Study on Precarious Work and Social Rights 2012
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Study on precarious work and social rights 2012 FINAL REPORT Study on Precarious work and social rights Carried out for the European Commission (VT/2010/084) Working Lives Research Institute Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities London Metropolitan University Address: 31 Jewry Street, London EC3N 2EY, UK Phone: 00 44 207 320 3042 Fax: 00 44 207 320 3032 Email: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Sonia McKay Steve Jefferys Anna Paraksevopoulou Janoj Keles April 2012 Disclaimer: The information contained in this publication does not necessarily reflect the position or opinion of the European Commission Study on precarious work and social rights 2012 Listed below are the national experts who contributed to the study Scientific Committee of legal experts Country Name of Committee Member Bulgaria Krassimira Sredkova France Christophe Vigneau Germany Reinhard Vorbau Tjark.Menssen Greece Stamatina Yannakourou Ireland Michael Halpenny Italy Bruno Caruso Latvia Kristīne Dupate The Netherlands Klara Boonstra Poland Joanna Unterschutz Spain Julia Lopez Sweden Carin Ulander- Wänman UK Keith Ewing Nicola Countouris Panel of Industrial relations experts Country Panel Members Bulgaria Vassil Kirov France Emmanuelle Lada Germany Michael Whittall Greece Lefteris Kretsos Ireland Tom Prosser Italy Volker Tellejohann Latvia Aija Lulle The Netherlands Maarten Keune Luc Benda Poland Joanna Szymonek Spain Paolo Leotti Sweden Monica Andersson Back Christer Thornqvist UK Nick Clark Our thanks to the staff members at DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, Employment and Social Legislation, Social Dialogue, Labour Law for their support and helpful comments; to the more than 150 individuals who agreed to be interviewed as part of the study; to the 36 organisations who assisted the research team in conducting the case studies; and to the more than 260 respondents to the survey questionnaire. 2 Study on precarious work and social rights 2012 Contents Executive summary......................................................................................................5 1. Introduction........................................................................................................14 2. Employment relationships in 12 Member States ................................................16 2.1 Forms of employment contract 16 2.1.1 Fixed term (temporary) contracts ...............................................................18 2.1.2 Part-time work ............................................................................................22 2.1.3 Bogus (false) self-employment...................................................................25 2.1.4 Temporary agency work .............................................................................28 2.1.5 Sub-contracted and out-sourced work ........................................................31 2.1.6 Undeclared, informal and irregular work....................................................33 2.1.7 Seasonal work.............................................................................................40 2.1.8 Posted work.................................................................................................41 2.2 Sectors associated with precarious work 44 2.3 Groups associated with precarious work 48 2.3.1 Gender and precarious work ..................................................................49 2.3.2 Age and precarious work .......................................................................53 2.3.3 Migrants and minority ethnic workers in precarious work....................60 2.3.4 Disabled workers and precarious work..................................................63 2.4 Employment protection law indicators 66 2.5 Country summaries 70 2.5 Degrees of precariousness 76 2.6 Mapping precarious work 77 3. The nature of precarious work .............................................................................81 3.1 Precarity beyond the contract 81 3.1.1 Perceptions of insecurity........................................................................83 3.1.2 The different elements of precarity........................................................88 3.2 Elements creating precarious work 90 3.2.1 Qualifications and precariousness..........................................................90 3.2.2 Pay levels and precarious work..............................................................91 3.2.3 Social protection and precariousness.....................................................94 3.2.4 Discrimination and precariousness ........................................................96 3.3 Areas of shortfall associated with precarious work 97 3.3.1 Choice and precarity ..............................................................................97 3.3.2 Representation, voice and precarious work ...........................................97 3 Study on precarious work and social rights 2012 3.3.3 Access to training...................................................................................98 3.3.4 Health and safety and precarious work................................................101 3.4 The business context 104 3.5 Modelling precarious work, flexibility and flexicurity 106 3.5.1 Five processes leading to precarity......................................................106 3.5.2 Flexibility, flexicurity and precarious work.........................................107 4. Policy measures taken by Member States to address precarious employment relationships..............................................................................................................110 4.1 National legislation 110 4.2 The areas of national debate on precarious work 116 4.2.1 Agency labour...........................................................................................119 4.2.2 Enforcement and sanctions .......................................................................120 4.2.3 Liberalisation of the market and the impact on legislative regulation......124 4.2.4 Pay, pay levels and continuity of employment .........................................127 4.2.5 The concept of fundamental rights ...........................................................128 4.2.6 Establishing social rights through social dialogue...............................129 4.2.7 Regulating the labour market through other measures .............................137 4.3 EU level legislation 138 4.4 Harmonisation in the context of EU enlargement 138 5. A floor of basic social rights................................................................................142 5.1 Fundamental rights and European law 142 5.1.1 EU law as a source of protection ..............................................................142 5.1.2 The instruments of the Council of Europe................................................143 5.2 International human rights standards 145 5.2.1 The International Labour Organisation.....................................................145 5.3 Social rights in 12 Member States 146 5.4 Elements of a floor of rights 151 5.4.1 Towards a floor of basic social rights..................................................152 5.3.2 Social protection rights .......................................................................159 Conclusions and recommendations........................................................................161 4 Study on precarious work and social rights 2012 Executive summary This Precarious Work and Social Rights (PWSR) study was conducted in a period of growing uncertainty. The current economic crisis has increased unemployment while cuts in welfare provision and entitlements have been widespread. Arguably much employment in Europe is more precarious in 2012 than it was in 2007. The speed of the changes imposed as a consequence of crisis have presented the study with a particular challenge in analysing the overall picture, while keeping in mind the rapid advancement of new solutions to existing and emerging problems. Full-time, permanent work remains the dominant form of employment relationship within the 12 Member States of the study - Bulgaria, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the UK - and still largely structures entitlements to welfare. However, there has been significant growth in a wide range of non-standard forms of employment relationship with the result that significant numbers of Europe’s workers are now excluded from welfare benefits and/or employment protections. This has both major and long-term consequences for European labour law, as legislative models have been framed around the concept of the standard contract and has resulted in the exclusion of increasing numbers of Europe’s workers because their employment relationship does not fit the standard. As Weiss (2011) comments, there is a need to adapt labour law to the new circumstances of atypical work by making closer links between labour law and social security law. Thus while the focus of this study has been on precarious work, the association between precarious work and the absence of social rights is irrefutable. Individuals in precarious work are more likely to be excluded from social rights, such as to decent housing, medical care, pensions and education, while exclusion from these social rights pushes individuals into precarious work. Work precariousness thus feeds into other situations that cement individuals into precarious lives. Precarious work also incurs the risk of individuals lacking