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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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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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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 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 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)

This report examines the main trends in temporary agency work and the problems and challenges it poses for the different Member States and the EU as a whole. It puts the spotlight on the working conditions of temporary agency workers, and the specific features of such work that might help explain

26 March 2002

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

This publication focuses on the impact of employment status on workers' health. It presents and analyses data on the 15 Member States of the European Union, collected from the Foundation's Second European Survey on Working Conditions, Eurostat, and OECD. It also offers recommendations on how to

23 March 2000

Precarious employment not only covers employees with fixed term and temporary contracts (and some categories of self-employed workers) but also workers with low incomes and/or short working hours. This publication describes the extent, consequences and reasons for precarious employment in order to

17 February 1999

This summary is based on an analysis of findings of the second European survey on working conditions conducted in 1996. The survey findings show that stress and musculo-skeletal disorders are the main health risks at work and highlights the need for a holistic and multi-disciplinary approach to the

16 March 1998

Online resources results (249)

Romania: New labour law provisions for temporary-agency workers

New legislation introduced in Romania at the start of 2015 grants temporary agency workers the same pay and conditions as permanent employees of client companies they work in.

Italy: Economically dependent self-employed work in the Jobs Act

Labour law reforms under the Jobs Act have dispensed with new job contracts based on one or more specific projects. From 2016, this type of contract will be assimilated into another type of employment contract. Workers whose contracts are expiring are entitled to receive an income support measure

Netherlands: Flexible labour and self-employment on the rise

A new report by TNO Innovation for Life and Statistics Netherlands on the dynamics of the Dutch labour market shows that the flexibilisation of labour trend still continues.

Netherlands: Unexpected problems with Work and Security Act

There have been unexpected problems following the introduction of the new Act on Work and Security in the Netherlands. The act, which changes employment and dismissal law, came into force on 1 July and aims to create a new balance between ‘insiders’, permanent employees who have high levels of

Spain: Greater powers for Labour Inspectorate

Increased powers for the Spanish Labour Inspectorate are proposed in a draft bill which also calls for more involvement from the social partners.

Finland: Spotlight on self-employed persons without employees 

An extensive study of self-employment in Finland, the first of its kind, shows that full-time permanent employment is declining, with some workers being neither traditional wage earners nor entrepreneurs. This poses a challenge for the social security system. Some 6% of the workforce are self

Portugal: Precariousness, unemployment and emigration among scientific researchers

The economic and financial crisis has had a major impact on job security and working conditions across all sectors in Portugal, including scientific research. A national study finds that research staff are experiencing precarious employment having difficulties in finding a stable job in Portugal


Blogs results (7)
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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
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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 April 2020
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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
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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
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
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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
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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

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