How is information on temporary employment collected in the microcensus?

The question about temporary employment,
"Has the work contract concerning your main job been concluded with a temporary employment agency?"
is one of the supplementary questions integrated in the Labour Force Survey of the European Union (EU). The legal basis is Regulation (EC) No 2257/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

The sampling fraction for the supplementary questions is 0.1% of the population as compared to 1% for the microcensus. Response is voluntary which means that the net sample size is somewhat smaller.

The simple relative standard error of the results reported here is below 15% at any rate. The results relate to respondents aged 15 years or over at their main place of residence (in private households and communal establishments). For general information on the methodology and quality of the data please refer to the Quality Report (only in German) on the microcensus.

With regard to temporary employment, the results of the microcensus partly differ from those of other data sources (e.g. the Federal Employment Agency). These deviations are due to methodological distinctions such as differences in survey design, definitions and also in the wording of questions.

The results of the microcensus are obtained from a household survey. Other sources of data on temporary employment, such as the statistics of labour leasing, the statistics of persons employed and the employment sample of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), are often based on reports submitted by businesses as part of administrative procedures and therefore differ fundamentally with respect to the data collection method.