Precarious employment in Europe Conference on qulaity of employment, 28. and 29. February 2008 Janine Leschke European Trade Union Institute for Research, Education and Health and Safety (ETUI-REHS)

Forms of (potentially) precarious employment  Part-time employment  Marginal employment (<15 hours)  Fixed-term employment  Temporary agency work (TWA)  (Own-account) self-employment These employment forms are often termed atypical employment or non- standard employment Standard employment = indefinite (at one employer), full-time, dependent Other sources of precariousness (going beyond the contract form):  low wage employment  asocial working time (shift work; Saturday work; Sunday work; night work; evening work)  excessive working hours  flexible working hours (without control)

Dimensions of potential precariousness (focus on non-standard employment) Danger of... …lower wages (working-poor)  especially relevant for part-time and marginal employment …lacking job security  especially relevant for fixed-term and TWA work (by definition lower employment protection legislation) but also for marginal workers …lower access to social security  potentially all groups (depending on the country and the social security system) … lower access to employability measures (firm-based training, life-long learning)  potentially all groups …possible effects on health and safety at work  potentially all groups …lack of collective interest representation  potentially all groups, directly (self-employed) or indirectly (part-time workers as women)

Non-standard forms of employment: extent, developments and country differences

5 Employment rate, share of part-time and temporary workers and unemployment rate, EU-27 yearly averages *Unemployment rates refer to EU15 for 1997, to EU25 for and to EU27 for Self-employment refers to EU15 for and to EU27 for right-hand scale left-hand scale

Part-time employment in 2000 and 2007 (% of total employment 15-64) Data source: Eurostat (2007, 2nd quarter).

Part-time employment by gender, 2007 (% of total employment of a given sex 15-64) Data source: Eurostat (2007, 2nd quarter).

Part-time employment of women by reason, 2005 (% of total, 15-64) Data source: Eurostat (2007). Not data for Ireland.

Temporary employment in 2000 and 2007 (% of employment 15-64) Data source: Eurostat (2007, 2nd quarter).

Temporary employment by age group, 2007 (% total number employees in age group) Data source: Eurostat (2007, 2nd quarter).

Temporary employment by reason, 2006 (% of total, 15-64) Data source: Eurostat (2007), no data for EE and MT.

Self-employment 2000 and 2007 (% of all employees 15-64) Data source: Eurostat (2006, 2nd quarter).

In how far are these employment forms precarious?

Working poor – full-time and part-time workers Data source: Eurostat (2007). 18 years and over. In-work at risk of poverty 2005 by full-time/part-time work (cut-off point: 60% of median equivalised income after social transfers)

Working poor – permanent and and temporary workers Data source: Eurostat (2007). 18 years and over. DK is missing. In-work at risk of poverty 2006 by permanent/temporary work (cut-off point: 60% of median equivalised income after social transfers)

Job Security: Increasing differences between permanent and temporary workers Source: OECD Employment Outlook 2004.

Disadvantages in social security systems (illustrated by unemployment benefits): part-time workers Source: Own calculation based on pooled and weighted ECHP data. The retrospective survey information on part-time employment is used. Unemployment benefit receipt of former full-time and part-time workers (comparison of registered unemployed and all unemployed looking for a job)

Disadvantages in social security systems (illustrated by unemployment benefits): temporary workers Source: Own calculation based on pooled and weighted ECHP data. The retrospective survey information on part-time employment is used. Unemployment benefit receipt of former permanent and temporary workers (comparison of registered unemployed and all unemployed looking for a job)

Full-timePart-timePermanentTemporary Denmark Netherlands Belgium Luxembourg France Ireland Italy Greece Spain Portugal Austria Finland UK Employability measures (firm-based training, life-long learning) Vocational course paid for or organised by employer? Source: own calculation based on pooled and weighted ECHP data; age: years

Health and safety Source: Benavides et al. (2000). Data: Second European Survey of Working Conditions, coverage EU15. Distribution of self reported health indicators by employment, 2000 (EU-15 average as percentage) Types of employment absenteeismstressfatiguebackachemuscular pains Permanent Temporary Full-time Part-time

Trade union density (2004)Collective agreement coverage Austria32%91-100% Belgium49%91-100% France8%91-100% Slovenia44%91-100% Sweden77%91-100% Denmark80%81-90% Finland74%81-90% Italy34%81-90% Netherlands25%81-90% Spain16%81-90% Luxembourg46%71-80% Portugal17%71-80% Cyprus53%61-70% Germany20%61-70% Greece20%61-70% Ireland36%51-60% Malta55%51-60% Collective interest representation Sources: Industrial Relations in Europe (2006); Keune 2006.

Trade union density (2004)Collective agreement coverage Poland17%41-50% Slovakia31%41-50% Hungary17%31-40% United Kingdom29%31-40% Czech Republic22%21-30% Estonia12%21-30% Latvia16%11-20% Lithuania13%11-20% Collective interest representation - suite Sources: Industrial Relations in Europe (2006); Keune 2006.

Non-standard employment and precarity

Conclusions  Forms of non-standard employment have been growing over the last decade  Specific labour market groups are over-represented, namely women, young workers, low qualified and migrant workers  Non-standard jobs do not necessarily have to be precarious but often are in at least some dimensions  Importance of regulations  Stepping stones or dead-end jobs?  There is a lack of comparative data and studies on precariousness especially on issues of health and safety and collective interest representation but also on social security