Concept: Employment

Status of Employment

There are two categories of workers: those who work for others and those who work for themselves. These groups can be further subdivided into seven classes of work force members:

1 - Employees


• Employees (private): those who work as employees of a private firm or business.
  
  
• Employees (government or public): those who work for a local, provincial, or federal government, for a government service or agency, a crown corporation, or a government-funded public establishment such as a school (including universities) or a hospital.

2 - Self-employed


• Working owners of incorporated business: working owners of an incorporated business, farm, or professional practice. This group has two components:
  
  
  1. With paid help.
     
     
  2. Without paid help.
  
  
• Working owners of unincorporated businesses and other self-employed: working owners of a business, farm, or professional practice that is not incorporated and self-employed persons who do not have a business (for example, baby-sitters, newspaper carriers).
  
  
• Unpaid family workers: persons who work without pay on a farm or in a business or professional practice owned and operated by another family member living in the same dwelling.

Status of Unemployment

The unemployed consists of four categories of individuals:


1. Those who are without work, have actively looked for work in the past four weeks, and are available for work at a given time.
   
   
2. Those who have been laid off from a job to which they expected to return.
   
   
3. Students.
   
   
4. Those not working at a given time but who have definite arrangements to start a new job in four weeks or less.

Unemployment Rate

This refers to the unemployed labour force expressed as a percentage of the total labour force in an area, group, or category.

MORE INFORMATION

• Frohlich N, Derksen S, Carriere KC. The Socioeconomic factor index (SEFI) for 1986, 1991, and 1996 (unpublished).