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Employment status

Employment status refers to the contractual aspect of employment in terms of duration and number of working hours, incorporating economic risk, the autonomy and the authority which workers have in their jobs. The main categories are employee and self-employed. Employees are defined as someone who gets a salary from an employer or a temporary employment agency, with a distinction between employees with an unlimited or fixed-term contract. Self-employed persons can have employees. Across all workers a distinction can be made between those who work full-time and those who work part-time, either voluntarily or involuntarily.

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Presentation made at the 'Informal meeting of Employment and Social Affairs Ministers (EPSCO)' by Ivailo Kalfin, Executive Director, Eurofound and Prof. dr. Paul Schoukens, Full Professor, KU Leuven. Belgian Presidency...

Presentation
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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

Eurofound expert(s)

John Hurley

John Hurley is a senior research manager in the Employment unit at Eurofound. He took up the role of research manager in February 2012. He is responsible for the European...

Senior research manager,
Employment research unit
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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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​Martina Bisello is a research manager in the Employment unit at Eurofound. Her research interests include gender gaps in the labour market, occupational change and the impact of...

Research manager,
Employment research unit
Publications results (26)

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

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

Disclaimer: Please note that this report was updated with revised data (specifically for Bulgaria) on 23 March 2021.Aruande eesmärk on hinnata COVID-19 kriisi algset mõju Euroopa tööhõivele (kuni 2020. aasta II kvartalini), sh selle mõju sektorite lõikes ja erinevat liiki töötajate puhul. Aruandes

11 March 2021

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

Platform work emerged onto European labour markets about a decade ago. While still small in scale, it is growing and evolving into a variety of forms. Different types of platform work have significantly different effects on the employment and working conditions of the affiliated workers.

23 September 2019

Two-thirds of the EU labour force are in permanent, full-time employment; the remaining one-third has a non-standard employment status, meaning temporary or part-time employment or self-employment. Given the variety of employment statuses, it is worth asking whether working conditions differ across

22 November 2018

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

Feelings of insecurity in several dimensions of life are widespread in the EU population, even among those who are materially well-off. Policymakers need to take these insecurities into account to better understand the concerns and dissatisfactions of citizens.

09 October 2018

Despite years of gender equality legislation, men outnumber women in management positions by two to one. While structural barriers continue to impede women’s career advancement, women themselves may be deterred from becoming managers if they perceive that it would have a negative impact on their

02 October 2018

Employment relations remain defined vis-à-vis the standard employment relationship (permanent, full-time, direct). Fixed-term contracts are therefore understood as non-standard employment contracts by which an employer hires an employee for a fixed duration. The main difference between permanent and

27 July 2017

Online resources results (152)

Women and undeclared work

Almost 2.8 million workers in Italy are involved in irregular or undeclared work [1], according to data from the National Statistics Office (Istituto Nazionale di Statistica, Istat [2]); this total represents 12.2% of the overall labour market. Most of these workers are concentrated in the least

Factors for sustained organisational commitment among temporary employees

Contemporary working life is characterised by the increased use of several forms of non-standard employment, such as temporary work, project work and ‘on call’ employment. Organisational commitment is a link between the individual and the employer, and is an affective response to the overall

Relationship between ICT workers and trade unions

One of the most important challenges for trade unions today is, arguably, the growth of several different forms of flexible and precarious employment within the context of the growing spread of information and communication technologies (ICT).

Survey analyses differences between precarious and atypical work

Employment policies have led to a substantial increase in non-standard forms of employment in Germany. A survey by Wolfram Brehmer and Hartmut Seifert from the Institute of Economic and Social Research (Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliches Institut, WSI [1]) of the Hans Böckler Foundation (Hans

Study reveals gap in labour market supply and demand

A study (in Latvian (1.1Mb WinZip file)) [1] on labour force supply and demand – one of 13 studies – was initiated by the Republic of Latvia’s Ministry of Welfare (Labklājības ministrija Latvijas Republikas [2]) in the framework of the National Labour Market Research Programme (in Latvian) [3]

Tackling the high level of undeclared work

An ‘Assessment of unregistered employment’ is one of 13 projects initiated by the Latvian Ministry of Welfare (Labklājības Ministrija, LM [1]) in the framework of the National Programme on Labour Market Studies, supported by the European Social Fund [2]. The research project was conducted by the

Working conditions among Polish workers found to be substandard

Since the EU enlargement in May 2004, a significant number of workers from the new EU Member States have entered the Norwegian labour market, the largest group of which are Polish workers (NO0606039I [1]). Trade unions and the media report that pay and working conditions among employees from the new

ILO underlines need to promote equality at work

In May 2007, the International Labour Organization (ILO [1]) published the second Global Report on discrimination as part of the follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work [2]. The report, entitled Equality at work: Tackling the challenges (1.7Mb PDF) [3], examines

Boundaries of entrepreneurship and salaried work overlap

In 2004, the Ministry of Labour (Työministeriö [1]) launched a research project aiming to examine the kinds of transitions from salaried work to entrepreneurship that are taking place in Finland in the 21st century. As part of the project, a special study focused on occupational groups working at

Barriers to women’s participation in decision-making positions

Addressing the issue of women’s participation in decision making is one of the six priorities of the EU Roadmap for equality between women and men 2006–2010 [1]. Against this background, in 2006 the National Council of Women of Malta (NCW [2]) commissioned the National Statistics Office (NSO [3]) to


Blogs results (3)
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While 2020 may come to be seen as the year platform work gathered pace and started to go mainstream – thanks in large part to COVID-19 containment measures sparking an increase in food and grocery delivery – 2021 could be the year that regulation of platform work is set in motion. The well-known

24 veebruar 2021
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A debate has started in Italy about the support that the state should provide to undeclared workers operating in the informal economy during the COVID-19 crisis. Nunzia Catalfo, Italy’s Minister of Labour in April stated that ‘undeclared work should not exist’ but went on to acknowledge ‘it is a

11 Mai 2020
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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 aprill 2020

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