WAGE SURVEY

Survey conducted with other employers in the same labor market to determine pay
levels for specific job categories. Generally wage and salary surveys are conducted
in the surrounding community or metropolitan area for the purposes of comparability.

        INTRODUCTION

The availability of information on wages and earnings of workers is an

important parameter to assess the wage level in the country.  If we consider the level
of unemployment and under employment as an index of economic distress among
the members of workforce, the level of wages and earnings of workers serve as an
indicator of the economic prosperity of the working population.

Ever since the introduction of planned economy, the living standards of the
working population have become dependant, more or less, on levels of earnings. 
Other types of income are at times, significant but for most of the workers, earnings
from paid employment constitute the major source of income.  Earnings or take
home wages/salaries, which provide means of livelihood, tend to conform to the
income needed to enable the labour force to maintain its customary standard of
living in the long run.  If the greater employment means the ability of a large number
of persons to satisfy their needs, increased real earnings mean greater satisfaction
of their wants.

     WAGE RATES

In order to ensure comparability, the term ‘Wage Rate’, has been defined as
the sum of basic wage and dearness allowance in respect of workers who receive
both these components, while for other workers the actual consolidated amount of
earnings represent wage rate.  The wage rates were collected for all the
occupations.  The monthly, fortnightly or weekly wages actually paid are divided by
the actual number of man days worked to arrive at the daily wage rates.

 AVERAGE DAILY WAGE RATES BY STRATUM

The average daily wage rates in the Tea Processing Industry were Rs. 64.75
at all India level. At the stratum level, the lowest average daily wage rate of Rs.
59.05 was recorded by Assam, followed by Rs. 65.29 in West Bengal. On the other
hand, the highest average daily wage rate of Rs. 86.92 was reported from Kerala,
followed by Rs. 79.83 in Tamil Nadu.

 AVERAGE DAILY WAGE RATES BY SEXAGE

The average daily wage rates were reported at Rs. 65.03 for men, Rs. 63.82 for
women and Rs. 24.36 for adolescent workers in the Tea Processing Industry. The
average daily wages of women workers were reported to be less than that of the
men workers in the entire strata in the Tea Processing Industry. The highest average
daily wage rate of women workers was reported at Rs. 82.41 from Kerala, whereas,
lowest average daily wage of women workers was reported at Rs.52.24 from Assam.

        AVERAGE DAILY WAGE RATE BY OCCUPATION AND SEXAGE

The highest average daily wage rate at the occupation level was reported at
Rs 132.54 in 'Mechanic (General)' occupation, followed by Rs. 123.41 in 'Fitter' and
Rs. 121.09 in 'Electrician' occupations. The lowest average daily wage rate was
reported at Rs. 52.37 in 'Fermenting Room Attendant' occupation, followed by Rs.
54.05 in 'Sign Maker' and Rs. 55.02 in 'Picker Coolie' occupations. The average daily
wage rate was found to be more than Rs. 100 in just 6 occupations out of a total of
27 occupations reported in the Tea Processing Industry. However, it has been
noticed that none of the women workers employed in Tea Processing industry was
getting average daily wage rate of Rs. 100 or more.

The female workers were found employed in only 8 occupations out of a total
of 27 reported occupations in the Tea Processing Industry. Out of these 8
occupations, in which female workers were employed, the average daily wage rates
of female worker were higher than that of their male counterparts in 5 occupations,
viz., 'Helper', 'Sweeper', 'Tea Sorter', 'Picker Coolie' and 'Withering Loft Attendant'.

TREND IN WAGE RATES AND REAL WAGE RATES

.

In order to assess the improvement in the economic conditions of the workers,

it is necessary to examine the data on real wage rates. The real wage rates for the
year y1 have been worked out with reference to the All India Consumer Price Index
Numbers by shifting its base to the year y0=100. Symbolically, the Real Wage Rates
for the year y1 with respect to the year y0 may be defined as:

1960 AICPIy0
REy1 = ---------- x Ey1
y1
1960AICPI

Where,

Ey1 = Actual earnings for the year y1

REy1 = Real earnings for the year y1
y0
1960AICPI = All India CPI Number for year y0 with base 1960=100
y1
1960AICPI = All India CPI Number for year y1 with base 1960=100
1. What are Salary Surveys?
Salary Surveys are tools used to determine the median or average compensation
paid to employees in one or more jobs. Compensation data, collected from several
employers, is analyzed to develop an understanding of the amount of compensation
paid. Surveys may focus on one or more job titles, geographic regions, employer
size, and or industries. Salary surveys may be conducted by employer associations
(e.g., SHRM), survey vendors, or by individual employers.

Survey data is often time sensitive and may become out-of-date quickly. Because of
the time sensitive information, surveys are often identified by by the year or quarter
in which the data was collected.

The purpose of salary surveys provide a means for comparison of salaries at the
company

Principles of Compensation Discussed

Surveys gather and summarize compensation information and provide a means for
comparison of salaries at the company.

2. Types of data gathered in a salary survey

Salary Surveys are analyses of compensation data. This data may include
quantifiable aspects of compensation such as:

1. Base salaries
2. Increase percentages or amounts
3. Merit Increases
4. Salary Ranges
5. Starting Salary
6. Incentives/Bonuses
7. Allowances and Benefits
8. Working Hours

Salary Surveys may also include non-quantifiable aspects of compensation such as:

1. Educational Requirements
2. Geographic Location
3. Source of Hire (Internal/External)
4. Working Conditions

4. Choosing the right survey for you.

What to look for in a survey.
How do I choose a salary survey? The results of surveys conducted by third parties
(e.g., associations, consultants, survey vendors) can be relatively inexpensive
compared to the cost of developing the same results your self. Surveys conducted
by associations and vendors are often have a large number of participants which
results in a more accurate analysis. Before purchasing survey results, you should
make sure the results contain:
1. Appropriate Jobs
Salary Surveys collect compensation data for one or more jobs (job titles).
The jobs may vary depending on industry and or size of employer. For
example, some surveys for printing companies may include titles such as:
Press Operator, Binding Machine Operator, or Lithographic Press Operator.
Job titles specific to the banking industry include: Teller, Cashier, Account
Manager, or Investment Manager. Job titles should be have little overlap and
should unique titles that describe the job. For example the following job titles:
Secretary A, Secretary B, and Secretary C do not adequately describe the
hierarchical relationship between the three job titles.
2. Summary
Salary Survey results should contain a summary of the data analysis. This
summary is useful for understanding trends that are occurring the labor
market.
3. Methodology
Is there a minimum number of responses needed before reporting results?
Data should not be reported for too few incumbents. Need to report median
salary as well as averages. The mean is the average of all numbers divided
by the number of responses. The 'mean' can be affected by extreme values.
The median is the midpoints with half of the responses are above that number
and half fall below. Please note that in salary data, the median tends to be
lower than the mean due to the fact that there is no upper limit to the rates
that can be paid for a job. However, the lower limit is zero. Therefore, the
distribution of salaries tends to be skewed with a few salaries at the extreme
high end of the range. Fact: In salary data, the median will almost always be
lower than the mean. Explanation.
4. Tabulations
At a minimum, survey results must be tabulated by Job Title. This means that
the average or median salary should be reported separately for each job in
the survey (assuming that there were sufficient numbers of participants to
make the analysis meaningful). If the survey includes data from a large
number of participants, the value of the survey results will be increased if the
results can be tabulated by other employer demographics such as: funding
type (public/private), industry, geographic region, size (number of employees
or financial measure)