21. Do you work or did you work the last as a . . .
[] 02 Employee of a private company?
[] 03 Employee of the Canal Commission or Defense Sites?
[] 04 Employee of a not-for-profit institution?
[] 05 Domestic servant?
[For responses 1-5,] (Continue with question 22)
[] 06 Independent or own-account?
[] 07 Owner or employer?
[] 08 Family worker?
[] 09 Member of a production cooperative?
[For responses 6-9,] (Skip to question 23)
Questions 19 to 23 should be asked to all persons who marked circle 1 in questions 14, 15, 16 and 17 and circles 2 and 3 of the last question except persons who answered that "they never have worked" (circle 9998) in question 18.
Question No. 21: Do you work or did you work the last as a:
The objective of this question is to know the category of the occupation, which is nothing more than the classification with respect to the employment that the interviewed person manages or managed, whether employed or unemployed.
Before asking this question, observe the responses written down in questions 19 and 20, since based on these responses, in some cases you will be able to deduce which circle in this question to mark.
Read the alternatives and mark the corresponding circle, according to the case, for which you keep in mind the following definitions:
[To the left of the text is a picture of an office worker.]
Circle 02. Private Company Employee: is a person who works or has worked for a private owner and receives remuneration in the form of wage, salary, commission, paid by the job or in kind. Example: agricultural worked, sellers in a grocery store, employee in a shoe factory, accounting head, executive secretary, etc.
[To the left of the text is a picture of a person working.]
Circle 03. Employee in the Canal Commission or Defense Sites: is a person who used to work for the Canal Commission or Defense Sites (Army [in English]) and receives for the work remuneration in the form of wage or salary.
[p. 97]
[To the right of the text is a picture.]
Circle 05. Domestic Servant: is a person who works or has worked for a single home different than their own, doing activities and receives for the work a salary in money or in kind; example: domestic employee, gardener, chauffer, cook, house keeper, butler, etc.
Circle 06. Independent or own-account: is a person who runs or who has run their own economic company or private business or manages or has managed a profession or office in an independent form and is not in charge of any employees. It can be work alone or with an associate; example: Bus driver, traveling salesperson, dress maker at home, shoe shiner, etc.
[To the left of the text is a picture of a person sawing a piece of wood.]
Circle 07. Owner or Employer: One who runs or has run their own economic business (alone or with associates), or manages on their own account a profession or office, that always is in charge of one or more employees who receive salaries in money or in kind.
Circle 08. Family Worker: is a person who manages or has managed an occupation for 15 hours or more during the reference week, without receiving remuneration, in a company or business run by a member of their own family.
Circle 09. Member of a Production Cooperative: is a person who has participated or participates in an associative type of company that produces an article or good, that requires some grade of transformation. Generally the members provide themselves the decision making power and the benefits go back to or are distributed by way of cooperative returns; examples: Cooperative of Work and Food Storage 1 de mayo, Cooperative of Producers of Mola [a type of Panamanian blouse], R. L.
Considering that it may prove to be too simple to determine who is an Employee or salary earner (Of the Government, Private Company, Canal Commission, etc.) let us analyze the rest of the occupational categories and the following cases a little more:
[p. 100]
Are you the owner or employee of this business? If he is the owner ask if he is in charge of employees. If the response is yes classify him as owner or employer (circle 07); on the contrary if he has no employees, classify him as independent or for their own account (circle 06).
In the case that Mr. Batista declares to work for other persons, classify him as private company employee (circle 02).
b. You will be able to determine the category of occupation of the persons in some cases, by means of question 18 (occupation). Example: a shoe shiner, traveling salesperson, car washer, scrap seller, newspaper seller and other occupations that persons do in which they logically are not in charge of any employees. These persons can be classified automatically as independent or for their own account (circle 06).
c. In equal form the category of occupation (question 21) will be able to be determined through the response given to question 16 (place of work). Example: If a person states that they worked in the National Environmental Authority, the Institute of National Water Systems and Sewer Systems or any other governmental dependency, you can automatically classify them as Government Employee (Circle 01). Equally if a person works in their house or in the street, they can be classified for their own account (circle 06).
d) Inasmuch as the family worker, you may think that it concerns a person who works in a family house, nevertheless, if you carefully read the definition, it will become clear to you that it concerns a person who works 15 hours or more a week in the business of a family member without receiving a wage or a salary. In this category are included the family members of farmers who work in the same plot of land without receiving payment. Examples:
16 year old student who used to work in the afternoon with grandfather in a farm without receiving a salary, from Wednesday to Sunday for 3 hours every day.