118 Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014
by its employees in order to enable them to take up
their jobs or to carry out their work—for example:- Th e reimbursement of travel, relocation, or re-
lated expenses made by employees when they
take up new jobs or are required by their employ-
ers to move their homes to diff erent parts of the
country or to another country - Th e reimbursement of costs incurred by employ-
ees on tools, equipment, special clothing, or other
items that are needed exclusively, or primarily,
to enable them to carry out their work. In these
cases, the amounts reimbursed are recorded as
use of goods and services (22). To the extent that
employees who are required by their contract of
employment to purchase tools, equipment, spe-
cial clothing, etc. are not fully reimbursed, the re-
maining expense they incur should be deducted
from the amounts receivable in wages and sala-
ries and the government’s use of goods and ser-
vices increased accordingly.
6.16 Wages and salaries also exclude social benefi ts
payable by governments to their employees in the
form of:- Children’s, spouse’s , family, education, or other
allowances in respect of dependents - Payments made at full, or reduced, wage or salary
rates to workers absent from work because of ill-
ness, accidental injury, maternity leave, etc.^10 - Severance payments to workers or their survi-
vors who lose their jobs because of redundancy,
incapacity, accidental death, etc.
Th ese social benefi ts are recorded as an imputed em-
ployers’ social contributions (2122) payable to house-
holds, and subsequent imputed social contributions
(1223) payable by these households to the employer,
before including it in employment-related social ben-
efi ts (273) (see paragraph 6.104).
Wages and salaries in kind [GFS] (2112).
6.17 Wages and salaries in kind are amounts pay-
able in the form of goods, services, interest forgone,
and shares issued to employees in return for work(^10) If it is diffi cult to separate payments of wages and salaries to
employees on short periods of absence due to sickness, accidents,
etc., from other payments of wages and salaries, the payments
during short periods of absence should remain included in wages
and salaries.
performed. As indicated in Table 6.2, wages and
salaries in kind [GFS] (2111) exclude amounts con-
nected with own-account capital formation. Th is cat-
egory consists of goods and services provided without
charge, or at reduced prices. When provided at re-
duced prices, the value of the wages and salaries in
kind is given by the diff erence between the full value
of the goods and services and the amount payable by
the employees. Th ese goods and services provided
in kind by the government to its employees are not
necessary to enable them to perform their work. Th ey
could be used by employees in their own time, and at
their own discretion, for the satisfaction of their own
needs or wants, or those of other members of their
households. Almost any kind of good or service may
be provided as wages and salaries in kind. Th e follow-
ing are the most common types of goods and services
provided without charge, or at reduced prices:
- Meals and drinks provided on a regular basis, in-
cluding any subsidy element of an offi ce canteen
(for practical reasons, it is not necessary to make
estimates for meals and drinks consumed as part
of offi cial entertainment or during business travel) - Clothing or footwear that employees may choose
to wear frequently outside of the workplace and
while at work - Housing services or accommodation of a type
that can be used by all members of the household
to which the employee belongs - Th e services of vehicles or other durables pro-
vided for the personal use of employees - Goods and services produced by the employer,
such as free travel on government airplanes or
trains - Sports, recreation, or holiday facilities for em-
ployees and their families - Transportation to and from work, free or subsi-
dized parking, when it would otherwise have to
be paid for - Child care for the children of employees
- Th e value of the interest forgone^11 by employers
when they provide loans to employees at reduced
(^11) Th is value may be estimated as the amount the employee would
have to pay if the market equivalent interest rates were charged
minus the amount of interest actually payable. Th e sums involved
could be large when nominal interest rates are very high, but
otherwise they may be too small and too uncertain to be worth
estimating.