What are the various working status types?
1. Working for pay/ payment in kind
The emphasis is on work that is done for pay/ payment in kind and includes wages, fees, commissions, tips, income from self-employment, etc regardless of the number of hours worked.
This category includes activities such as babysitting, dressmaking, baking, etc. at home and it also includes students, those working without pay in a family business/ farm and persons not at work due to vacation, sick leave, etc.). Take care to include those persons who might not consider themselves to be involved in any form of economic activity. Examples are persons working for pay in their homes performing activities such as dressmaking, baking and babysitting. Such persons might be inclined to classify themselves wrongly as ‘Engaged in home duties’. For census purposes, however, such persons are regarded as working for pay, irrespective of the amount of importance they place on their other activities such as home duties.
2. Working for pay as an apprentice
This option applies to persons who received pay while functioning as an apprentice in their main job. The following conditions normally apply in apprenticeship schemes:
- The individual is in a formal programme of a specific duration.
- The apprentice is in permanent employment.
- He/she is pursuing a course of education leading to some form of qualification.
- He/she is promised continued employment upon completing the programme.
3. Looking for Work
This relates to those people who were trying to get another job after having discontinued a previous job for any reason, persons seeking work for the first time and students looking for work. Persons included in this category must not be in any paid employment or self-employment. If someone was engaged in voluntary work during the reference week, but looked for work as well, his/her job-seeking activity would take priority. Thus, record them as ‘Looking for work’.
4. Full-time student not actively seeking work
This category includes students who are not employed and not seeking work. Students without work who have made arrangements to take up paid employment or undertake self employment at a date sometime after the reference week should be recorded here. A student who worked for a short period of time (e.g. an hour) should still be captured as 'Working for pay/ payment in kind'.
5. Not actively seeking work
This category includes persons other than full-time students who are not working for pay/ payment in kind and not looking for work. Persons without work who have made arrangements to take up paid employment or undertake self-employment at a date sometime after the reference week should be recorded here. A person who worked for a short period of time (e.g. an hour) should still be captured as 'Working for Pay/ Payment in Kind'.
6. Engaged in home duties
These are persons of either sex who were not working for pay or looking for work and who were engaged in household duties in their own home. Examples are homemakers and other relatives responsible for the care of the home and children. Domestic employees working for pay are classified as working and are not included in the ‘Engaged in Home Duties’ category. Do not record this category if the respondent conducts any form of economic activity for pay in his/her home such as dressmaking, baking, babysitting or operating an accounting business. In such cases, the respondent must be recorded as ‘Working for Pay/ Payment in Kind’.
7. Voluntary work without pay
This relates primarily to those people who spent the majority of their time working without pay for charitable groups and/or various church and school projects.
8. Unable to work (due to a disabling health condition)
Record in this category those persons with a physical or mental health condition that is of such a magnitude as to prevent them from working.
9. Retired
Record in this category those persons who are no longer participating in the workforce because they have retired. For many workers the age of retirement is in their 60’s but for some, it is as low as 55 years of age. However, it is possible for a person to retire at any age, if their circumstances allow for this.