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Non-standard employment

Non-standard employment is an umbrella term for different employment arrangements that deviate from standard employment. They include temporary employment; part-time and on-call work; temporary agency work and other multiparty employment relationships; as well as disguised employment and dependent self-employment. The most relevant of possible future developments of non-standard work, whatever their contractual form, are related to digitalisation.

Topic

Recent updates

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Job insecurity undermines democracy

Workers on non-permanent contracts and workers with no formal contract are less satisfied with the functioning of democracy in their country, as are workers experiencing job insecurity. They are less...

1 September 2023
Corporate news
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Societal implications of labour market instability

This report investigates the social groups whose attachment to the labour market may be unstable and who are most likely to have non-standard working arrangements, and the implications of such...

29 August 2023
Publication
Research report

Eurofound expert(s)

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Carlos Vacas‑Soriano

Carlos Vacas Soriano is a research manager in the Employment unit at Eurofound. He works on topics related to wage and income inequalities, minimum wages, low pay, job quality...

Research manager,
Employment research unit
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Dragoș Adăscăliței

Dragoș Adăscăliței is a research officer in the Employment unit at Eurofound. His current research focuses on topics related to the future of work, including the impact of...

Research officer,
Employment research unit
Publications results (55)

Self-employment in the EU: Job quality and developments in social protection

Ensuring greater social protection for self-employed people has been the subject of much policy debate in recent years. In 2019, the Council of the European Union adopted a recommendation on access to social protection for workers and the self-employed. Sudden reductions in income during the COVID-1

30 January 2024
Publication
Research report
Non-standard employment
Working conditions and sustainable work
Employment status
Job quality
Social protection
Working conditions
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Societal implications of labour market instability

This report investigates the social groups whose attachment to the labour market may be unstable and who are most likely to have non-standard working arrangements, and the implications of such arrangements, and job insecurity, for workers’ well-being, social exclusion, trust, perception of fairness

29 August 2023
Publication
Research report
Social policies
Social inclusion
Non-standard employment
Promoting social cohesion and convergence
Subjective well-being
Trust
Employment status
Inclusive labour markets
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COVID-19: Implications for employment and working life

Disclaimer - Please note that this report was updated with revised data (specifically for Bulgaria) on 23 March 2021.This report sets out to assess the initial impact of the COVID-19 crisis on employment in Europe (up to Q2 2020), including its effects across sectors and on different categories of

11 March 2021
Publication
Research report
Social dialogue
Social policies
Social partners
Non-standard employment
Pay and income
Social protection
Working time
Unemployment
Employment status
Employment and labour markets
COVID-19
Labour market policies
Living conditions
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New forms of employment: 2020 update

Although standard employment (generally full-time and permanent) remains the dominant employment type across the EU, European labour markets are increasingly characterised by a variety of different forms. These new forms of employment involve new formal employment relationships or work patterns

15 December 2020
Publication
Research report
Employment and labour markets
New forms of employment
Non-standard employment
Platform work
Working conditions
Working conditions and sustainable work
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Working conditions in sectors

Megatrends, such as digitalisation, globalisation, demographic change and climate change, are transforming the world of work, with knock-on effects for working conditions and job quality. Against this background, this report examines working conditions and job quality from a sectoral perspective

05 November 2020
Publication
Research report
Employee representation
Employment structure
Health and well-being at work
Job quality
Non-standard employment
Skills and training
Small and medium-sized enterprises
Work organisation
Working conditions
Working conditions and sustainable work
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Labour market change: Trends and policy approaches towards flexibilisation

What have been the major trends and policy developments regarding the flexibilisation of employment in recent years? Eurofound’s work programme for 2017–2020 set out to document and capture these changes in the world of work. This flagship publication provides an overview of developments in Europe

16 April 2020
Publication
Flagship report
Platform work
Non-standard employment
Working time
Structural change
New forms of employment
Employment structure
Inclusive labour markets
Employment status
Employment relationship
Anticipating and managing the impact of change
Labour market policies
Employment and labour markets
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Casual work: Characteristics and implications

Casual work, both intermittent and on-call, contributes to labour market flexibility and is therefore increasingly used across Europe. In some countries, practices go beyond the use of casual employment contracts to include other types of contracts and forms of self-employment.

20 December 2019
Publication
Research report
Non-standard employment
New forms of employment
Social protection
Working time
Working conditions and sustainable work
Working conditions
Undeclared work
Employment relationship
Labour and social regulation

Labour market segmentation: Piloting new empirical and policy analyses

This report sets out to describe what labour market segmentation is and why it is problematic for the labour market and society, as well as disadvantaged groups. It takes a broad view of the term to examine the situation that arises when the divergence in working conditions between different groups

02 December 2019
Publication
Research report
Non-standard employment
Employment structure
Inclusive labour markets
Employment relationship
Minimum wage
Labour market policies
Labour market participation
Employment and labour markets

Annual review of working life 2017

Annual review of working life 2017 is part of a series of annual reviews published by Eurofound and provides an overview of the latest developments in industrial relations and working conditions across the EU and Norway. The annual review collates information based on reports from Eurofound’s

22 October 2018
Publication
Research report
Social dialogue
Social partners
Non-standard employment
Working time
Working conditions and sustainable work
Working conditions
Employment status
Employment relationship
Health and well-being at work
Agreements
Collective bargaining
Industrial action
Industrial relations and social dialogue
Industrial relations

Employment and working conditions of selected types of platform work

Platform work is a form of employment that uses an online platform to match the supply of and demand for paid labour. In Europe, platform work is still small in scale but is rapidly developing. The types of work offered through platforms are ever-increasing, as are the challenges for existing

24 September 2018
Publication
Research report
Platform work
Non-standard employment
Working conditions
New forms of employment
Employment relationship
Digitalisation
Anticipating and managing the impact of change
Working conditions and sustainable work
Online resources results (249)

Financial incentives seek to stimulate open-ended recruitment

A government Order adopted in Portugal in March 2002 aims to encourage permanent employment by means of financial subsidies for companies that convert a fixed-term contract, on expiry, into an open-ended contract. The new legislation is seen as necessary because fixed-term employment is continuing

27 May 2002
Article
Labour and social regulation
Non-standard employment
Working conditions and sustainable work
Employment and labour markets

Unions highlight unstable employment in Catalonia

In 2001-2, trade unions in the Catalonia region of Spain have taken a number of initiatives aimed at examining and criticising the level of unstable employment. CC.OO's Catalan organisation has drawn up a 'blacklist' of the 200 most unstable companies in the region, using a 'barometer of employment

29 April 2002
Article
Social partners
Labour market policies
Non-standard employment
Labour law
Labour and social regulation

Commission proposes Directive on temporary agency workers

The European Commission issued on 20 March 2002 a proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive on working conditions for temporary agency workers [1]. This is the third subject to be regulated within the framework of the Commission's September 1995 social partner consultation on the

22 April 2002
Article
Non-standard employment
Social partners
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Temporary employment increases in public sector

Spain has a very high level of temporary employment, especially among women. However, in recent years the temporary employment rate has been falling slightly in the private sector, while increasing in the public sector, which previously had a relatively low level of such non-permanent employment

27 February 2002
Article
Non-standard employment
Employment and labour markets

Government initiatives spark major confrontation with trade unions

Between November and December 2001, the Italian government launched three important reform initiatives in the fields of labour market institutions, the pension system and the tax system. The Cgil, Cisl and Uil trade union confederations sharply criticised the government's action, both because of the

25 February 2002
Article
Employment and labour markets
Non-standard employment
Labour and social regulation
Living conditions and quality of life

Part-time work Directive finally implemented

TheProtection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act 2001 [1] took effect in late December 2001. It seeks to implements the December 1997EU Directive (97/81/EC) on part-time work [2], which was based on a framework agreement negotiated by the European-level social partners in 1997 (EU9706131F [3]) under

24 February 2002
Article
Non-standard employment
Labour and social regulation

Non-permanent employment and fear of economic downturn cast shadow on work

The Finnish Ministry of Labour published its yearly 'working life barometer' in December 2001. The results indicate that employees on fixed-term and temporary contracts are discriminated against more than other groups at the workplace. Employees' general attitude to changes in working life has also

6 January 2002
Article
Job quality
Non-standard employment
Social partners
Working conditions
Working conditions and sustainable work

New government challenges trade union movement

A general election took place in Denmark on 20 November 2001. The result was a comfortable victory for the coalition of the Liberal Party (Venstre) and Conservative People's Party (Konservative Folkeparti), which shortly afterwards formed a government under the leadership of Anders Fogh Rasmussen of

6 January 2002
Article
Social partners
Employment and labour markets
Social protection
Skills and training
Non-standard employment

Report examines relationship between young people and work

A survey carried out in November 2001 by Iref, a research centre linked to the Christian Association of Italian Workers (Acli), examines the aspirations of young Italians towards work. The majority of them seek an independent and flexible employment relationship, which is able to offer the same

3 January 2002
Article
Non-standard employment
Working time
Working conditions
Employment and labour markets
Working conditions and sustainable work

Involuntary part-time work declines

Over the past 20 years, part-time work has been growing at a rapid pace in France, promoted by the government as a potential tool for stemming unemployment while affording the flexibility sought by the employers. Often imposed by employers, part-time work has thus been experienced by many employees

2 December 2001
Article
Non-standard employment
Working time
Employment and labour markets
Blogs results (7)
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New forms of employment in Europe – How new is new?

Standard employment is not simply being replaced by non-standard work; employment is becoming more diverse, and policy must accordingly become more tailored. The last decade has seen much public and policy debate on the future of work. Standard employment – permanent, full-time and subject to labour

15 December 2020
Irene Mandl
Blog
Platform work
Non-standard employment
Working conditions
New forms of employment
Employment relationship
Teleworking
Employment and labour markets
Working conditions and sustainable work
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Economic downturns expose the vulnerability of a growing number of precarious workers

Up to the start of 2020, recent EU economic and labour market trends were often discussed in terms of the periods before and after the Great Recession. It now appears likely that, in the short- to medium-term, the repercussions of that economic crisis will be dwarfed by the unfolding impact of the

21 April 2020
Tina Weber
Blog
COVID-19
Non-standard employment
Employment status
Labour and social regulation
Employment and labour markets
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ICT-enabled flexible working – All plain sailing?

Imagine you’re at work and something happens: you have to leave to visit a client, you have to go home to let in the plumber, or you have to collect the kids from school as the football training has just been cancelled. If you’re lucky, your employer gives you the flexibility to do this. If you’re

14 May 2019
Oscar Vargas Llave
Blog
Non-standard employment
Working conditions
New forms of employment
Inclusive labour markets
Digitalisation
Employment and labour markets
Anticipating and managing the impact of change
Working conditions and sustainable work
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Stamping out fraud in hiring practices across Europe

Research Manager Isabella Biletta looks at fraudulent practices in the contracting of work. Such practices involve the abuse of legitimate employment relationships with the aim of sidestepping labour and social regulations and with the effect of undermining workers’ rights and fair competition in

1 June 2018
Isabella Biletta
Blog
Non-standard employment
Posted workers
Working conditions and sustainable work
Employment relationship
Fraudulent work
The many faces of self-employment In Europe

The many faces of self-employment in Europe

While the Europe 2020 strategy actively promotes entrepreneurial self-employment as a means to create good jobs, policy makers at national and EU level are actively looking at better social protection for self-employed workers. Understanding this paradox requires looking beyond the ‘self-employed’

26 October 2017
Mathijn Wilkens
Blog
Inequality
Job creation
Non-standard employment
Working conditions and sustainable work
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Employment shifts in Europe during the recovery: three little noticed trends

The EU has finally recovered all the net employment losses sustained since the global financial crisis. It has been a long and painful process. But there is at last growing evidence of positive momentum in EU labour markets, if not quite ‘animal spirits’. Many of those member states most affected by

26 July 2017
John Hurley
Blog
Employment structure
Gender equality
Job creation
Employment and labour markets
Non-standard employment
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The rise of temporary contracts in Europe

More than one in 10 employees in the EU are employed on temporary contracts, but a majority of them would prefer a permanent contract. Temporary contracts help employers to manage their labour demand, but there are downsides for employees, such as job insecurity and lower pay.

19 February 2016
Eurofound
Blog
Employment and labour markets
Non-standard employment
Pay and income
Working conditions and sustainable work
Working poor

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