Income and non-wage benefits from employment Task Force on Measurement of Quality of Employment Paris, June 12 and 13

It may be obvious but… A survey of 2,500 Canadians 1 : 6 in 10 said good pay was “very important” in a job Over half said benefits were “very important” Pay and benefits among most significant “job quality deficits” 1 Changing Employment Relationships Survey, Canadian Policy Research Networks

Income from employment indicators: Evaluated: 1. Share of employed working below ½ median hourly earnings 2. Share of employees paid at or below the minimum wage Proposed: 1. Average wages 2. Distribution of wages by quintile

Results of indicator evaluation Share of employed working below ½ median hourly earnings Useful Strength in providing simple relative measure Too simple? Should there be an age cut-off? Should household-level be considered?

Results of indicator evaluation Share of employees paid at or below minimum wage Useful, simple measure Too simple? Should there be an age cut-off? In some Canadian jurisdictions, minimum wages set very, very low, so very few people in this indicator (0.7% in Alberta) Duplicative?

Share earning minimum wage or less

Results of indicator evaluation Average wages of employees Felt that there was a need to go beyond relative measurement – what are people actually making? Should household-level be considered? How to make international or inter- regional comparisons, given regional living cost differences?

Average wage growth relative to prices

Results of indicator evaluation Distribution of wages by quintile Felt that there was a need for more sophisticated measurement or relative earnings Comparing top quintile to bottom would allow wage polarization analysis Too complicated?

Fastest wage growth among the best paid 1/5 of employees

Non-wage benefits from employment indicators: Evaluated: 1. Share of employees entitled to paid annual leave 2. Average length of paid annual leave Proposed: 1. Share of employees receiving supplemental medical insurance

Results of indicator evaluation Share of employees entitled to paid annual leave Perhaps the most important “non- wage benefit”, so very relevant Entitlement data needs to be combined with estimates based on actual behaviour (next indicator)

Results of indicator evaluation Average length of paid annual leave Perhaps the most important “non- wage benefit”, so very relevant Supplement to entitlement data

Entitlement and use of annual paid leave

Income and non-wage benefits from employment What do you think??