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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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Recent updates

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Social protection and SURE

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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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

Eurofound expert(s)

John Hurley

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

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

​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)

Shifts in the job structure in Europe during the Great Recession: Technical background paper

The report describes the impact of the ‘great recession’ on employment and the job structure in the EU27. Quintile charts are used to give a simple, graphical representation of the extent of employment change in a given period as well as an indication of how that change has been distributed across

10 October 2011
Publication
Research report
Employment status
Job creation
Employment structure
Structural change
Employment and labour markets

Patterns of recent employment growth in the EU: implications for gender equality - Background paper

Despite progress during the last generation, gender gaps in the labour market are closing only gradually, if at all. At EU level the gap remains at over 17% and has not declined in recent years. Variations in national gender pay gaps around this average figure do not reveal any obvious pattern in

18 May 2009
Publication
Customised report
Employment status
Gender equality
Employment and labour markets

Temporary agency work in the European Union (report)

Overall dissatisfaction with their working conditions and job situation among temporary agency workers would seem to indicate the existence of poor working conditions among this group. However, specific health and quality of work indicators paint a more ambiguous picture. They reveal that the main

30 August 2004
Publication
Employment status
Employment and labour markets
Working conditions
Working conditions and sustainable work

Employment status and working conditions: summary

This working paper uses data from the third European Survey on Working Conditions to look at changes in employment relations between 1996 and 2000. It analyses the relationship between employment status and working conditions. The concept of employment status is two-dimensional. The research

13 August 2002
Publication
Report summary
Employment status
Working conditions
Working conditions and sustainable work

Self-employment: Choice or necessity?

During the summer of 1998 more than 30,000 persons aged between 16 to 64 years from 16 European countries were interviewed about their current employment status, their working conditions and their preferences. This leaflet summarises the main findings of the survey in relation to self-employment and

22 June 2000
Publication
Report summary
Employment status
Non-standard employment
Working conditions
Working conditions and sustainable work

Employment status and health (Summary)

A summary of the results of research on the relationship between employment status and health. A bibliographic review was undertaken and data from the 1996 Second European Survey on Working Conditions complemented by Eurostat data was also analysed.

03 August 1999
Publication
Report summary
Health and well-being at work
Working conditions
Employment status
Employment and labour markets
Working conditions and sustainable work
Online resources results (152)

Helping ‘inactive’ women acquire skills for job market

A study commissioned by the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE [1]) and co-funded by the European Union (EU [2]) has assessed the skills of ‘inactive’ women in Malta. The research was part of a broader project called Unlocking the Female Potential [3] (ESF 3.47). The results of

16 juuni 2013
Article
Skills and training
Employment status
Gender equality
Employment and labour markets

Government urged to do more to help the unemployed

Research by Estonia’s National Audit Office (NAO [1]) has investigated ways the state has tackled the issue of unemployment in the country. The report, State activity in bringing the unemployed to the labour market (in Estonian, 1,39Mb PDF [2]), assessed the support provided by the Estonian

12 juuni 2013
Article
Skills and training
Employment status
Employment and labour markets
Social protection

Domestic work and the shadow economy

A study into undeclared work in the domestic sector, In the depth of the shadows: domestic work, gender and immigration (in Portuguese, 443KB PDF) [1], has been published by the School of Economics and Management at the Technical University of Lisbon (ISEG-UTL [2]). The study, based on doctoral

6 juuni 2013
Article
Employment status
Gender equality
Pay and income
Employment and labour markets
Labour and social regulation
Social protection

Positive reaction to outplacement from job-seekers

Outplacement in Belgium provides specialised support for people who have lost their jobs. It has become an increasingly important instrument in Belgian labour policy. Outplacement has been particularly useful where collective redundancies have been made. It has been seen to support dismissed

22 Mai 2013
Article
Skills and training
Employment status
Employment and labour markets

Impact of the crisis on gender equality

The main aim of the report, The impact of the economic crisis on the situation of women and men and on gender equality policies (3MB PDF) [1], is to chart the impact of the financial and economic crisis on those working in the EU and on gender equality [2] policies in particular. The report was

9 Mai 2013
Article
Employment status
Gender equality
Job quality
Employment and labour markets
Living conditions and quality of life
Work-life balance
Working conditions
Working time
Working conditions and sustainable work

Effects of the economic crisis on employment

The effects of the economic crisis in Spain have been analysed by the First of May Foundation [1], a non-profit institution created by the Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Committees (CCOO [2]). Its findings have been published in a report, The economic crisis and its effects on jobs in Spain

6 Mai 2013
Article
Employment status
Employment and labour markets

Economic crisis hits small businesses hard

A new survey in Greece has highlighted the devastating effect of the financial crisis on small businesses, which make up the vast majority of the country’s economy. The survey is the second conducted in 2012, and the eighth in a series carried out by the Institute of Small Enterprises of the

7 aprill 2013
Article
Employment status
Working time
Work organisation
Working conditions
Employment and labour markets
Working conditions and sustainable work

Uncovering the hidden face of undeclared work

The book /Invisible Portugal/, published in 2010 and reprinted in 2012, includes a chapter called ‘Is Undeclared Work Invisible?’ This chapter explores the relationship between regular employment and undeclared work. It identifies a range of possible motives for undeclared work, and show how they

24 veebruar 2013
Article
Employment status
Labour and social regulation
Employment and labour markets

Collective agreement breaches in hotel sector

A survey by the Cyprus Labour Institute (INEK-PEO [1]) has highlighted the multifaceted issue of breaches in collective agreements in the hotel industry. It has also looked into the extent of these breaches and at the groups of workers directly affected. [1] http://www.inek.org.cy/english/

12 veebruar 2013
Article
Employment status
Gender equality
Pay and income
Employment and labour markets
Labour and social regulation
Social protection

Trends in undeclared work

The Slovakian government has been working for a number of years to combat the number of people involved in undeclared work [1]. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/undeclared-work

23 jaanuar 2013
Article
Employment status
Labour and social regulation
Employment and labour markets
Blogs results (3)
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Charting a positive path for platform workers

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
Irene Mandl
Blog
Anticipating and managing the impact of change
Digitalisation
Employment status
New forms of employment
Platform work
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All aboard: Hauling undeclared workers onto the pandemic rescue boats

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
Isabella Biletta
Blog
Social protection
Undeclared work
Employment status
COVID-19
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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 aprill 2020
Tina Weber
Blog
COVID-19
Non-standard employment
Employment status
Labour and social regulation
Employment and labour markets

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