Labour cost and structure of earnings annual survey 

Ecmoss

The Ecmoss surveys aim to comply with European Framework Regulation No. 2025/941 of 7 May 2025, in force since 1 January 2026. They enable the calculation of labour costs and the structure of employee earnings according to employee and/or employer characteristics, for the purpose of comparison with other European Union countries. They operate on a four-year cycle:

– two years of surveys in ‘earnings structure’ format (Structure of Earnings Survey format, known as ESS in French, to respond to SES);

– two years of surveys in ‘labour cost’ format (Labour Cost Survey format, known as Ecmo in French, to respond to LCS).

In ESS format , the survey provides detailed information on the composition of employees' earnings (basic pay, overtime, supplements, variable bonuses, employee savings schemes, benefits in kind) according to employee characteristics (type of employment contract, qualifications, occupational group – according to the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) – etc.) and of employers (sector of activity, size of company, region of establishment).

The survey also provides information on working hours: annual paid hours and number of hours and days usually worked per week.

In this format, the main indicator produced from the survey is the average hourly wage.

In Ecmo format , the survey measures and breaks down labour costs for employers. In addition to employees' gross remuneration, the survey provides information on the establishment's social security contributions (statutory and contractual contributions), payments for apprenticeships and vocational training, and social benefits and allowances paid by the establishment to its employees (works council expenses, transport costs, severance pay, staff recruitment costs, etc.), taxes based on remuneration or employment, and aid and subsidies received for the employment of employees.

The survey also enables the calculation of hours actually worked by employees, based on information on usual working hours, overtime and the number of days not worked (holidays, sick leave, etc.).

In this format, the main indicator produced from the survey is the average hourly labour cost, broken down by sector of activity, region and size of enterprise.

The cycles are dated according to the years of collection, while the surveys themselves are referenced according to the year of validity of the data.

The first collection of surveys in the ‘four-year cycle’ format took place from 2006 to 2009 and covered the years 2005 to 2008. This was followed by the 2010-2013, 2014-2017, 2018-2021 and, most recently, 2022-2025 collection cycles. The next cycle is the 2026-2029 collection cycle, which will therefore take place as follows:

• ESS 2025 and 2026 surveys, collected in 2026 and 2027

• Ecmo 2027 and 2028 surveys, collected in 2028 and 2029.

Prior to 2006, ESS or Ecmo surveys had been conducted since 1966, at irregular intervals and covering sectors of varying scope.

Since the 2014-2017 collection cycle, the geographical scope of Ecmoss surveys has been extended from metropolitan France to France excluding Mayotte.

Survey

Annual

Directorate of Research, Economic Studies and Statistics