recorded in accommodation and food service activities.

The findings indicate that mean hourly labour costs are directly proportional to the size of the enterprise. The lowest costs were noted among enterprises with an employment size of 10-49, while the highest were in 1,000+ enterprises.

Regarding proportions of labour costs, the highest component was wages and salaries, at over 90.0 per cent and social security payments by employers, at 7.8 per cent.

The Labour Cost Survey also collects information on hours actually worked and hours paid.

In 2012, hours actually worked by employees made up 88.9 per cent of total hours paid.

The remaining hours were paid but not worked. Reasons for non-worked hours include vacation leave, public holidays and sick leave. The highest share of hours paid but not worked was recorded in education and the lowest in accommodation and food service activities.

On average, in 2012, full-time employees worked 1,961 hours and part-time employees 1,020. For the former group, annual hours worked ranged from less than 1,500 hours in education to nearly 2,200 hours in mining and quarrying. For the latter group the highest number of hours worked in the year was in financial and insurance activities and the lowest in arts, entertainment and recreation.

Basic wages accounted for 84.9 per cent of the total wage bill borne by 10+ enterprises.

Bonuses and allowances took up nearly 10.0 per cent of labour costs, and overtime 4.2 per cent. At 92.4 per cent, basic wages as a proportion of the total wage bill was observed to be highest in education.