REDUCING PRECARIOUS WORK IN EUROPE THROUGH SOCIAL DIALOGUE: THE CASE OF FRANCE Kornig Cathel, Louit-Martinod Nathalie, Méhaut Philippe, with a contribution from Valeria Insarauto Produced for the EC project ‘Reducing precarious work in Europe through social dialogue’ DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Project VP/2014/004 (Industrial Relations & Social Dialogue) http://www.research.mbs.ac.uk/ewerc/Our-research/Current-projects/ Reducing-Precarious-Work-in-Europe-through-Social November 2016 Institute of Labour Economics and Industrial Sociology CNRS, Aix Marseille University Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 6 Part 1 .......................................................................................................................................................................... 8 1. What precarious work is there in France? Literature review ........................................................... 8 1.1. Precarity as an imprecise category depending on different national normative systems..................... 8 1.2. In search of a common definition: contributions and limitations .......................................................... 8 1.3. Beyond a common definition: the investigation of a social process and a social phenomenon ......... 10 1.4. More than an analytical category: social profiles and social experiences of precarious workers ....... 11 1.5. Summary of the different approaches to precarity and the main possible contribution to the study of the reduction of precarious work through social dialogue ......................................................................... 12 1.6. Processes and elements that have favoured the spread of precarious work ...................................... 14 2. The standard employment relationship ................................................................................................. 18 2.1 The open-ended contract (OEC) and its main rules .............................................................................. 18 2.2 A sectoral and occupational perspective .............................................................................................. 20 2.3. In-work gaps ......................................................................................................................................... 21 2.3.1. Changes in the hiring process ....................................................................................................... 21 2.3.2 Wages and resources ..................................................................................................................... 25 2.3.3. Training ......................................................................................................................................... 26 2.3.4 Low-wage Work and Poverty ......................................................................................................... 26 2.4 Representation gaps .............................................................................................................................. 27 2.4.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................................ 27 2.4.2 Gaps ............................................................................................................................................... 27 2.5 Enforcement .......................................................................................................................................... 28 2.5.1 Labour law in turmoil ..................................................................................................................... 28 2.5.2 Labour Inspectorate ....................................................................................................................... 29 2.5.3 Labour tribunal ............................................................................................................................... 32 2.5.4 Gaps ............................................................................................................................................... 33 2.6 Social protection .................................................................................................................................... 33 2.6.1. General overview .......................................................................................................................... 33 2.6.2. Gaps .............................................................................................................................................. 34 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 39 3. Fixed-term contracts and temporary agency work ............................................................................ 41 3.1. General overview ................................................................................................................................. 41 3.2 In-work regulation gaps ......................................................................................................................... 45 3.3. Representation gaps ............................................................................................................................. 47 3.4. Enforcement gaps ................................................................................................................................. 47 3.5. Social protection and integration gaps ................................................................................................ 48 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 48 4. Subcontracting, self-employment (and bogus self-employment) .................................................. 50 4.1 Subcontracting workers ........................................................................................................................ 50 4.1.1. Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 50 2 4.1.2. In-work gaps .................................................................................................................................. 50 4.1.3. Representation and enforcment gaps ........................................................................................... 51 4.2. The self-employed ................................................................................................................................ 52 4.2.1. Overview............................................................................................................................................ 52 4.2.2. In-work gaps ...................................................................................................................................... 53 4.2.3 Representation gaps ........................................................................................................................... 53 4.2.4. Enforcement gaps.............................................................................................................................. 54 4.2.5. Social protection gaps ....................................................................................................................... 54 Conclusion: precarious or not? ................................................................................................................... 55 5. Posted workers ................................................................................................................................................ 56 5.1 General overview .................................................................................................................................. 56 5.2 In-work regulatory gaps ........................................................................................................................ 57 5.3 Enforcement gaps/representation gaps................................................................................................ 58 5.4 Social protection .................................................................................................................................... 59 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 59 6. Part-time work ................................................................................................................................................. 60 6.1. General overview ................................................................................................................................. 60 6.2. In-work gaps ......................................................................................................................................... 63 6.3. Social protection gaps .......................................................................................................................... 65 Conclusion of part 1 ............................................................................................................................................ 67 Part 2 .......................................................................................................................................................................