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Labour Costs in Agriculture: Cross Country comparative analysis

Geopa-Copa Seminar, Wien, 17. May, 2018

Karolien Lenaerts and Matthias Busse

Part 1: Introduction

Overview of the project

• Financed by: The European Commission under the heading of Industrial relations and social dialogue

• Timeframe: Jan. 2018 till end of 2019

• Ambition: Comparative study on Labour Costs in Agriculture

• Challenge: Lack of (comparable) data

Survey

Public data

Existing Literature

Contrasting information across sources

Identifying reason for discrepancies

Addressing remaining gaps

Harmonizing information

Inputs Analysis

Project phases

Literature review & first Questionnaire

(part 1)

Analysis of scoping

questionnaire & review

Completion of questionnaire 1 (labour costs)

Analysis of questionnaire 1 (complete)

Questionnaire 2 (labour

organization)

Analysis of Questionnaire

2

Draft final report

Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4

Questionnaire 1

Labour cost structurePart A and part B

First part:1. Employment figures2. Minimum wages3. Average gross wages

• With sectoral data• Breakdown by contract type perspective

Who is counted?

LabourForce

Sole holderFamily

memberEmployee

# WorkersAWU

Responses

• Replies from 13/20 national associations

• Delivery date

• Clarity in terms of notes and explanations

Heterogeneity in units used

• Missing information in first 3 tables

• Sector breakdown

• Type of contract

Part 2: Survey results (I)

Work Force in the Agricultural Sector

Employment in the agricultural sector

0,0

2,0

4,0

6,0

8,0

10,0

12,0

14,0

16,0

18,0

20,0

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

IE DK PT FI AT CZ ES LT IT FR HU HR

Mill

iers

Employment in the agricultural sector

Employment level (lhs) Share of labour force (rhs)

Importance of labour flexibility

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

AT DK ES FI FR HU IT LT PT

Permanent worker Occasional worker Seasonal worker

Employment trend

0

2.000

4.000

6.000

8.000

10.000

12.000

14.000

16.000

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Declining labour inputs (AWU)

NMS EU15Note: Based on Eurostat

Distribution of labour input

2678

2478

0

2.000

4.000

6.000

8.000

10.000

12.000

14.000

16.000

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Self-employed, family members and workers (AWU)

Non-salaried SalariedNote: Based on Eurostat

Validation exercise (I)

-

200.000

400.000

600.000

800.000

1.000.000

1.200.000

1.400.000

AT CZ DK ES FI FR HR HU IE IT LT PT SE

Employment comparison

Survey Eurostat AWU Eurostat Employees, wider Agrar

Validation exercise (II)

0

20.000

40.000

60.000

80.000

100.000

120.000

140.000

160.000

180.000

200.000

AT DK ES FI FR HU IT LT PT SE IE UK PO NL BE

Current survey Old survey 2012

PL

Part 2: Survey results (II)

Minimum Wages in the Agricultural Sector

Minimum wage setting

4

5

3

1

Law

Collective

Both

NA

Minimum wages: raw data

Gross minimum wage

Total Permanent worker Occasional worker Seasonal worker

Austria 6.78 - 9.56 7.11 -9.56 6.78 - 9.56 6.78 - 9.56

Czech Rep. 73.2 Submit later Submit later Submit later

Denmark 137.62 144.51 NA NA

Spain 23.59 NA 33.5 NA

Finland NA 9.69 8.43 8.43

France 9.88 9.88 9.88 9.88

Croatia NA NA 83.19 83.19

Hungary 794 794 NA 675

Ireland 9.55 9.55 9.55 9.55

Italy NA 6.8 7.5 6.6

Lithuania 2.45 2.45 2.45 2.45

Portugal 582 NA NA 34.4

SwedenDepend on various

factorsDepend on various

factorsDepend on various

factorsDepend on various

factors

Minimum wages: comparability

Conversion/harmonization

• Standardized in Euro

• Hours per week

• Hours per month

• Permanent vs. “total” workers

• Occasional vs. seasonal workers

• Other

Harmonized minimum wages

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

LT HU CZ ES PT AT IT* IE FI* FR DK

Gross minimum wage per hour, in EUR

*Note: Permanent worker as reference point.

Permanent vs. seasonal workers

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

AT FI FR HU* IE IT LT

Minimum wage per hour, in EUR

Permanent worker Seasonal worker

*Note: No data on permanent worker, instead total workers.

Part 2: Survey results (III)

Average Gross Wages in the Agricultural Sector

Average Gross Wage per hour, in EUR

0,0

5,0

10,0

15,0

20,0

25,0

30,0

AT CZ DK ES FI FR HR* HU IE IT** LT** PT SE

*Note: Average hourly net salary.**Note: Permanent worker, instead of all workers

Average gross wage over time

*2006 data based on collectively agreed wages. Exchange rate impact to be noted.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

HR* ES HU PT LT** CZ IT** IE FR FI DK AT SE

Average Gross Wage per hour, in EUR

2006 2012 Current survey

Issues on average gross wages

• Common understanding of what items are included• Overtime, holidays, payment in kind, bonuses

(determined in Questionnaire 1 remaining part)

• Addressing lack of data:• 8 (11) provide overall statistics

• 4 provide statistics on specific sectors

• 4 provide statistics by type of contract (for some)

Part 3: Outlook

Average Gross Wages in the Agricultural Sector

Going forward (I)

Completing Questionnaire 1:

• Fill gaps if possible (first 3 tables)

• Fill remaining questions

• Organizing bilateral talks (clarifications & elaborations)

The study lives from your inputs!

Going forward (II)

Discussion points:• Common understanding/terminology

• Expansion or reduction of tables?• Sectors• Occasional/seasonal worker• Posted worker

• Gross wages (open to items or 2012 report style)

• How to address lack of data

• Content of second questionnaire

29

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