§ Mr. WillettsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the minimum number of hours someone has to be working to count as employed under the ILO definition. [43972]
§ Mrs. LiddellThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. David Willetts, dated 1 June 1998:
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question on the ILO definition of being employed.Under the definitions of economic status agreed by the Thirteenth International Conference of Labour Statisticians (Geneva, 1982) anyone working at least one hour in the reference period (normally the week preceding the interview) is counted as being employed. This minimum does not apply to those who happened to be away from work in the reference period due to sickness, holiday etc.The full ILO definition of employment is published on page 63 of the 1996 ILO Yearbook, a copy of which is available from the House of Commons Library.The United Kingdom's and all other European Union countries' Labour Force Surveys use the ILO definitions although there may be some small differences in interpretation between countries.