Janine Leschke, European Trade Union Institute, Brussels

1. Forms of precarious employment in the EU: state of the art and relevant legislationWorkshop on stepping up coordination on collective bargaining to better fight precarious work in the EFFAT sectors, Portugal 16-18 March Janine Leschke, European Trade Union Institute, Brussels

2. Structure of presentation 1) Precarious work – some definitions 2) Illustration of developments in precarious employment: • Part-time, fixed-term, temporary agency work, • In-work poverty and trade union density 3) European initiatives on precarious employment: • Directives on part-time, fixed-term work and temp agency work • Employment Strategy and OMCs including flexicurity discussion 4) Conclusion

3. Some definitions of precarious work (I) No single definition (Some) dimensions of precariousness insufficient… …wages or income (e.g. working-poor) …job security …collective interest representation …access to social security (e.g. health, pensions, unemployment) …access to training, life-long learning and career opportunities …health and safety at work

4. Some definitions of precarious work (II) Precariousness often related to contract form: • Fixed-term employment • Temporary agency work • Seasonal work • Part-time and particularly marginal employment • (Bogus) self-employment • Undeclared work • etc. Certain groups overrepresented: e.g. women, youth, migrant workers

5. Developments in non-standard employment Lisbon Strategy developments Part-time employment Temporary employment Temp. agency work In-work poverty by contract type Trade union density among non-standard workers

6. Developments in employment, unemployment and non-standard employment over the last 10 years (EU27*) Data source: European Labour Force Survey. For agency work penetration rate Ciett 2010. *Data on agency work penetration rates based on average of 22 EU27 countries + Norway and Switzerland.

7. Part-time employment by gender, 2010Q2 Data source: European Labour Force Survey. Age: 15-64. Data source: European Labour Force Survey. Age: 15-64.

8. Part-time employment: developments during the crisis Data source: European Labour Force Survey. Age: 15-64.

9. Involuntary part-time employment: developments during the crisis Data source: European Labour Force Survey. Age: 15-64.

10. Temporary employment by gender, 2010Q2 Data source: European Labour Force Survey. Age: 15-64.

11. Temporary employment: youth particularly affected (2010Q2) Data source: European Labour Force Survey. Age: 15-64.

12. Temporary employment: developments during the crisis Data source: European Labour Force Survey. Age: 15-64.

13. Involuntary temporary employment: developments during the crisis Data source: European Labour Force Survey. Age: 15-64.

14. Agency work penetration rate by country, 2008 and 2009 Data source: Ciett 2010. Defined as number of full-time equivalents as supplied by Ciett Natioanl Federations divided by the total active working population.

15. In-work poverty rate by personal and work-place characteristics, 2007 (EU27) Source: Eurostat online database, 2009.

16. Union density: employees in standard and temporary jobs mid 2000s Source: J. Visser,ICTWSS database 3.0, 2010, based on estimates from ESS and ISSP surveys, taken from Industrial Relations in Europe 2010.

17. Union density: employees in full-time and part-time employment in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK: 1992-2008 (%) Source: Vandaele/Leschke (2010) Following the ‘organising model’ of British unions? Organising non-standard workers in Germany and the Netherlands.

18. Wrapping up statistical analysis on non-standard employment • Large contribution to employment growth over last decade • Large heterogeneity in extent between countries • Often involuntary • Strong crisis impact • Certain labour market groups more affected • more likely to be in-work poor • lower trade union density, • fewer access to social security, training and lifelong learning (not shown)

19. EU level actions and legislation on precarious employment

20. EU level actions and legislation on precarious employment Actors: European social partners, European Commission, Council, Parliament Legislation: • Framework agreements and directives on • Part-time work • Fixed-term work • Temporary agency work • (Posted workers) Coordination of employment policies • European Employment Strategy and flexicurity agenda (EU2020 developments)

21. Legislation • European social partners have concluded framework agreements on flexible employment • The framework agreements have been implemented as directives • They address the employment conditions of non-standard workers: • Improving the quality of non-standard employment • Facilitate the development of flexible forms of working • Member states have to comply with the directives (they may maintain or introduce more favourable provisions) • In the case of temporary agency work social partner negotiations failed, draft proposal by the European Commission

22. Council directive 97/81/EC on part-time work (I) Purpose: • removal of discrimination • improve quality of part-time work • facilitate development of part-time work on a voluntary basis • contribute to the flexible organization of working time Scope: • All part-time workers • Except: • Member States may exclude part-time workers on a casual basis Principle of equal treatment: • all employment conditions • principle of pro rata temporis • access to particular conditions of employment may be subject to a period of service, time worked or earnings qualification

23. Council directive 97/81/EC on part-time work (II) Employment opportunities and information: • give consideration for requests by workers to transfer from full-time to part-time work and vice versa • inform about vacancies • facilitate access to part-time work at all levels of the enterprise (including skilled and managerial positions) • facilitate access by part-time workers to vocational training to enhance career opportunities and occupational mobility • the provision of appropriate information to existing bodies representing workers about part-time work in the enterprise

24. Council directive 99/70/EC on fixed-term work (I) Purpose: • improve the quality of fixed-term work by ensuring the application of the principle of non-discrimination • prevent abuse arising from the use of successive fixed-term employment contracts or relationships • non-discriminiation (see part-time work directive) Scope: • All fixed-term workers • Except: • Initial vocational training + apprenticeship • Specific public or publicly-supported training, integration + vocational retraining programme Measures to prevent abuse: Introduce at least one of these • objective reasons justifying renewal • limit on total duration • limit on the number of renewals

25. Council directive 99/70/EC on fixed-term work (II) Employment opportunities and information: • Inform about vacancies • Training opportunitites, career development, occupational mobility • Information to worker representative bodies • Fixed-term workers taken into consideration in calculating thresholds – workers representative bodies

26. Directive 2008/104/EC on temporary agency work (I) Directive preceeded by lengthy discussions Purpose: • ensure protection of temp workers • equal treatment as regards basic working and employment conditions including pay from the first day of employment, unless a social partner derogation applies • establishing suitable framework for the use of temp agency work with view to contributing to creation of jobs and development of flexibel work forms Scope: • Triangular relationship between the temporary-work agency (employer), temporary agency worker and user undertaking (firm) (temporary assignment) Principle of equal treatment: • basic working and employment conditions should be at least those which would apply to such workers if they were recruited by the user undertaking to occupy the same job

27. Directive 2008/104/EC on temporary agency work (II) Basic working and employment conditions: • duration of working time, overtime, breaks, rest periods, night work, (public) holidays, PAY • It‘s up to the MS whether occupational social security schemes are included in basic working conditions Employment opportunities and information: • equal access to collective facilities in the user company • improved access to training and child-care facilities in periods between assignments, in order to improve employability • the right to be informed about permanent employment opportunities in the user undertaking

28. Problems and limits of directives • Lengthy procedures • Only basic standards (heavily based on compromises) • Derogations are possible based on social partner agreement (e.g. temp work directive) • Exclusion of certain groups possible (e.g. part-time workers on casual basis, marginal workers, initial vocational training, etc.) • Statutory social security is not covered as it is a prerogative of MS • Lack in enforcement of and knowledge about rights • Danger that employers will use other forms of work (e.g. bogus self-employment) to avoid equal treatment

29. Coordination of employment policies in Europe: ESS and flexicurity (I) European Employment Strategy (EES) • Ambitious employment rate targets (benchmarks) • Use of Open Method of Coordination • Employment guidelines and quant/qual targets, national reform programmes, monitoring and recommendations, mutual learning and peer review • Since 2007 flexicurity plays an important role in the EES • Key role in modernising labour markets and contributing to employment rate target achievement Recalling common principles of flexicurity • flexible and reliable contractual arrangements • comprehensive lifelong learning strategies • effective active labour market policies • modern social security systems

30. Coordination of employment policies in Europe: ESS and flexicurity (II) Flexicurity remains a key feature of the EU2020 strategy • Included in the ‘Flagship initiative for new skills and jobs‘ • Four common principles remain in place but are filled with more concrete meaning: • reducing LM segmentation (with regard to contracts, life-long learning, ALMPs and social security); focus on internal flexibility; ‘making transitions pay‘; bigger role for social partners • Regular monitoring and assesment of flexicurity policies across the EU Latest developments: • Employment guidelines include explicit call for better social protection for fixed-term and self-employed workers • Focus on the role of the PES with regard to Flexicurity • Idea of a “single contract” • Open-ended with job protection increasing with tenure (e.g. through gradual rise of severance payment rights) • Employment protection would gradually converge to that of current permanent contracts

31. Conclusions • European and national level promotion of non-standard employment, strong rise in these employment forms • Certain labour market groups over-represented • Crisis impacts • First phase: better inclusion • Second phase: austerity packages with focus on LM and social policies • Role of EES? – ambitious employment rate target, employment creation often by way of non-standard work • Contribution of flexicurity to developments in precarious employment? • In the past focus on flexibility rather than security • EU2020 current focus on reducing LM segmentation • Role for social transfers, statutory minimum wage, life-long-learning and ALMP measures, work-life balance policies, etc. • Role for trade unions at European and national level (organising precarious workers and including them in collective bargaining)