Links to other establishment or organisation-level surveys

We would be glad to hear of further surveys that could be added to this list. Please send details to: wers2004@niesr.ac.uk

Earlier surveys in the WERS series:

WERS 2004 is the fifth in a series of surveys that dates back 25 years. The first survey took place in 1980, with subsequent surveys taking place in 1984, 1990 and 1998. The cross-section and panel datasets are each deposited, along with supporting documentation, at the UK Data Archive. A website set up to support use of WERS 1998 is still live.

Surveys associated with WERS:

1991 Employers Manpower and Skills Practices Survey (EMSPS):
Follow-up survey of workplaces interviewed as part of WIRS 1990. Explored employers' skill formation practices, including their skill needs, recruitment practices, training and other employee-related activities. Access at UK Data Archive.

1987 Employers� Labour Use Strategies (ELUS) Survey:
Follow-up survey of workplaces interviewed as part of WIRS 1984. Involved interviews with management representatives in establishments that used at least one type of peripheral worker. Data not publicly available to our knowledge. The primary analysis is presented in the following:

Wood D and Smith P (1987) Employers� Labour Use Strategies � First Report of the 1987 Survey, Department of Employment Research Paper No 63.

McGregor A and Sproull A (1991) Employer Labour Use Strategies: Analysis of a National Survey, Department of Employment Research Paper No 83.

Other surveys in Britain (in no particular order):

1985 and 1992 Company-Level Industrial Relations Surveys (CLIRS):
Investigated the management of industrial relations in multi-plant enterprises. Access at UK Data Archive: 1985 CLIRS and 1992 CLIRS

2002 Employers' Workplace Policies in an Environment of Change:
Aimed to identify and describe how employers are restructuring work and human resource practices. Conducted as part of the ESRC Future of Work Programme. Access at UK Data Archive.

1996 Survey of Time Off Work for Family Responsibilities:
Investigated the extent to which employers operated family-friendly policies and practices. Data not publicly available to our knowledge. The primary analysis was reported in:

Forth J, Lissenburgh S, Callender C and Millward N (1997) Family-Friendly Working Arrangements in Britain, 1996, DfEE Research Series Report No.16, London: Department for Education and Employment.

2000 Survey of Support for Working Parents:
Aimed to provide a statistically representative picture of the steps employers take to meet the child parenting needs of their employees. Access at UK Data Archive.

2000 and 2003 Work-Life Balance (WLB) Employers Surveys:
Investigated the extent to which employers operated work-life balance policies and practices. Access at UK Data Archive: 2000 WLB and 2003 WLB.

1990-1998 Skill Needs in Britain (SNIB) Surveys:
Annual surveys that provided information on employers� skill requirements. Data not publicly available to our knowledge. Succeeded by the Learning and Training at Work Surveys and the National Employers Skills Surveys (see below). Further information.

1999-2002 Learning and Training at Work Surveys:
Annual series of employer surveys that investigated the provision of learning and training at work. The surveys also investigated awareness of, and involvement with, a number of existing and new training and development initiatives. Access at UK Data Archive or the National Digital Archive of Datasets.

2003-2005 National Employer Skills Surveys (NESS):
Annual surveys providing detailed analysis of the extent and nature of employers� recruitment problems, skills gaps and training activity. Survey reports and bespoke tabulations are available via a web-interface.

2002 Employer Perspectives Survey:
Investigated the relationship between the characteristics of the establishments where people work and the skills needed in jobs. Conducted as a follow-up to the employee-focused 2001 Skills Survey. The employer survey involved interviews with senior managers in establishments that employed the surveyed individuals. Data not publicly available to our knowledge. The primary analysis is reported in a DfES Research Report.

1994-2005 Surveys of Employers� Pension Provision:
Approximately biennial survey of the extent and nature of pension provision among private sector organisations. Data not publicly available to our knowledge. The primary analysis is presented in DWP research reports, e.g. DWP Research Report 329.

2005 Workplace Health and Safety Survey:
A survey of employers responsible for health and safety in their workplace, designed to record health and safety conditions across British workplaces as perceived by employers. Data not publicly available to our knowledge. The questionnaires and primary analysis are available on the HSE web-site.

Similar surveys in other countries:

Europe:
2004-2005 Establishment Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance (ESWT): Beginning in 2004-2005, this series aims to map working time policies and practices at the level of the establishment in the European Union, to survey the views of the different actors at establishment level on these policies and practices, and to provide policymakers with a picture of the main issues and developments in the field. Access at UK Data Archive..

Australia:
1990 and 1995 Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Surveys (AWIRS): Very similar in content and approach to the surveys in the WERS series. The survey data and documentation from both surveys can be accessed via the Nesstar web interface operated by the Australian Social Science Data Archive.

Belgium:
Flemish Panel Survey of Organisations (PASO): Maps out trends in human resource management and the organization of work. Organized on an annual basis and covers over 2000 Flemish organizations (at establishment level). Data not publicly available to our knowledge. Further information.

Canada:
1999-2005 Canadian Workplace and Employee Survey (WES): A linked workplace and employee survey undertaken each year by Statistics Canada. Questionnaires, primary publications and data dictionaries are available on StatCan�s website. The data files may be accessed on-site at StatCan�s headquarters or at Research Data Centres located in selected Canadian universities.

France:
1993, 1998 and 2005 French 'Relations professionnelles et n�gociations d'enterprise' (REPONSE) surveys: Conducted by the French Minist�re du Travail (Ministry of Labour). Data not publicly available to our knowledge. Some discussion of the data is provided in the following:

Coutrot, T (1998) 'How Do Institutional Frameworks Affect Industrial Relations Outcomes? A Micro-Statistical Comparison of France and Britain', European Journal of Industrial Relations, 4, 2: 177-205.

Laroche P (2004) �The impact of unions on workplace financial performance: an empirical study in the French context�, Proceedings of the Industrial Relations Research Association. Download.

Germany:
1993-2006 German Institut fur Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB) Establishment Panel Survey: Annual surveys in West Germany since 1993 and in East Germany since 1996, comprising 16000 establishments in total. The IAB-Establishment Panel Data Service carries out analyses on behalf of external researchers. Data has been linked with information from the employment statistics register of the Federal Employment Services. Further information on the IAB Establishment Panel.'. Access the data.

Korea:
2005 Korean Human Capital Panel Survey: Linked employer-employee survey that investigates the influence of human capital and human resources management on corporate performance. Data not publicly available to our knowledge. Further information.

2002-2007 Workplace Panel Survey: A panel survey of 1,700 workplaces with 30 or more employees. Investigates the employment structure in the workplace, the nature of labour demand and HR and IR practices. A question map is available mapping WPS questions across to WERS and the IAB Establishment Panel. Further information and data

Netherlands:
1989-2004 OSA Labour Demand Panel Survey: Organizations are asked for detailed information concerning their products, production processes, technologies used, personnel policies and diverse financial and economic indicators. Data not publicly available to our knowledge. Further information.

United States:
1994, 1997 and 2000 US National Employer Surveys (NES): Administered by the US Bureau of the Census. The 1994 and 1997 surveys were conducted on nationally representative samples of private sector establishments with 20 or more employees (excluding non-profit institutions and corporate headquarters). The 2000 survey was conducted on a sample of establishments that responded to the 1997 survey and also included a survey of employees in those establishments. The 1997 questionnaire and SAS data is available online from the Learning Alliance for Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania.

2002 National Organizations Survey (NOS): The National Organizations Survey is a survey of business organisations across the United States in which the unit of analysis is the actual workplace. The study was conducted for the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Commonwealth Fund, to learn about the employment policies, benefits and structures of organizations throughout the country, particularly the effects on business performance and worker productivity of rising workplace stress levels, rising health insurance costs or lack of health insurance, and the extent of mental health benefits and service offerings within organisations. Information on methodology and how to access the data are available online. (Study Number 4074). Earlier studies were carried out in 1991 (Study Number 6240) and 1996-97 (Study Number 3190).


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