Question: How are "wages" defined by the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey?

Answer: Wages for the OES survey are defined as straight-time, gross pay, exclusive of premium pay.

Included in the collection of wage data are:

• base rate
• cost-of-living allowances
• guaranteed pay
• hazardous-duty pay, incentive pay including commissions and production bonuses
• on-call pay
• tips

Excluded from the wage data are:

• back pay
• jury duty pay
• overtime pay
• severance pay
• shift differentials
• nonproduction bonuses
• tuition reimbursements