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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.

Topic

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)

Health and safety of workers on fixed-term and temporary contracts

On 22 July 2011, the European Commission issued a staff working paper (235Kb PDF) [1] examining the implementation of Council Directive 91/383/EEC [2] of 25 June 1991 on measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health at work of workers with fixed term or temporary contracts. The working

4 detsember 2011
Article
Employment status
Health and well-being at work
Working conditions
Employment and labour markets
Working conditions and sustainable work

Sharp increase in flexible forms of labour

The Labour Inspectorate (SEPE) is the main investigative branch of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (YPAKP [1]) and is charged with controlling the implementation of labour legislation in Greece. Its primary objective is to safeguard labour rights and the health and safety [2] of workers

29 september 2011
Article
Employment status
Employment and labour markets

Poor rewards for self-employed knowledge professionals

In April 2011, the trade-union related Institute for Economic and Social Research (IRES [1]), published a report on the quality of work of workers in knowledge professions (in Italian, 1.66Mb PDF) [2]. The report presents the findings of a survey of knowledge professionals carried out on behalf of

23 august 2011
Article
Skills and training
Employment status
Pay and income
Employment and labour markets
Social protection

Survey reveals increased precariousness of female employment

In April 2011 the Agency for Social Surveys and Analyses (ASSA-M [1]) presented the results of a survey, Women working in precarious working conditions (in Bulgarian) [2], which was carried out in October 2010. The survey, which was representative of the population of Bulgaria aged 18–60 years

17 august 2011
Article
Employment status
Gender equality
Employment and labour markets

Impact of subcontracting on working conditions

The study (in French, 164Kb PDF) [1] published by the French agency for Studies, Research and Statistics (DARES [2], part of the Ministry of Work, Employment and Health [3]) assesses the impact of subcontracting on working conditions. Drawing on data from the 2006–2007 Organisational Change and

4 august 2011
Article
Employment status
Employment and labour markets
Job quality
Work organisation
Working conditions
Working conditions and sustainable work

No improvement in stress rate of self-employed

The Flemish workability monitor was instigated by the Social and Economic Council of Flanders (SERV [1]) in 2003, in order to follow up the policy agreements made in the Vilvoorde Pact (in Dutch, 1.13Mb PDF) [2] on improving quality of work. The Innovation & Work Foundation at SERV was commissioned

27 juuli 2011
Article
Employment status
Employment and labour markets

Ethnic minorities’ jobs hardest hit by crisis

In February and September 2010 the sociological team of the Sofia-based Open Society Institute (OSI [1]) and experts from the World Bank [2] carried out a Bulgaria Crisis Monitoring Survey to study the economic situation of Bulgarian households in times of crisis. The results (in Bulgarian) [3] have

10 juuli 2011
Article
Employment status
Gender equality
Employment and labour markets
Discrimination at work

Sick immigrant workers more likely to go to work

The Institute for Work, Environment and Health (ISTAS [1]), an independent body founded by Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions (CCOO [2]), has recently published a report (215Kb PDF) [3] on sickness presenteeism among immigrant workers. The term ‘presenteeism’ is understood as ‘going

10 juuli 2011
Article
Health and well-being at work
Employment status
Employment and labour markets
Social protection
Working conditions
Working conditions and sustainable work

Employment conditions of homeworkers

A survey carried out in Bulgaria between 1 January and 30 April 2010 aimed to map the employment conditions of homeworkers and to present a more complete and comprehensive view of the homeworking [1] sector, which includes more than 500,000 people. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories

19 aprill 2011
Article
Employment status
Gender equality
Employment and labour markets
Working poor

Survey reveals employees’ apathy to their rights at work

The results of the fourth annual population survey (in Latvian, 1.4Mb MS PowerPoint) [1] carried out by the Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia (LBAS [2]) on issues relating to working conditions [3] was published in March 2010. The survey is one of the measures of the European Social Fund [4]

17 aprill 2011
Article
Employment status
Employment and labour markets
Health and well-being at work
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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