National Business Survey

ENAE

Interviewer’s manual

San José, Costa Rica

2015

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FOREWORD

The National Business Survey is a statistical investigation conducted by INEC aimed

at producing information about the Costa Rican labor market. For this purpose,

employers (enterprises) are asked about the quantity of workers, compensation

and working schedules, according to type of contract, sex, branch of economic

activity and occupational group.

The survey is conducted quarterly and is essential to the creation of the

employment matrix that will show the dynamics of the local labor market. This

survey responds to the need for more accurate and comprehensive economic

statistics in Costa Rica.

The purpose of this instructional material is to serve as detailed guidance to the

ENAE staff who will collect data on the enterprises from the sample. It contains the

most relevant methodological aspects and specific instructions for filling out the

National Business Survey Form.

Interviewers should read this manual carefully and ask questions throughout the

training process; they should consult the manual whenever in doubt about how to

apply the survey to enterprises.

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Table of contents

FOREWORD ......................................................................................................................................... 2

1. GENERAL ASPECTS ....................................................................................................................... 6

1.1. National Institute of Statistics and Censuses ...................................................................... 6

1.2. National Business Survey .................................................................................................... 7

1.2.1. Definition ..................................................................................................................... 7

1.2.2. General Objective ........................................................................................................ 7

1.2.3. Specific Objectives ....................................................................................................... 7

2. INTERVIEWING PERSONNEL ........................................................................................................ 9

2.1. Importance of work done.................................................................................................... 9

2.2. Duties .................................................................................................................................. 9

2.3. Prohibitions ....................................................................................................................... 10

2.4. Materials ........................................................................................................................... 11

3. THEMATIC COVERAGE ............................................................................................................... 12

3.1. Statistical Unit ................................................................................................................... 12

3.2. Economic sector ................................................................................................................ 12

3.3. Size .................................................................................................................................... 12

3.4. Geographic Coverage ........................................................................................................ 12

3.5. Economic activity .............................................................................................................. 12

4. DEFINITIONS AND CONCEPTS .................................................................................................... 18

4.1. Basic concepts ................................................................................................................... 18

4.2. Other concepts .................................................................................................................. 25

5. INDIVIDUAL WORKLOAD ........................................................................................................... 26

5.1. Workload assignment ....................................................................................................... 26

5.2. Daily Monitoring Sheet ..................................................................................................... 26

5.3. Enterprise information update ......................................................................................... 32

6. TERMS OF REFERENCE............................................................................................................... 38

6.1. Reference month ............................................................................................................... 38

6.2. Currency used.................................................................................................................... 39

6.3. Forms of payment ............................................................................................................. 39

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7. ENAE FORM ............................................................................................................................... 40

7.1. Section I: Enterprise information ...................................................................................... 41

7.1.1. Enterprise/establishment location and information ................................................ 41

7.1.2. Information of Manager or Legal Representative ..................................................... 46

7.1.3. Informant information .............................................................................................. 47

7.1.4. Terms of reference .................................................................................................... 47

7.1.5. Additional information on enterprise/establishment activities ............................... 48

7.1.6. For office use only ..................................................................................................... 50

7.2. Section II: Enterprise/establishment worker information ................................................ 51

7.2.1. Amount / ID number ................................................................................................. 51

7.2.2. Type of worker .......................................................................................................... 52

7.2.3. Sex ............................................................................................................................. 52

7.2.4. Type of contract ........................................................................................................ 52

7.2.5. Position held in the enterprise .................................................................................. 52

7.2.6. Main tasks performed ............................................................................................... 52

7.2.7. Monthly remuneration .............................................................................................. 54

7.2.8. Type of remuneration ............................................................................................... 55

7.2.9. Christmas salary bonus, amount/percentage ........................................................... 55

7.2.10. School Salary, amount/percentage ........................................................................... 56

7.2.11. Salary in kind components ........................................................................................ 56

7.2.12. Number of normal hours worked ............................................................................. 56

7.2.13. Number of overtime hours worked .......................................................................... 56

7.3. Section III: Workers with only an indefinite duration contract of employment in the

enterprise/establishment ............................................................................................................. 59

7.3.1. New employees ......................................................................................................... 60

7.3.2. Dismissed Workers .................................................................................................... 61

7.4. Section IV. Vacancies in the enterprise/establishment .................................................... 65

7.5. Comments ......................................................................................................................... 66

8. FORM RESULTS .......................................................................................................................... 97

9. ENTERPRISE RESULTS ................................................................................................................ 97

10. FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................. 99

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1. GENERAL ASPECTS

1.1. National Institute of Statistics and Censuses

The National Institute of Statistics and Censuses [Instituto Nacional de Estadística y

Censos INEC] was created under Act 7839 of the National Statistical System

[Sistema Estadístico Nacional SEN] as an Autonomous Entity of public law, with

legal status and its own assets, as well as functional and administrative autonomy

under article 188 of the Costa Rican Constitution.

The main function of INEC is to promote national statistical activities that produce

and disseminate reliable and timely statistics, in order to raise awareness of

conditions in Costa Rica and contribute to efficient administrative and private

management. Its Mission and Vision statements are the following:

Mission We are responsible for the national statistics that guide decisions fostering

the development of the country.

Vision We are at the forefront of the provision of geostatistical information

concerning conditions in Costa Rica.

Through its operations, INEC must promote the integration of production and use

of statistical information about public institutions; establish the mechanisms and

procedures required to coordinate actions by the public and private institutions

involved in the production, dissemination and application of the information

generated under the framework of the National Statistical System; produce the

statistical information entrusted to them by Law and provide results of national

statistical activity clearly and in a timely manner.

Stated actions include producing demographic statistics, price indexes (for

example the CPI), exports and imports statistics, population and housing census,

household surveys, household income and expenditure surveys and other specific

statistics concerning the agricultural sector (agricultural census).

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1.2. National Business Survey

1.2.1. Definition

As part of statistical operations, the National Business Survey is conducted by INEC

to provide input for the analysis of the national labor market. Its main purpose is to

become a source of information for said market, from the perspective of

employers (enterprises).

ENAE deals with the number of people in an occupation, positions in an enterprise,

and compensation according to occupational group and sex. This information

constitutes basic input for the development of the employment matrix, as part of

the Costa Rica CAB project to change the base year for the macroeconomic

accounts [Proyecto del Cambio de Año Base CAB], under the framework for

cooperation between the Central Bank of Costa Rica [Banco Central de Costa

Rica BCCR] and the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses, thus contributing

to the development of the Comprehensive Implementation Program of the

Macroeconomic Statistics Department [Sistema de Estadísticas Macroeconómicas

IISEM].

1.2.2. General Objective

Analyze the dynamics of the labor market in terms of people in an occupation,

hours worked, and compensation, from the perspective of the existing demand for

labor in the country.

1.2.3. Specific Objectives

The specific objectives of ENAE are:

1. Define the occupational profile by current number or workers in the country

according to type of contract and sex.

2. Examine the behavior of working days in terms of number of hours according to

occupational group and branch of economic activity.

3. Collect information on the pattern of compensation in the country, as well as its

components according to sex and occupational group.

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2. INTERVIEWING PERSONNEL

2.1. Importance of work done

As an interviewer, you must comply consistently and responsibly with the data

collection on enterprises. Therefore, you will be assigned workload indicating the

enterprises you will be working with during each period, according to the questions

in the ENAE Form.

2.2. Duties

i) Actively participate in the training process on the dates and in the places

required.

ii) Perform your tasks following the instructions contained in this manual.

iii) Ask the supervisor questions whenever in doubt in order to prevent quality-

related problems.

iv) Perform your tasks yourself and do so thoroughly.

v) Be mindful of your personal appearance; that is, wear formal attire during

field work.

vi) Request the information required in a courteous manner.

vii) Perform your tasks within the established time frame and submit it as

previously indicated, letting the supervisor know about any unusual

situations (pending surveys, suspicions of fake information, etc.).

viii) Inform the enterprises so they may confirm the survey is being conducted by

calling Odilia Bravo Cambronero, general project coordinator, at 2280-9280

extension 123, or the survey technical working group at extension 338.

ix) Take care of the assigned laptop and charge it completely before starting

your day to avoid inconveniences.

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2.3. Prohibitions

i. Push informants to provide data or make informants official offers.

ii. Alter data provided by informant.

iii. Disclose information obtained during your work, even upon completion of

your tasks, or leave it at the reach of people outside INEC.

iv. Smoke, chew gum, wear sunglasses and/or keep your cellphone on while

conducting the survey.

v. Dispose of or refuse to return the materials provided for field work.

vi. Show up to survey appointments under the effect of narcotics or alcohol.

vii. Delegate your tasks or receive help from unauthorized people, or be

accompanied by people outside INEC.

viii. Misuse laptops (games, personal work, software installation, etc.) assigned

exclusively for the collection of enterprise data.

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2.4. Materials

Supervisors will provide each interviewer with the following material to conduct

field work:

a) Badge: Official identification to identify yourself as interviewer in the

project;

b) Laptop; Electronic tool used to collect data; it comes with a charger and a

bag,

c) Data Card: a wireless, remote-access device to access the Internet;

d) Telephone cards: Cards with the expected cost of telephone calls and the

like.

e) Cellphone: mobile device used to georeference enterprises during visits, as

well as to communicate work matters.

f) Forms: Print tool used to collect data (if necessary); and

g) Other: pens, pencils, erasers, business cards, umbrellas.

IMPORTANCE OF WORK DONE

You are representing INEC and the National Business Survey. It is your duty as

interviewer to know the objectives, importance and usefulness of the project.

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3. THEMATIC COVERAGE

3.1. Statistical Unit

The statistical unit is the enterprise, which is defined as the economic unit that joins

efforts and resources with the purpose of producing consistent goods or services,

under a single management, and can estimate its costs separately, particularly

those pertaining to production, materials, services and manual labor; it is generally

located in one physical location.

3.2. Economic sector

ENAE focuses solely on the private sector, thus completely excluding the public

sector from the survey.

3.3. Size

Enterprises subject to analysis are those whose number of workers are equal or

greater than 10 (this encompasses workers with fixed-term contracts or indefinite

duration contracts in the principal enterprises and in any establishments).

3.4. Geographic Coverage

The geographic coverage of ENAE includes enterprises located across the

country, making no distinction regarding location.

3.5. Economic activity

ENAE includes any enterprise whose Principal Economic Activity is defined in any of

the following categories:

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- Mining and quarrying

This section includes the extraction of minerals occurring naturally as solids (coal

and ores), liquids (petroleum) or gases (natural gas). This also includes

supplementary activities aimed at preparing the crude materials for marketing, for

example, crushing, grinding, cleaning, drying, sorting, concentrating ores,

liquefaction of natural gas and agglomeration of solid fuels.

- Manufacturing

This includes the physical or chemical transformation of materials, substances, or

components into new products. The materials, substances, or components

transformed are raw materials that are products of agriculture, forestry, fishing,

mining or quarrying as well as products of other manufacturing activities.

Substantial alteration, renovation or reconstruction of goods is generally

considered to be manufacturing.

- Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply

This includes the activity of providing electric power, natural gas, steam, hot water

and the like through a permanent infrastructure (network) of lines, mains and

pipes. This section therefore includes the operation of electric and gas utilities,

which generate, control and distribute electric power or gas. Also included is the

provision of steam and air-conditioning supply.

- Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities

This includes activities related to the management (including collection, treatment

and disposal) of various forms of waste, such as solid or non-solid industrial or

household waste, as well as contaminated sites.

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- Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles

This section includes wholesale and retail trade (i.e. sale without transformation) of

any type of goods and the rendering of services incidental to the selling of these

goods. Also included in this section are the repair of motor vehicles and

motorcycles.

- Transportation and storage

This includes the provision of passenger or freight transport, whether scheduled or

not, by rail, pipeline, road, water or air and associated activities such as terminal

and parking facilities, cargo handling, storage etc. Included in this section is the

renting of transport equipment with driver or operator and postal or courier

services.

- Accommodation and food service activities

This section includes the provision of short-stay accommodation for visitors and the

provision of complete meals and drinks for immediate consumption.

- Information and communication

This section includes the production and distribution of information and cultural

products, the provision of the means to transmit or distribute these products, as well

as data or communications, information technology activities and the processing

of data and other information service activities.

- Financial and insurance activities

This section includes financial service activities, including insurance, reinsurance

and pension funding activities and activities to support financial services. This

section also includes the activities of holding assets, such as activities of holding

companies and the activities of trusts, funds and similar financial entities.

- Real Estate activities

This section includes acting as lessors, agents and/or brokers in one or more of the

following: selling or buying real estate, renting real estate, providing other real

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estate services such as the appraisal of real estate or acting as real estate escrow

agents. Also included is the building of structures, combined with maintaining

ownership or leasing of such structures.

- Professional, scientific and technical activities

This section includes specialized professional, scientific and technical activities.

These activities require a high degree of training, and make specialized

knowledge and skills available to users.

- Administrative and support service activities

These refer to general administrative and support service activities.

- Education

This section includes education at any level or for any profession, oral or written as

well as by radio and television or other means of communication. It includes

education by the different institutions in the regular school system at its different

levels as well as adult education, literacy programs etc. Also included are military

schools and academies, prison schools etc. at their respective levels.

- Human health and social work activities

This section includes the provision of health and social work activities ranging from

health care provided by trained medical professionals in hospitals and other

facilities, to social work activities without any involvement of health care

professionals.1

- Arts, entertainment and recreation

This section includes a wide range of activities to meet varied cultural,

entertainment and recreational interests of the general public, including live

performances, operation of museums and historic sites, gambling, sports and other

recreation activities.

1 The definition includes public health care activities. However, according to the thematic coverage of ENAE,

they are not to be considered for this project. The same applies to any public activity.

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- Other Service Activities

This section includes the activities of membership organizations, the repair of

computers and personal and household goods, and other personal service

activities not classified elsewhere.

Therefore, enterprises are excluded should their Principal Activity2 be any of the

following:

- Agriculture, Livestock Industry, Forestry and Fishing

This includes the exploitation of natural resources both plant and animal,

comprising the activities of growing crops, raising and breeding animals,

harvesting timber and other plants, animals or animal products from a farm or from

their natural habitats.

Construction

This includes general construction and specialized construction activities for

buildings and civil engineering works. It includes new work, repair, additions and

alterations, the erection of prefabricated buildings or structures on-site and also

construction of a temporary nature.

- Public administration and defense; compulsory social security

This section includes activities normally carried out by the public administration. This

includes the enactment and judicial interpretation of laws and their pursuant

regulation, as well as the administration of programs based on them, legislative

activities, taxation, national defense, public order and safety, immigration services,

foreign affairs and the administration of government programs. This section also

includes compulsory social security activities.

2 In case an enterprise has establishments, if the principal activity of the enterprise is one of those included

in ENAE and the activity of any of the establishments is one of the excluded, the information of the establishments should also be considered; in other words, the exclusion criteria for economic activities applies solely and exclusively to the Principal Activity of the Enterprise, though not of the establishments.

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- Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods- and services-

producing activities of households for own use

This includes activities of households as employers of domestic personnel such as

maids, cooks, waiters, valets, butlers, laundresses, gardeners, gatekeepers, grooms,

chauffeurs, caretakers, governesses, babysitters, tutors, secretaries etc.

- Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies

This includes activities of international organizations such as the United Nations and

the specialized agencies of the United Nations system, regional bodies, etc., the

International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Co-

operation and Development, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries,

the European Communities, the European Free Trade Association etc.

The reasoning for the exclusion of the previous branches of economic activity from

ENAE is as follows:

1. Activities of dynamic nature in terms of location, activity or enterprise

facilities.

2. Seasonal employment.

3. Complex data collection process given the nature of some activities.

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4. DEFINITIONS AND CONCEPTS

4.1. Basic concepts

In order to perform tasks fully and correctly, interviewers must know the following

basic concepts:

Economic activity: It is the market production of goods or services, as

homogeneous as possible so as to group and differentiate them from other

activities. An economic activity takes place when combining resources

such as equipment, manual labor, manufacturing techniques, or products in

order to obtain certain goods or services.

o Principal activity: The principal activity contributes most to the value

added of the enterprise or that requires the greatest number of

workers.

o Secondary activity: any independent activity that produces products

for third parties and that is not the principal activity of the entity in

question.

ID number: It may be a physical identification number or corporate

identification number. The physical identification number may be the identity

card, issued by the Department of Vital Statistics, or the passport or residence

number of the business owner. The corporate identification number is the

number assigned by the Property Register to identify companies in legal or tax

transactions, for example.

Contract of Employment: comes into play when one of the following takes

place:

o personal rendering of services, which means work should be done

solely and exclusively by the worker hired;

o salary or compensation for the rendering of services, and

o subordination, which is the dependency or subordination between

the employer and the worker, that allows the former to give

instructions, demand good performance and impose sanctions.

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A contract of employment may be Fixed-Term or Indefinite Duration.

o Fixed-Term Contract of Employment: the worker provides services

during a given time frame. Therefore, it includes fixed-term and

piecework contracts.

o Indefinite Duration Contract of Employment: no termination date is

agreed between the employer and the worker, as the reasons for the

contract are not time-bound.

Enterprise: It is an economic entity with the autonomy to make financial and

investment decisions and the authority and responsibility to allocate resources

to the production of goods and services, and the ability to perform one or

several productive activities.

o Single enterprise: It refers to a business that does not depend on

another, does not have branch offices and whose operations are

based in the same location.

o Establishment: It refers to the activities performed by the enterprise in

a different location; that is, establishments are located somewhere

different from the principal enterprise yet depend on it in terms of

management and accounting.

Example 1. Single enterprise / enterprise with establishments

Let’s say you visit Arca de Chocolate S.A. [translator’s note: in Costa Rica ‘S.A.’

stands for ‘corporation’ and is often included as part of the name of the

corporation], an enterprise that performs the activity of retailing chocolates,

located in the district of El Carmen, San José. As it does not perform activities

elsewhere, it is considered a single enterprise. On the contrary, consider an

enterprise like Office-Tech Ltda. [Translator’s note: In Costa Rica ‘Ltda.’ stands for

‘limited liability company’], who performs the activity of retailing stationery and

whose main location is in El Carmen (district), San José (canton), while having

branch offices in Heredia (province), Desamparados (canton), Pavas (district), San

Rafael (district) in Escazú (canton) and Ulloa (district) in Heredia (canton). Each of

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those branch offices are called establishments, being the principal enterprise the

above-mentioned. Take into account not all establishments perform the same

activity as the principal enterprise.

Enterprise with subsidiaries abroad: enterprises with subsidiaries abroad,

managed from Costa Rica.

Subsidiary with a foreign parent enterprise: An enterprise whose parent

enterprise is located in another country; in other words, an enterprise

managed by one located abroad.

Enterprise group: They refer a set of relationships between two or more

companies involving a controlling company and its subsidiaries.

Occupational group: set of occupations grouped according to similar type of

work done and tasks performed.

Working day hours: Time spent at the workplace on activities that are part of

the production of goods and services. Working day hours are classified in

Contractual Hours, Hours Actually Worked and Hours Worked.

o Contractual hours: They refer to hours agreed upon in the contract of

employment.

o Hours Actually Worked: They include time spent at the workplace on

the tasks and duties of the jobs concerned. Therefore, explicitly

excluded are lunch and coffee breaks, as well as commute and

scheduled leave, among others.

o Hours worked: They constitute the working day established in the

work schedule assigned to each worker to execute his/her tasks.

For the purposes of ENAE, relevant work hours are Hours Worked only.

Accordingly, Hours Worked fall into Normal Hours of Work and Overtime.

Normal Hours of Work: Paid work hours for the effective

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rendering of services during an established time frame in

pursuance of the contract of employment.

Overtime: The number of hours worked exceeding the working

day agreed upon by the employer and the employee.

Exporter: Enterprises who sell goods and services abroad directly (no

intermediaries).

Importer: Enterprises who buy goods and services or part of them abroad

directly (no intermediaries); that is, enterprises who buy their products or

supplies abroad.

Business name: a trade name the business is advertised by to the public.

Business name: The name under which the business was registered in the

Property Register and that is used in legal transactions. The business names of

many enterprises are often different from the trade names, both of which may

include the name of a person.

Other deductions: Deductions from the salary of a worker for sick leaves,

unpaid leaves or permits.

o Sick leave: is temporary time off work workers use to address his/her

health and safety and receive medical assistance from the Social

Security.

o Unpaid leave: a permit granted to workers to absent themselves partially

or completely during a certain time period without receiving the

corresponding pay.

Outsourcing: The procedure through which a company allocates resources to

delegate activities to an outside contractor. Outsourcing occurs particularly in

subcontracting of specialized companies.

Example 2. Workers hired through Outsourcing

An example is services rendered by a security company to another company.

The security company workers execute tasks at the assigned company but do

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not become part of the payroll. Thus, the company subcontracts the security

company through outsourcing.

Position in the enterprise: Position held in the company in relation to the

production and workforce. Positions at the company may be one of the

following:

o Self-employed: people who work independently without hiring

personnel for permanent positions, only temporarily or occasionally.

o Employer: workers who, working on their own account, have

engaged one or more persons to work for them in their business as

permanent employees.

o Employee: all those workers who are subordinated to an employer

and thus depend directly or indirectly on the employer’s decisions;

they receive compensation on a monthly, weekly or hourly basis or

any other time period, or by piecework.

o Unpaid assistant (relative): Person who renders services to an

enterprise or business according to kinship ties with the employer or

owner, without receiving any compensation.

Position in the enterprise: Name given to a set of tasks performed by one

person within an enterprise/establishment, of which the purpose is to create

products or services as established in a contract of employment.

Compensation: The total remuneration, in cash or in kind, payable to an

employee in return for work done by the latter within an

enterprise/establishment. Its components are:

o Base salary: amount payable to workers in pursuance of the

corresponding contract of employment.

o Overtime pay: It is the amount paid to employees for hours worked

beyond the normal working day. By law, it is equal to 1.5 hours for

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each overtime hour worked.

o Christmas salary bonus: It is an “additional salary” every employer

must pay to all working people, regardless of occupation, within the

first twenty days of the month of December of each year.

o School salary: It is a withholding of 8.19% from the monthly income

received during a year, to be paid before middle school classes start,

which is usually around January.

o Other types of compensation It includes incentives, bonuses and

commissions.

Incentives: any remuneration in cash paid to personnel upon

successful completion of certain conditions established

beforehand, for example, productivity incentives granted for

reaching desired productivity levels; incentives for successful

completion of sales quotas; incentives granted when reaching

performance levels, as established in advance.

Bonuses: A kind of voluntary and supplementary reward provided

for special reasons, usually related to production, cost of living,

quality, or traits displayed by the employee such as responsibility,

efficiency, loyalty and honesty.

Commissions: It is a type of compensation based on

performance.

Salary in kind: The monetary value of the goods and services that a worker

receives as partial or total pay for work done. They are not granted

exclusively for performance; employees may use them without restriction in

their free time to satisfy their personal needs. The forms of salary in kind

analyzed in ENAE are: Meals, fuel, phone/mobile bill, bus fare or

transportation, cafeteria or any other mentioned by informants during data

collection.

Worker: A natural person who renders material and/or intellectual services

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pursuant to an express or implied, oral or written, individual or collective

contract of employment. In addition to the usual workers, new workers and

those dismissed in a particular reference period must be considered.

o Worker with new contract: a worker who agreed upon an indefinite

duration contract of employment with an employer and was not part

of the payroll during the previous reference period.

o Dismissed worker: a worker who during the previous reference period

had an indefinite duration contract of employment yet in the current

reference period does not anymore, as he/she stopped working for

the enterprise (regardless of the reasons concerned).

Important details about the concepts defined above are included below:

a) An enterprise may have one or more corporate identification numbers.

b) No distinction is made with regards to time worked by workers in the

enterprise; that is, someone who works 1 hour a week and one who

works full working days are considered without distinction. Both are

considered workers in ENAE, as long as they receive compensation from

the enterprise.

c) People working in the enterprise under an outsourcing contract are not

considered enterprise workers; however, data is collected on the

number, sex and position held in the company.

d) Data on self-employed workers are not collected, as information

collected will pertain to enterprises with an employer and workers under

fixed-term contracts of employment. Similarly, data on unpaid assistants

will not be consulted, as this role is non-existent to enterprises with 10 or

more workers, and thus its contribution to the analysis would be

negligible.

e) Not all enterprises provide information on the employer; that role may be

performed by a board of directors according to the legal, accounting

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and financial characteristics, or the enterprise may be part of a parent

enterprise located abroad.

4.2. Other concepts

Workload: Number of enterprises assigned to each interviewer to be covered

throughout the working day.

Informant: person whose position in the enterprise being interviewed makes

him/her the most suitable person to provide information; therefore, the person

to interview should be the manager or otherwise the person authorized to

provide information.

Sequence number (DEE): the identification used in the Directory of Enterprises

and Establishments to distinguish each enterprise in the database.

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5. INDIVIDUAL WORKLOAD

5.1. Workload assignment

As interviewer, you will be assigned a workload corresponding to a list of

enterprises on which you must work during the year.

Workload will be assigned at the beginning of the year through an Excel file, which

contains the months of participation for each enterprise and where the following

descriptive information is to be added: INEC Sequence number, Province, Canton

and District of each enterprise.

Nothing else is included in the document, as interviewers may consult additional

information through the assignment and follow-up module, by entering the

sequence number to see information such as business and trade names,

corporate identification number, exact address, telephone, email, economic

activity, and enterprise contact (informant and legal representative/manager).

A document is added to your workload, containing enterprises that are part of

Enterprise Groups, as listed in the Directory of Enterprises and Establishments.

The purpose of providing you with these records is you must have as extensive

enterprise information as possible before making phone calls. When calling a

business, verify their membership to an enterprise group, descriptive information,

existence of establishments, and exact address, if required.

Having this information makes it easier for interviewers to schedule presentation

and collection appointments and ask about transportation and stay (if

applicable).

5.2. Daily Monitoring Sheet

Your interviewer tasks are diverse and simultaneous, which is why you must prepare

a document that allows the supervisor to oversee how time was spent during the

day and correctly update the survey database. Accordingly, the Daily Monitoring

Sheet records individual and collective progress concerning a particular workload.

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27

As interviewer, you are responsible for preparing the document on a daily basis

and for what it is therein contained or omitted. Consequently, you must prepare it

with the utmost care in order to avoid inconsistencies with the existing enterprise

information.

It is your duty to submit the Daily Monitoring Sheet to the supervisor individually via

email (do no attach a Word file, send it as the body of the email) before 8:15 AM

on the day following that to which the tasks described correspond. Should any

unusual situation keep you from sending the Sheet, it is your obligation to inform

the supervisor, who will decide how to proceed.

The Daily Monitoring Sheet has two sections: The first details the tasks performed

concerning enterprises that changed their recorded information. It contains

spaces for the sequence number, comments and an additional space for any

information that would contribute to a better understanding of the status of an

enterprise. The second section is called Enterprise Follow-up and contains spaces

for the sequence number, comments and additional information on enterprises

worked on during the day but on which no data from the record was changed.

Below is an example of the structure of the daily monitoring sheet.

ENAE Daily Monitoring Sheet structure

Changes in the base

Sequence number Comment Additional*

Enterprise follow-up (no changes in the base)

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*Space used to describe problems that arose with transportation, walking, time, weather,

information on hard copies.

Examples of correct recording in the daily monitoring sheet, as well as incorrect

examples with the corresponding explanation, are illustrated below.

Example 3. Daily monitoring sheet with correct records

Changes in the base

Sequence

number Comment Additional*

20157 Information from July was synchronized.

7426 Information from July and August was received via

email but is yet to be synchronized.

16401

A presentation appointment was scheduled for

Thursday, August 18 at 9:30 AM.

14910 Information from October and November was

DAILY MONITORING SHEET

The daily monitoring sheet is used to oversee each enterprise in your workload on a

day-to-day basis. Correctly and specifically defining the status of each enterprise

and justifying changes as accurately as possible is crucial.

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Example 4. Daily monitoring sheet with incorrect records

Explanation: when writing an enterprise does not meet the ENAE coverage

because of number of workers, the current number of workers in the enterprise

should also be included. If the enterprise does not meet the coverage because it

is inactive, the time elapsed since it ceased its economic activity must be

indicated.

provided by phone but is yet to be synchronized.

76809 Information from July and August was synchronized.

The information was

processed in order to be

included in the Excel file.

Then it was uploaded,

encoded and synchronized.

9909

A visit was paid to the enterprise to present the

project. The person in charge of databases must be

consulted before agreeing to participate. A phone

call must be made during the work week of the 15 to

the19 of October in order to confirm participation.

7812 An email was sent containing the form and the

corresponding instructions, as they decided to

participate via email.

Enterprise follow-up (no changes in the base)

23632 A phone call was made as a remainder of pending

information, but unsuccessfully.

44651 A phone call was made to request a presentation

appointment, but unsuccessfully.

15868 Information from the III Quarter was entered in the

system.

Changes in the base

Sequence number Comment Additional*

15795

Does not meet coverage because of

number of workers, information from

July to September was synchronized.

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Explanation: this record is incomplete, as it is lacking the data collection method.

The correct way reads, “Information from April, May and June was collected via

email.”

Explanation: the record does not elaborate on the result of the visit, lacking the

relevant information to change the enterprise information recorded in the

database, if applicable.

Explanation: interviewers must indicate in the daily monitoring sheet the

corresponding reference period. In the previous example, the supervisor may

assume you are referring to the information from the quarter immediately prior to

the current one, which may not be necessarily the case.

Explanation: when a change is made in the database, the ‘connector’ is the

sequence number. A daily monitoring sheet missing the sequence number might

cause ambiguity for two enterprises with the same name. The correct record

contains the sequence number.

45778 Information from April to June was

collected.

39890

A visit was paid to the enterprise on

October 2 to collect information from

July, August and September.

We traveled by bus.

Time of departure from

INEC 11:30 AM, time of

arrival to INEC 3:00 PM.

57217

An appointment was scheduled by

phone for Friday October 3 at 2.00 PM

to collect data from three months.

Restaurant Luna Azul Information from July is synchronized.

37538,69032,7057,11856,73745,

78131,79217,81368,4433,6861,

Information from September was

updated by phone.

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Explanation: every line in the daily monitoring sheet must contain one sequence

number, as not all tasks fit in one line. Therefore, write each sequence number in a

separate line.

Explanation: this record is not correct, as it does not indicate if data was collected,

nor the corresponding month. The status of synchronization is also omitted. The

correct record would read, “Information from September was collected by phone

and showed no changes from the previous month. Information is yet to be

synchronized.”

Explanation: records with additional information about names of workers and

positions in the enterprise are not necessary. Omit them. The same applies to the

details that do not contribute to verifying the status of an enterprise. This record

should read as follows: “By phone, the enterprise agreed to participate via email.”

Explanation: the task date is not necessary as the monitoring sheet is submitted

daily. Also, any specifications that do not contribute to defining the status of an

enterprise must be eliminated.

1296

Confirmation was received that the

information received on September

23 from September showed no

changes.

5372

According to Ana López, human

resources manager, the enterprise will

participate for the III Quarter of 2014.

They expect to send the information

during the week of the 13 to the 17 of

October.

8755

8/OCT/2014: The head of imports,

Grisel Días, stated she would need a

few days to fill out the form placed in

a folder. An email is sent with the

digital form.

As per all confirmation

visits, the enterprise

kept the folder and

was not presented the

project. The head of

imports stated she

would fill out the form.

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5.3. Enterprise information update

Once you are assigned workload, your tasks as interviewer include updating the

descriptive information of each enterprise by phone, as a first step. You must verify

the following data of both the principal enterprise and the establishment:

1. Business name and trade name, as well as corporate ID number and

starting year of operations.

2. Phone number and email.

3. Province, canton, district and exact address.

4. Principal economic activity

5. Other data such as: whether the business is an exporter or importer and

the frequency of such activities (if applicable); access to computer

equipment; Internet use in the business; whether it is a subsidiary of a

foreign parent enterprise or whether it has subsidiaries abroad.

6. Informant contact information including name, position, email and

phone number.

This information is provided for you only, which is why only your update would be

valid.

Concerning the description of the activity, you must define the principal activity of

the enterprise concisely, detailing all information that contributes to a better

understanding; should any doubts arise, ask the necessary questions.

Therefore, the following guidelines should be taken into account:

1. The principal economic activity is the one that contributes most to the value

added of the enterprise, requires the greatest number of workers and is the

most time-consuming.

2. In the case of product manufacturing, the material used must be indicated.

It is not enough to say ‘door manufacturing’ but rather ‘aluminum door

manufacturing’.

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3. In the case of selling of products, whether it is retail trade or wholesale trade

must be indicated. Wholesale trade usually involves selling to companies

or selling products that ordinary customers would not be able to purchase,

due to price or use, such as industrial equipment. Moreover, the word

distribution should not be used as it is misleading; it might refer to wholesale

trade or transportation of merchandise.

4. Similarly, general descriptions should not be used, such as editorial; rather

use ‘editorial, book and magazine publishing’. Descriptions must be as

specific as possible.

The format for describing economic activities is the following:

- ______ or ______ trade (wholesale or retail) of ______________ (product) or

__________ (activity), ______ or ______ trade (wholesale or retail) of __________

(product).

Example: Small grocery store [pulpería], retail trade of groceries.

- Manufacturing of ________ (material) ________ (product).

Example: manufacturing of wood ornaments.

- ______________ (activity), __________________ (explanation).

Example: International press agency, selling of news to television and radio

media.

The address should be as exact as possible. The format when entering the address

is the following:

Province, Canton, District, Neighborhood/town/housing development,

___ Street, ___ Avenue, landmark, number of meters or km, cardinal

point.

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Example: San José, Escazú, San Antonio, Urbanización María Fernanda, from

the municipal cemetery, 600 meters south and 350 meters east.

There are two essential questions you must ask in order to move forward in the

process:

1. Does it have 10 or more permanent workers in the enterprise?

2. Manager/legal representative contact information including name, phone

number, email and position in the enterprise.

Should the response to the first question be negative, you must ask the exact

number of workers in the enterprise and find out whether this situation is recent or

temporary.

When updating information, two situations may occur: a) the information provided

by the informant about the enterprise is consistent with that assigned to you, in

which case you may move forward with the survey; or b) the information assigned

to you about the enterprise or any of its establishments differs from that provided

by the informant, in which case you should proceed as follows:

If the informant states the enterprise or any of its establishments are no

longer active, you must ask what year the operations ceased and write it

down in the Comments section.

If the informant states additional establishments exist and were assigned as

part of an enterprise, you must add them and ask the questions concerning

the descriptive information for each of them, in order to add them to new

ENAE Forms, or additional enterprises, should the enterprise in your workload

make up a Group.

Example 5. Registering a new enterprise

Let’s say you have to collect data from February, so on March 05 you visit

Emporium Inc., which has one establishment, as recorded in DEE. Assume this

enterprise belongs to a Group made up of Emporium Inc. and one more

enterprise, Hotel Pico Alto del Mar S.A.

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You must collect descriptive information on this enterprise as well, including the

name of the enterprise, trade name, corporate ID number, economic activity,

province, canton, district, exact address, phone number, email, and name of

manage or legal representative, his/her position in the enterprise, phone number

and email.

Mr. Roger Zamora, private accountant, was contacted when calling 2736 4556. He

stated the trade name of the enterprise is Hotel de Mar, the corporate ID number 3

101 002211 since 2006, and that it is located in Guanacaste, Santa Cruz, Cabo

Velas, from Cabo Velas School, 200 meters north. It does not have establishments;

it is a hotel whose activity is short-stay accommodation and restaurant services,

where meals are available for hotel guests only. It does not export or import, it is

not a subsidiary of a foreign parent enterprise and it does not have subsidiaries

abroad. The enterprise email is hoteldelmar@racsa.co,cr, they have computer

equipment and use the Internet to perform tasks.

The name of the manager is Raymundo Munkel, who can be contacted by calling

the enterprise phone number or at raymunkel@racsa.co.cr.

The information should be displayed as follows:

mailto:hoteldelmar@racsa.co,crmailto:raymunkel@racsa.co.cr

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When registering a new enterprise, do not define a sequence number or an

economic activity code (ISIC Rev.4 code); however, inform your supervisor so

he/she can follow-up the enterprise and its control in DEE accordingly. Therefore,

your duty is to inform about the existence of a new enterprise and add it correctly.

Example 6: Registering an inactive enterprise

Let’s say you visit Soluciones MDF Soluciones S.A., which is an enterprise with two

establishments, as recorded in DEE. The principal economic activity developed is

selling of new cars.

When calling, you notice the enterprise and its establishment are inactive. It is your

duty to ask when the enterprise closed in order to write it down as a comment in

the form. In this case, the status of the enterprise would be inactive.

Example 7: Registering inactive or new establishments

Let’s suppose you are visiting the enterprise from the previous example, but in this

case the principal enterprise is active. It is your duty to verify the descriptive

information of the principal enterprise and each establishment. In this context,

suppose one establishment located in San Rafael Abajo (district), Desamparados

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(canton), closed two months ago because of its inability to make profit, and an

another one located in San Francisco de Dos Ríos closed two years ago because

of shortage of supplies. Additionally, consider having to add a new establishment

with a total of 12 workers called Soluciones del Norte S.A. located in La Palmera

(district), San Carlos (canton), whose economic activity is repair and installation of

air conditioning equipment.

The first step is to write down the inactive establishments as such and define the

period in which they ceased to operate. Next, ask about the new establishment.

The questions you must ask the informant in this regard were detailed in the

previous example 6.

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6. TERMS OF REFERENCE

Before describing the components of the ENAE Form and how to fill it out, the

aspects you must inquire of informants in order to obtain accurate data are

explained below. Reference month, currency used and forms of payments are

included.

6.1. Reference month

You must tell the informant which month you are collecting data from. Each

enterprise will participate during the four quarters of the year but only during one

of the months of each quarter. In other words, if an enterprise participates in

January, it will participate in the first month of each quarter (April, July and

October). Data should not be collected for months of the same quarter, for

example April and then May, or April and then August (though not of the same

quarter, April is the first month of its quarter and August is second).

You must know in advance the months in which the enterprises in your workload

will participate; therefore, you should schedule your work time in order to cover all

the enterprises in each month.

Because data collection is performed monthly, you should perform the

corresponding tasks (phone calls, emails, visits, depending on the informant)

during the first two weeks of the month following that from which data is being

collected.

Example 8: Collection month

Suppose you are assigned an enterprise named Pako Boutique on January 10,

2015. You know in advance this enterprise will participate in March and thus in

June, September and November. Therefore, you know you must call during the

first week of April to collect data from March (assuming they agreed to participate

by phone).

Collecting information before the last week of the reference month is not

advisable, as information collected before the period ends may lack relevant

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data for subsequent analysis. In sum, data should be collected during the first two

weeks of the month following that from which data is being collected.

6.2. Currency used

You must clarify the currency of the monetary amounts included in the form. Only

two options exist, colones and dollars; the latter is included in the form because it is

the most-traded foreign currency with the highest value in the national economy.

When data is provided in dollars, write the amount without converting to colones,

as this operation is performed by the data collection system. Should the currency

be different from the above-mentioned, you must politely request the informant to

convert the amount as required.

Whenever you are provided with an amount in dollars, ask whether the enterprise

uses a particular exchange rate.

6.3. Forms of payment

Forms of payment refer to the periodicity of payments made to workers by the

enterprise. They may be hourly, weekly, bi-weekly (every other week), fortnightly

(every two calendar weeks) or monthly; an additional item is included for (‘other’)

for forms of payment not included in the foregoing, such as daily payments.

Interviewers must ask the informant about the forms of payment used, in order to

avoid describing variations due to forms of payment. For instance, there may be a

variation in the amount paid to workers on a weekly basis during a month of 5

weeks instead of 4. These variations may be explained by the forms of payment,

AMOUNTS IN DOLLARS

Record amounts in dollars as provided by the informant; do not convert to colones.

Also, remember you may combine different denominations in the same Form but

with different records.

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hence the importance of asking such question. Remember the data included in

the form must correspond to a month, regardless of forms of payment.

7. ENAE FORM

The ENAE form is the basis of the data collection in ENAE. Your duty is to know and

master the following structure so as to use it correctly.

Bear in mind, in addition to knowing the form you must follow the instructions in this

Manual and those highlighted in the Form, in order to ensure data quality and

make subsequent tasks easier.

The ENAE form is divided into four sections:

I. Enterprise information

a. Enterprise/establishment location and information

b. Information of Manager or Legal Representative

c. Informant information

d. Terms of reference

e. Additional information on enterprise activities

II. Enterprise worker information

III. Workers with only an indefinite duration contract of employment in the

enterprise/establishment

a. New employees

b. Workers dismissed

OMITTED INFORMATION

Should the informant refuse to give a piece of information or simply forgets it, leave

the corresponding space blank and move on with survey.

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IV. Vacancies in the enterprise/establishment

The form has two additional sections, one for comments and the other as an

annex. The components in each one and instructions on how to fill them out are

explained below.

7.1. Section I: Enterprise information

The first section in the ENAE form serves to identify the enterprise, the owner and

informant (in case they are not the same person). Accordingly, filling out the

descriptive section is a 4-step process, as explained below.

7.1.1. Enterprise/establishment location and information

This section serves to identify the enterprise to visit. It contains data such as DEE

sequence number; ISIC Rev.4; address by province, canton and district; business

name and trade name; type of enterprise; corporate ID number; economic

activity; phone number and email.

The item for the sequence number refers to the numbering used in DEE to identify

each enterprise entered in the database; ISIC Rev. 4 is the encoding suggested by

the United Nations to standardize the classification of economic activities

internationally3; the business name is the legal name under which the enterprise is

registered, and the trade name is that known to the public; type of enterprise

refers to whether it is a single enterprise or an establishment; corporate ID number

refers to either physical/corporate identification number or passport.

The following is how the above-mentioned information is displayed in the ENAE

form.

3 The International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) is a coherent and consistent

classification of economic activities based on a set of concepts, definitions, principles and classification standards. It also provides a general framework in which economic data can be collected and disseminated in a format designed for economic analysis, decision-making and policy-making purposes. The structure of the classification is a standard format that organizes detailed information about an economic situation according to economic principles and perceptions.

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Section I. Enterprise/establishment information

Enterprise/establishment location and information

Sequence number Business name:

ISIC Rev 4. Trade name:

Province Type of enterprise:

Canton: ID number:

District: Economic activity:

Address: Telephone:

Email:

This information is obtained from the DEE database, as it is the sampling frame to

conduct the ENAE base year survey. Previously in this document an example was

explained regarding enterprise data update, which is part of the workload of

interviewers.

Remember, when adding a new establishment or enterprise you do not have to

encode according to ISIC, but you do have to correctly describe the principal

activity performed, in order to encode it later at the office.

If the information you were provided with matches that in the form, you may

proceed with the survey. Otherwise, if the enterprise/establishment information is

different from that in the form, you must verify what data are modified and write

down the corresponding changes.

Take into account the exclusion criteria for size of the enterprise, economic sector

and economic activity. Examples of enterprises included in ENAE as well as those

excluded are explained below, with the corresponding justification.

Example 9: Classification by Economic Sector

Read the information on the following enterprises and the reasoning as to whether

they should be included in ENAE.

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Enterprise characteristics

Should it be

included in

ENAE?

Reasoning

Orfanato Pro Vita Lux was founded as a

private initiative, but 60% of its budget

comes from the government.

No Because its budget is public (over 50%), this

enterprise is not part of the private sector and

thus is not included in ENAE.

Herrería Hernández S.A. is a single

enterprise with 13 workers and a strictly

private working capital, which allow for no

interference in the economic decision-

making.

Yes Given its private capital, including this enterprise

in ENAE is correct.

Example 10: Classification by Number of Workers

Read the information on the following enterprises and the reasoning (concerning

number of workers) as to whether they should be included in ENAE.

Enterprise characteristics

Should it be

included in

ENAE?

Reasoning

Soluciones para el Hogar S.A. is an

enterprise with establishments. The

principal enterprise is located in Carmen

(district), San José (canton); it has 5

establishments with a total of 30 workers.

The distribution of workers per

establishment is 6, 3, 3, 4, and 2

respectively.

Yes

It has a total of 30 workers, thus is not excluded

from the survey. Although 4 establishments have

fewer than 10 workers, they are not excluded as

the exclusion criteria applies to the enterprise as a

whole and not each establishment individually.

Almacén del Este S.A. is a single enterprise

with 7 workers and is located in Hospital

(district), San José (canton).

No The enterprise is not included, as the number of

worker in the enterprise is six, fewer than the

maximum number for exclusion, which is ten.

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Servicios Médicos LabElectro S.A. is an

enterprise with 1 establishment where 5

people work, 3 of them in the principal

enterprise and 2 in the establishment.

No Because the total sum of employees in the

principal enterprise and the establishment is

below 6, this enterprise is excluded from ENAE.

Consultoría Dinámica CP S.A. has 12

workers, 4 of which hold an indefinite

duration contract of employment and the

rest of which hold a contract for

professional services.

No

This enterprise is not included, as workers

considered by the exclusion criteria are those with

a fixed-term or indefinite duration contract of

employment. Accordingly, the enterprise has

only 4 workers.

Vendo Todo en Uniformes is an enterprise

who hires workers during the month of

January, during which the enterprise has16

workers. During the remaining months only

6 are working in the enterprise.

It depends.

If you are collecting data from January, and the

workers hired in that month hold a fixed-term

contract, the enterprise does meet the minimum

number of workers established. Otherwise, if you

are collecting data from another month, this

enterprise must be recorded as a problem with

the sampling frame.

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Example 11. Classification by Economic Activity

Read the information on the following enterprises and the reasoning (concerning economic activity) as to whether they

should be included in ENAE.

Enterprise characteristics

Should it be

included in

ENAE?

Reasoning

Kazata S.A. is a single enterprise; it has 26 workers and develops the

economic activity of Growing of other vegetables, roots and tubers

n.e.c.

No Its economic activity is within Agriculture, Livestock industry,

Forestry and Fishing Activities, which are not analyzed in ENAE.

F. y R. Ranger S.A. is a single enterprise; it has 20 workers and develops

the economic activity called Construction of Buildings. No

Its economic activity is within the Construction Activities, which

are not analyzed in ENAE.

Hotel Fuente de Luna, located in Hospital (district) in San José

(canton), is a single enterprise with 25 workers. It develops the

economic activity of short-stay accommodation activities in hotels.

Yes Its activity is within Accommodation and Food Service Activities,

which are not excluded from ENAE.

Productos Agrícolas del Campo LM is an enterprise with

establishments; it has 90 workers, and its principal economic activity is

Retail Trade of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables, while its establishments

develop activities such as Growing of Vegetables, Roots or Tubers and

Packing Activities.

Yes

Although the establishments develop activities that are excluded,

its principal economic activity is not excluded. Therefore, neither

the enterprise nor the establishment is excluded.

Escape Landscape S.A., an enterprise with establishments, has 10

workers, and its principal economic activity is Growing of Coffee,

while the activities developed by the establishments are Restaurants

and Mobile Food Service Activities and Beneficiation of Coffee.

No

Its economic activity is within Agriculture, Livestock industry,

Forestry and Fishing Activities, which are not analyzed in ENAE.

Consequently, in spite of having establishments that perform

economic activities that are not excluded, the enterprise is not

included in ENAE because of its principal activity.

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7.1.2. Information of Manager or Legal Representative

This section of the form serves to identify the legal representative or manager of

the enterprise, or any senior officer with the authority to decide on participation in

ENAE.

It is essential for interviewers to request information about this person, as otherwise,

contacting the enterprise to present ENAE is made difficult. Always include the

name and both surnames.

This information is displayed in the form as follows:

Information of Manager or Legal

Representative

Name:

Position:

Telephone:

Email:

Example 12: Information of Manager or Legal Representative

Suppose you are calling Instituto Flores Zapata de Educación to update

information. It is located 400 meters southeast of Palacio Municipal in Downtown

Heredia and its economic activity is mathematics teaching. This enterprise does

not have establishments and has a total of 26 workers.

EXCLUSIONS

The exclusions of enterprises during field work correspond to:

- Public sector enterprises

- Private sector enterprises that develop activities of Agriculture, Livestock

Industry, Forestry and Fishing; Construction; Extraterritorial Organizations and

Bodies; and Activities of Households as Employers

- Enterprises with 5 or fewer workers

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Once the enterprise information is updated, you must request information about

the legal representative or manager and include in the form, as shown below:

Information of Manager or Legal

Representative

Name: Javier Solís Rojas

Position: Human Resources Manager

Telephone: 8564 8954

Email: j.solis.h@fze.ed

7.1.3. Informant information

You will be provided with the informant’s information including name, position in

the enterprise, phone number and email. Do not write the name of the person

updating the information but of the person who provides worker information, or

whoever was appointed by the manager to do so.

The informant and the manager may be the same person, in which case you must

fill out both spaces with the required information. Always include the name and

both surnames.

In line with the previous example, the information is to be filled out as follows:

Information of Manager or Legal

Representative Informant information

Name: Javier Solís Rojas Name: Javier Solís Rojas

Position: Financial Manager Position: Human Resources Manager

Telephone: 8564 8954 Telephone: 8564 8954

Email: j.solis.h@fze.ed Email: j.solis.h@fze.ed

7.1.4. Terms of reference

As previously mentioned, you must inquire certain aspects of informants in order to

collect accurate data. These aspects are included in the Terms of Reference

Section below.

mailto:j.solis.h@fze.edmailto:j.solis.h@fze.edmailto:j.solis.h@fze.ed

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7.1.5. Additional information on enterprise/establishment activities

This information is displayed in the form as follows:

- Starting year refers to the year the enterprise began its productive activities

with the business name in good standing.

- Exports refer to the selling of products abroad during the year (without

intermediaries). Should the response be affirmative, a series of options is

available concerning the frequency of such activity.

Upon asking the informant, the interviewer must select one of the following

options as appropriate:

1. Unknown 2. No

3. Once a year 4. Twice a year

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49

5. Three times a year 6. Four or more times a year

- Imports refer to whether the enterprise buys its products or supplies abroad

during the year (without intermediaries). Should the response be affirmative,

a series of options is available concerning the frequency of such activity.

Upon asking the informant, the interviewer must select one of the options as

done with exports.

- Information obtained from the variable access to computer equipment is

related to information technologies (ICT) and refers to having desktop

computers or laptops for business purposes only, not including mobile

phones, TV devices, personal digital assistants (PDA), etc. Yes and no are

the only possible responses. Upon asking the informant, the interviewer must

select one of the following options in accordance with the enterprise

information:

1. Yes 2. No

- The variable use of Internet refers to the use of Internet in the enterprise for

the economic activity performed. Internet is understood as a public

network that provides access to communication services, such as www,

and allows communication, entertainment and information activities,

regardless of the device used to access said network. Internet access is

not limited to computers. It also encompasses mobile phones, PDA, video

game consoles, digital television, etc. Access may also be achieved

through fixed and mobile networks. Yes and no are the only possible

responses. Upon asking the informant, the interviewer must select one of the

following options in accordance with the enterprise information:

1. Yes 2. No

- In terms of foreign subsidiaries4, you must ask two questions:

o Is it a subsidiary of a foreign parent enterprise?: refers to enterprises

located in Costa Rica that are branch offices of a foreign enterprise.

4 Should the response be affirmative, the interviewer must inquire about the countries and select them as

indicated.

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Upon asking the informant, the interviewer must select one of the

following options in accordance with the enterprise information:

1. Yes 2. No

Does it have subsidiaries abroad? Refers to domestic enterprises that

have branch offices or subsidiaries abroad, understanding subsidiary

as “an enterprise controlled by a foreign enterprise.” Upon asking the

informant, the interviewer must select one of the following options in

accordance with the enterprise information:

1. Yes 2. No

7.1.6. For office use only

The section For office use only serves as a way of closing the first section in the

ENAE form. It should not be modified, as its name suggests, it is for internal use;

therefore, leave it as it was when you received it.

For office use only

Interviewer: _________________________ Supervisor: ____________________________

INTERVIEWER TASKS

Your interviewer tasks thus far include:

1. Inquire about the type of enterprise;

2. Verify the consistency between the information contained in the form and

that provided by the informant;

3. Take into consideration the specific exclusions and verify enterprises do not

meet the exclusion criteria.

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7.2. Section II: Enterprise/establishment worker information

Two ways exist in which enterprises may provide information; the first is individually

about each worker, and the second is separately by position in the enterprise.

Accordingly, a form was designed in order to include information obtained both

ways.

The form has a cell for each of the following variables: Amount/ID number; type of

worker; sex; type of contract; position held in the enterprise; main tasks performed;

monthly remuneration; type of remuneration; Christmas salary bonus,

amount/percentage; school salary, amount/percentage; salary in kind

components; and number of hours worked, classified in normal hours of work and

overtime. These variables are explained below:

7.2.1. Amount / ID number

This space is for you to indicate the number of workers to which the information is

referring (in case the data is provided by position in the enterprise), or the identifier

of each of the workers referred to, whether physical ID number, residence or

passport, or otherwise, a sequence number assigned to each employee. Do not

write dashes or names of people.

WORKER

Workers who work full working days and those who work one hour a week are

considered without distinction in ENAE. Therefore, no distinction is made with

regards to time worked by workers in the enterprise.

Workers hired for professional services and unpaid relatives working as assistants are

not taken into account.

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7.2.2. Type of worker

This question deals with the position in the enterprise of workers being referred to.

You must ask the informant to select Employer or Employee. Mark with an X or fill in

the circle.

7.2.3. Sex

It is an exclusive category that involves choosing Female or Male. Mark with an X

or fill in the circle.

7.2.4. Type of contract

This is an exclusive variable classified into Indefinite Duration, Fixed-term and

Outsourcing, as defined previously. Select only one of the available options for this

variable. Mark with an X or fill in the circle.

7.2.5. Position held in the enterprise

Write in this space the job title as it is called by the enterprise. For instance, if the

enterprise has two CEOs, write that down and in case you do not know its

definition, the job title is ambiguous or there is any doubt concerning the definition

of any job title. In the Comments section you must write down the specific details

that will contribute to its subsequent classification. Do not write job title

descriptions in this space.

7.2.6. Main tasks performed

For each of the workers or the positions in the enterprise specified in the previous

cell, write a minimum of two and a maximum of three numbers in this space (from

1 to 18), which correspond to tasks from the ENAE Form Annex. The purpose of this

action is to facilitate the classification by occupational groups of each of the

positions in the enterprise specified in the form. Record this using only numbers.

Main tasks performed according to position held in the enterprise/establishment,

plus examples, are listed and numbered below (ENAE Form Annex).

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Main tasks performed according to position held in the enterprise/establishment

1. Coordinating, planning, management, monitoring and leading decision-making on enterprise results.

2. Resource management (human, financial, material resources).

3. Research, analysis, development, design, management, evaluation, counseling.

4. Applying knowledge acquired according to the level of education (university degree required).

5. Performing operations without authority for decision-making.

6. Provision of technical support to professionals, performance of tasks that require experience and knowledge.

7. Performing administrative tasks (preparing reports and inventories, handling information).

8. Supervising other workers with contact with the public through phone calls and other means.

9. Rendering personal services (security, travel, cleaning, restaurants) and selling of merchandise in stores, and street stalls and markets.

10. Owning a small business like restaurants, cafés, hotels, cabins and the like.

11. Planning, organizing and performing specialized agricultural operations.

12. Follow-up on activities (agriculture and animal breeding) and market conditions.

13. Applying knowledge and skills in constructio