Work and employment are not synonyms
Work and employment may be used indistinctly in everyday language, but for the labour market they mean very different things. Employment is a very specific form of work. Other forms of work include own-use production work, volunteer work and unpaid trainee work.
ICLS documents
Find resolutions, guidelines, meeting room documents and reports related to the International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS).
Forms of work: An overview of the new statistical standards
An introduction to the conceptual frameworks for forms of work and labour force statistics, including labour underutilization.
Capacity building and technical assistance
We provide training and support with the implementation of international statistical standards, data production, analysis and dissemination.
LFS research and development
Learn more about the ILO’s programme of methodological research to identify and promote good practices in the collection and reporting of labour statistics.
International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS)
The ICLS meets every 5 years to establish international standards on labour statistics. The latest (21st) ICLS was held in October 2023.
Labour force survey (LFS) questionnaire toolkit
Online resources for data producers to build or improve their labour force survey, such as PAPI and CAPI model questionnaires.
Standards and guidelines on labour statistics
Learn more about the international standards on labour statistics (a. conventions and recommendations and b. resolutions and guidelines).
Measuring women’s paid and unpaid work under ICLS 19
Why did the definitions of work and employment change and why is this change important for women? Find out in this policy brief.
Measuring working time and time-related underemployment in labour force surveys: Main findings from the ILO LFS pilot studies
This report presents the main findings on the measurement of working time and time related underemployment drawn from the ILO LFS pilot studies. The report is part of the ILO statistical methodology series that describe in detail the main findings of the project.