Organization: Hellenic Statistical Authority
Οrganization unit: Population, Employment and Cost of Living Statistics Division
Name: Vatikiotis Dimitrios
Person function: Head of Labour Statistics Section
Mail address: 46 Pireos and Eponiton Str 185 10 PIRAEUS
E-mail address: [email protected]
Phone number: (+30) 2104852173
Fax number: (+30) 2104852948

The Labour Force Survey ad hoc module on “work organisation and working time arrangements” was conducted during the 2nd quarter of 2019 together with the Labour Force Survey. The main targets of the survey were to: • estimate to which extent employed persons can determine their working time; • estimate to which extent employed persons work under time pressure and to which extent they are obliged to work outside the normal working hours; • explore if employed persons can influence the content and order of tasks undertaken; • describe the main place of work of employed persons and if they have to work in different places; and • estimate the time needed to get from home to work.

Last certified: November 2019
Last posted: November 2019
Last updated: November 2019

Data description: The purpose of the survey was to collect data on the degree of flexibility in working times, work organization methods and place of work.
Classification system: LFS classifications are used (see LFS metadata) http://www.statistics.gr/en/statistics/-/publication/SJO01/2019-Q4
Sector coverage: Like LFS, ad hoc module is a household survey
Statistical concepts and definitions: Hours take-off at short notice: In general, it refers to the possibility of taking hours off at short notice to accommodate personal or family matters. At short notice means within one working day. Days take-off at short notice: Sick leave, long term and planned vacations of any duration are not included. At short notice means within one working day. Change of working times: Overtime is also included.
Statistical unit: Households, persons
Statistical population: The reference population for the quarterly LFS consists of all persons living in private households. The ad hoc module "Work organisation and working time arrangements", refers persons who had worked (or they were temporarily absent) during the reference week.
Reference area: All NUTS 3 areas of Greece, with the exception of Mount Athos area
Time coverage: 2019, 2nd quarter
Base period: There is no base period

Number of persons, %, mean, years (age)

The Labour Force Survey’s sample is spread uniformly in the 13 (or 14) weeks of the quarter. Every sampled household corresponds to a particular week, namely the reference week (from Monday to Sunday). When the days of a week belong to two different months, this week is considered to belong to the month that includes that Thursday of the particular week. For employment, the reference period is the reference week.

Legal acts and other agreements: Hellenic Statistical Authority is an independent authority responsible for the production and dissemination of official statistics. The legal framework concerning the organization and operation of ELSTAT is as follows: ➢ Law 3832/2010 (Government Gazette No 38, Issue Α): “Hellenic Statistical System Establishment of the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) as an Independent Authority”, as amended by article 90 paragraphs 8 and 9 of the Law 3842/2010 (Government Gazette No 58, Issue Α): “Restoration of fiscal justice, confrontation of tax evasion and other provisions”, by article 10 of the Law 3899/2010 (Government Gazette No 212, Issue A): “Urgent measures for the implementation of the assistance program of the Greek Economy”, by article 45 of the Law 3943/2011 (Government Gazette No 66, Issue A): “Combating tax evasion, staffing of auditing services and other provisions falling within the competence of the Ministry of Finance”, by article 22 paragraph 1 of the Law 3965/2011 (Government Gazette No 113, Issue A): “Operations Reform of the Consignment and Loan Fund, Public Debt Management Agency, Public Enterprises and Government bodies, the establishment of the General Secretary of Public Property and other provisions” and by article 51 of the Law 4021/2011 (Government Gazette No 218, Issue A): “Enhanced measures for the supervision and restructuring of Credit Institutions – Regulation of issues of financial nature – Ratification of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) Framework-Agreement and its amendments and other provisions.” ➢ Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council, on the European statistics (Official Journal of the European Union L 87/164). ➢ Article 14 of the Law 3470/2006 (Government Gazette No 132, Issue A): “National Export Council, tax regulations and other provisions”. ➢ Article 3, paragraph 1c, of the Law 3448/2006 (Government Gazette No 57, Issue A): “For the further use of information coming from the public sector and the settlement of matters falling within the responsibility of the Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization”. ➢ European Statistics Code of Practice, adopted by the Statistical Programme Committee on 24 February 2005 and promulgated in the Commission Recommendation of 25 May 2005 on the independence, integrity and accountability of the national and Community statistical Authorities, after its revision, which was adopted on 28 September 2011 by the European Statistical System Committee. ➢ Presidential Decree 226/2000 (Government Gazette No 195, Issue Α): “Organization of the General Secretariat of the Hellenic Statistical Authority”. ➢ Articles 4, 8, 9, 10, 12 , 13, 14, 15 and 16 of the Law 2392/1996 (Government Gazette No 60, Issue Α): “Access of the General Secretariat of the Hellenic Statistical Authority to administrative sources and administrative files, Statistical Confidentiality Committee, settlement of matters concerning the conduct of censuses and statistical works, as well as of matters of the General Secretariat of the Hellenic Statistical Authority”. The Ad hoc survey 2019 characteristics are specified by Regulation (EC) No 2384/2017 of 19 December 2017 .
Data sharing: A bilateral agreement is signed on the provision of anonymised EU LFS data to the National Statistical Institutes of other participating EU countries.

Policy: The issues concerning the observance of statistical confidentiality by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) are arranged by articles 6, 7 and 8 of the Law 3832/2010, as amended by article 90 paragraph 8 of Law 3842/2010 and by article 10 of Law 3899/2010, as well as by article 8 of Law 2392/1996, which was brought back into force, in accordance with article 90 paragraph 8 of Law 3842/2010. Furthermore, ELSTAT disseminates the statistics in compliance with the statistical principles of the European Statistics Code of Practice and in particular with the principle of statistical confidentiality.
Data treatment: ELSTAT protects and does not disseminate data it has obtained or it has access to, which enable the direct or indirect identification of the statistical units that have provided them by the disclosure of individual information directly received for statistical purposes or indirectly supplied from administrative or other sources. ELSTAT takes all appropriate preventive measures so as to render impossible the identification of individual statistical units by technical or other means that might reasonably be used by a third party. Statistical data that could potentially enable the identification of the statistical unit are disseminated by ELSTAT if and only if: a) these data have been treated, as it is specifically set out in the Regulation on Statistical Obligations of the agencies of the Hellenic Statistical System (ELSS), in such a way that their dissemination does not prejudice statistical confidentiality or b) the statistical unit has given its consent, without any reservations, for the disclosure of data. − The confidential data that are transmitted by ELSS agencies to ELSTAT are used exclusively for statistical purposes and the only persons who have the right to have access to these data are the personnel engaged in this task and appointed by an act of the President of ELSTAT. − Issues referring to the observance of statistical confidentiality are examined by the Statistical Confidentiality Committee (SCC) operating in ELSTAT. The responsibilities of this Committee are to recommend on: • the level of detail at which statistical data can be disseminated, so as the identification, either directly or indirectly, of the surveyed statistical unit is not possible; • the anonymization criteria for the microdata provided to users (http://www.statistics.gr/anonymized_criteria); • the granting to researchers access to confidential data for scientific purposes. Dissemination of the Ad-hoc surveys microdata follows the same restrictions as LFS data, as defined by the Anonymization criteria.In specific cases, and after the approval of the confidentiality committee of ELSTAT, one or two of these rules can be relaxed.

Calendar: At the end of December of each year ELSTAT publishes a release calendar announcing the precise release dates for the next year. The date of announcement of the results of the ad hoc 2019 survey was set at 26/11/2020.
Calendar access: The calendar is disseminated on ELSTAT's website (http://www.statistics.gr) at the link: "Press Releases Calendar”.
User access: The data are released simultaneously to all interested parties through the Press Release entitled ''Labour Force'' which is made available to the media at 12:00. At the same time, the press release is distributed electronically to the subscribers. The press release is subsequently posted on the website of ELSTAT (http://www.statistics.gr). There is no internal government access to the data before their release to the public.

Results are released once.

News release: Published in ELSTAT website, path: Population and Social Conditions > Labour Market > Employment – Unemployment > LFS - ad hoc modules> Work organisation and working time arrangements (Ad hoc module 2019) , http://www.statistics.gr/en/statistics/-/publication/SJO32/-
Publications: No exist
On-line database: No exists
Micro-data access: Micro-data are available to users for free upon request to the Hellenic Statistical Authority, Statistical Information and Publications Division. Path: Products and Services>Statistical data request http://www.statistics.gr/en/statistical-data-request Confidentiality of the data is assured by the implementation of anonymization criteria (see 8.2).
Other: A number of tabulated data are available to users on the website http://www.statistics.gr/en/statistics/-/publication/SJO32/-. Also, statistical data are provided to users by on-line application in ELSTAT, Statistical Information and Publications Division (see 11.4). Metadata – consultations There is no distinct measurement for the use of ad hoc surveys data. This is included in the use of LFS data (for details, see Annual “User satisfaction survey” , path: Products and Services> User satisfaction survey, http://www.statistics.gr/en/user-satisfaction-survey)

Documentation on methodology: The following scientific publications refer to LFS sample selection and estimations and they are available only in the Greek language: • Ανασχεδιασμός του δείγματος της Έρευνας Εργατικού Δυναμικού από το έτος 1998 και εξής Ν. Πανταζίδης . • Αποτελεσματικότητα των εκτιμήσεων της Έρευνας Εργατικού Δυναμικού από το έτος 1998 και εξής Ν. Πανταζίδης Documents are available in pdf format (only in the Greek language), upon request Short methodological notes and survey questionnaires are available at ELSTAT website, path Population and Social Conditions > Labour Market > Employment – Unemployment, http://www.statistics.gr/en/statistics/pop . Metadata completeness - rate Do no exist.
Quality documentation: Information on the accuracy and reliability of the data is contained in section 15, "Accuracy and reliability."

Assurance: Ad hoc surveys follow the same methodology as LFS, thus complying with Eurostat standards concerning the selection and the size of the sample, the design of questionnaires, and the information collected. Collected questionnaires are checked for completeness and quality of information. The final data base is checked for data validity by ELSTAT and Eurostat.
Assessment: Labour Force Survey is considered a reliable source of information with a methodology that meets high standards. Nevertheless, Labour Force Survey is a sample survey and as a result, the results are accompanied by sampling errors. Basic quality indicators or Labour Force Survey, (sampling errors, response rates) are computed quarterly and annually and included in a standard quality report submitted to Eurostat.

User needs: The ad hoc module 2019 was decided in the context of the need to collect data with a large-scale European survey on the application of various forms of new practices in work organisation and working time arrangements and the experiences of workers with those practices and arrangements (EC 2384/2017).
User satisfaction: ELSTAT does not carry out a user satisfaction survey specifically for the users of the Labour Force Survey. However, there is continuous communication with the main users of survey results and their opinion and remarks are taken in to account in the development of Labour Force Survey and the production and dissemination of its results.
Completeness: Ad hoc 2019 survey in Greece included all variables defined in the relevant EC regulation.

Overall accuracy: The size of the Labour Force Survey sample allows for the production of estimates with high accuracy at country level and at the most of NUTS 2 areas of Greece. This reflects also to ad hoc 2019 survey which collected data from 18,915 persons.
Coverage error: Refers to deviations between sampling frame and target population (see 4.6). The sampling frame is based on the current census results. The primary sampling units consist of a number of building blocks.. The design and selection of the primary sampling units is based on the number of private households residing permanently in these areas at current census. The secondary sampling units (that is households and dwellings) are selected after the selection of the primary sampling unit and after the compilation of a compete list of the private household dwellings in the PSU. The list is updated every 6 quarters (when a new systematic sample of dwellings is selected in the primary sampling unit). The main issues pertaining to the frame quality are: • The more the time interval elapsed since the census, the less accurately the probabilities of selection reflect the “real size” of the selected primary sampling units. • Sample size can be different, and even significantly different from the expected size, due to considerable changes in the “size” (that is, the number of household dwellings) of a PSU. • It is difficult to control the way listings are updated. Over-coverage and under-coverage can be both present. Undercoverage (the percentage of persons that are not covered by the sampling frame) is estimated at about 1%. These are mainly persons residing in collective households and persons residing in houses outside builded areas. Over-coverage – rate Refers to the percentage of dwellings that are not used by households and are included in the sampling frame of Labour Force Survey. It is estimated at about 8.4%. Common units – proportion Refers to the proportion of units covered by both the survey and the administrative sources in relation to the total number of units in the survey. LFS survey does not uses any administrative sources, and therefore estimations are entirely derived from LFS sample.
Measurement error: Measurement errors are distinguished into: a) response errors, i.e. when respondents provide untrue or incorrect information, caused, among others, by the following : • Proxy answering, i,e, responses by other member of household than the respondent. Total percentage of proxies was 38.1%; • Additional interview for the ad hoc module (with LFS) imposes a serious burden on the interviewed households which may cause refusals or response errors; Cases invlolving false data registration due to responses. For example, it may be the case of incorrect or incomplete description of the occupation, incorrect number of hours worked during the reference week, false salary etc; ,and b) interview errors, i.e. all cases of false data registration caused by mistakes made by the interviewer , can be occured in cases where the interviewer formulates a question incorrectly or ask questions in the wrong order.
Non response error: Non response errors are due to non-contacts (failure to come into contact with the household) or to the refusal of the household to provide information. By examining the item non response by type of interview (direct of proxy) and sex it appears that there are no important differences. It seems though that non-response tends to be bigger in both younger and older ages. Non-response error rates by variable were as follows: Variable Non-response % Flexibility to arrange start and end of the working times 4.0 Freedom to take hours off at short notice 5.1 Freedom to take days off at short notice 4.3 Changes in the working times due to work needs 4.6 Contacted on work matters outside working hours 4.9 Method of recording the working hours 5.3 Working under time pressure 4.2 Job autonomy 4.5 Main place of work 4.0 Commuting time 7.5 Work on other location than the main place of work 0.4
Processing error: Due to the fact that paper questionnaires are used, there is a large number of different kind of errors detected after the data entry. Such errors refer to variable non-response aw well as contradictions between the answers provided in different parts of the questionnaire, also including LFS questionnaire. In some cases, ELSTAT come into contact with households by phone in order to deal with the above mentioned problematic cases.
Model assumption error: No models for estimation of non-sampling errors are applied.

Timeliness: Survey results are sent to EUROSTAT on March of next year (2020 for 2019 ad hoc module).
Punctuality: Results were produced and sent to Eurostat on time

Geographical: The definitions of the variables used in the Greek Labour Force Survey are fully in line with Eurostat Regulations. The results between Member States may have problems of comparability due to different reference period in the Member States (some Member States carry out the survey throughout the year) and different implementation research (Member States use for ad hoc surveys questionnaires having significant differences).
Over time: In 2005 and 2010, the ad hoc module on reconciliation between work and family life, included variables exploring the possibility of absence for family reasons for a) varying the start and/or end of working day, at least for one hour, and b) taking whole days off without using holidays. However, in 2005 and 2010 these two variables were asked in the context of reconciliation between work and family life, and in both cases the question is if there is flexibility for family reasons (which is not the case in the 2015 module). We should also note that there are differences in the filters and the answer categories. Therefore, it is not possible to compare ad hoc 2015 module with those of 2005 and 2010. On the contrary, due to the lack of such limitations, the 2015 ad hoc module is comparable with the current module.

Internal: The ad hoc estimates have full internal coherence, as they are all based on the same set of microdata and they are calculated using the same estimation methods
Sub annual and annual statistics: Not relevant
National Accounts: Not relevant

Total cost for data collection (by not permanent staff of ELSTAT): 14,700 euros

Policy: Ad hoc results are not revised after publication.
Practice: Not applicable

Source data: The sample for Ad hoc survey 2019 is based on LFS sample. LFS is a sample survey covering the population living in private households. The selection of households to be surveyed follows a two stage stratified sampling scheme. Total country is stratified in 206 strata. These strata are formed by allocating municipalities and communes of every NUTS 3 in three different groups (Agglomerations and Municipalities with 10.000 inhabitants or more, Municipalities and Communes with 2.000 to 9.999 inhabitants, and Communes up to 1.999 inhabitants). The exceptions are Athens and Thessaloniki agglomerations, which are divided into 44 and 12 strata, respectively. At the first sampling stage, 2820 clusters (groups of dwellings) are selected with probability proportional to their “size” (that is, proportional to the number of households residing in these areas at 2011 census). At the second sampling stage a systematic sample of dwellings is selected in every primary sampling unit. All households residing in selected dwellings are asked to participate in the survey. Of the selected households, individuals aged from 15 to 64 years are interviewed.
Frequency of data collection: Data was collected during the 2nd quarter of 2019.
Data collection: Personal Interview conducted with Paper questionnaire, PAPI (95% ) and CAPI (5%).
Data validation: Data are validated through a series of checks which detect inconsistencies between dates reported by interviewed persons, between educational attainment and profession, profession and sector of economic activities, inconsistencies between answers given to different part of the questionnaire and inconsistencies in the reported structure of the households. When detected, these problems are resolved either by re-contacting households or, when possible, using previous data for the same household.
Data compilation: The estimates of the ad hoc survey are produced by reducing the survey results to the total population of private households as calculated in the Labour Force Survey for the second quarter of 2019.
Adjustment: The LFS quarterly results are not adjusted
Imputation-rate: No imputation is performed in the LFS data.
Seasonal adjustment: Not relevant

There were no important issues with the implementation of 2019 ad hoc module.