In the second quarter of 2021
Labour Cost Index decreased by 3.8% year-on-year
The Labour Cost Index-LCI (working days adjusted) decreased by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter of 2021, compared with the same period of 2020.
The two main labour cost items are “wage costs” and “other costs”.
Wage costs (per hour effectively worked) decreased by 8.2% compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
It includes:
- Base wage
- Regular bonuses and allowances
- Irregular bonuses and allowances (holiday bonus, Christmas bonus, end-of-year bonuses/distribution of profits, other irregular paid bonuses and allowances)
- Payment of overtime work
- Payment in kind
Other costs (non-wage, also per hour effectively worked) registered a year-on-year increase of 14.9%.
It includes:
- Severance payment
- Employers’ legal costs (social security contributions, insurance for accidents at work and occupational illnesses)
- conventional, contractual and optional charges (supplementary pension/invalidity benefit, health insurance, life/personal accident insurance, and social benefits paid directly to employees in case of absence on account of sickness)
At a national level, the value of that index also registered a year-on-year decrease of 2.4%: -4.7% in the wage cost component and +7.2% in other costs.
Both um the country and in the Region, the main reason for the decrease in the LCI was the increase in the number of hours effectively worked per employee.
As for the significant growth in other costs, this resulted from the increase in employer contributions due to the decrease in the number of companies covered by the simplified layoff scheme.
