This chapter presents data on average weekly earnings, hourly earnings, hours worked and labour costs of employees compiled from the Earnings, Hours and Employment Costs Survey (EHECS). The EHECS survey has been in operation since Quarter 1 2008 providing short-term earnings data as well as the annual average levels of earnings. The EHECS survey replaced a number of smaller, less detailed sectoral earnings inquires. With the advent of the EHECS survey, all sectoral series can now be estimated and compared on a consistent basis.
| Q4 2013 | Q4 2014 | |
| B-E | 831.61 | 855.9 |
| F | 731.42 | 754.14 |
| G | 533.33 | 527.33 |
| H | 755.77 | 755.91 |
| I | 316.12 | 325.45 |
| J | 1002.93 | 1031.34 |
| K-L | 976.15 | 1076.11 |
| M | 817.3 | 791.54 |
| N | 487.46 | 500 |
| O | 925.68 | 921.53 |
| P | 816.92 | 804.18 |
| Q | 671.36 | 678.9 |
| R-S | 486.43 | 487.28 |
| All sectors | 688.78 | 702.06 |
Interactive table: StatBank link
Average weekly earnings of the main economic sectors in Q4 2014 ranged from a high of €1,076.11 in the Financial, insurance and real estate activities sector to a low of €325.45 in the Accommodation and food service activities sector. Financial, insurance and real estate activities sector experienced the largest annual increase to Q4 2014 rising 10.2% from €976.15 to €1,076.11. Professional, scientific and technical activities sector saw the largest fall (-3.2%) in the year Q4 2013 to Q4 2014, decreasing from €817.30 to €791.54.
Average hours worked per week varied from a low of 23.4 hours in the Education sector and 26.1 hours in the Accommodation and food service activities sector to a high of 38.3 in the Industry sector. The lower hours reflect differences in contracted hours in the case of the Education sector and the high level of part-time workers in the case of the Accommodation and food service activities sector.
Overall average hourly earnings in Q4 2014 were €22.04, an increase of €0.31 from Q4 2013, while average hours worked were virtually unchanged, increasing from 31.7 to 31.8 over the same period. See graph above and table 17.1.
| Regular Earnings | 79.9 |
|---|---|
| Overtime Earnings | 2.2 |
| Irregular Earnings | 4.6 |
| Other Labour Costs | 13.4 |
Interactive table: StatBank link
Regular earnings accounted for 79.9% of average annual total labour costs in 2014. Overtime earnings represented 2.2% of the average annual total labour costs. Irregular earnings made up 4.6% of the total, while the remaining 13.4% was comprised of other labour costs, which include statutory employers PRSI, other social costs, benefits in kind, redundancy payments and other employer labour costs. See graph above and table 17.2.
| 5 year % Change | |
| J | 19.9781077294959 |
| I | 14.2977082332333 |
| N | 10.2318168196481 |
| M | 7.25634678315956 |
| G | 2.36698793793444 |
| B-E | -1.00477779245993 |
| Total | -3.2940519822841 |
| K-L | -4.07876617375834 |
| H | -4.54467827702653 |
| P | -4.88805570396457 |
| Q | -5.64631495558724 |
| R-S | -7.55608945510905 |
| O | -14.2129934857703 |
| F | -36.1033460493104 |
Interactive table: StatBank link
Total annual labour costs fell each year from 2009 to 2011, a decrease of 9.5% in the 2 years. Increases were recorded from 2012, and by 2014 total annual labour costs were 6.9% above 2011 levels.
In 2014 total annual labour costs were €66,621.2 million, 3.3% lower than the 2009 value of €68,890.4 million. The largest decrease in the 5 year period was in the Construction sector where a drop of 36.1% was recorded from €4,513.5 million in 2009 to €2,883.9 million in 2014. The largest sectoral increase of total annual labour costs was recorded in the Information and communication sector, which rose 20.0% from €3,208.6 million to €3,849.6 million over the same period. See graph above and table 17.3.
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