Towards the Single Employment Contract: Comparative Reflections

by Giuseppe Casale, Adalberto Perulli

Overview

This book examines the concept of the single employment contract, tracing it from its genesis and evaluating its pros and cons in the context of the current labour market problems in selected European countries.

The book adopts a comparative approach to examining the single employment contract, highlighting its virtues and revealing its inherent contradictions. The authors set out the general framework within which the current debate has developed by outlining the origins that gave rise to the proposal of a single employment contract. They then review the debate on labour market segmentation and the flexicurity proposal, and examine the key characteristics of the single employment contract as well as the arguments put forward both for and against it. Case studies show how the idea has been taken up in France, Italy and Spain. The book concludes with a concise review of contractual arrangements in EU labour markets and of possible future projections and developments.

The book is aimed at academics and practitioners interested in labour market and labour legislation reforms.

The book is a co-publication between Hart Publishing and the International Labour Organization.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781849465816
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	12/17/2013
Pages:	108
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.23(d)

About the Author

Giuseppe Casale is currently heading the Labour Administration, Labour Inspection and Occupational Safety and Health Branch at the International Labour Office in Geneva. He is a visiting professor in comparative and international labour law at the universities of Bari and Venice, and is the Secretary-General of the International Society for Labour and Social Security Law (ISLSSL). He serves on several editorial boards of labour law reviews, is the author of numerous publications and editor of The Employment Relationship: A Comparative Overview (Hart Publishing and ILO, 2011).

Adalberto Perulli is Professor of Labour Law at Cà Foscari University of Venice. He is the Director of the Master's Programme in Labour Law and of the Global Economic and Social Affairs Master's Programme (GESAM) at the University of Venice. He serves on a number of advisory boards of labour law reviews and is the author of many publications.

Table of Contents

Foreword Antoine Lyon-Caen v

Acknowledgements vii

Table of Legislation ix

Introduction. The New Frontier of Labour Law: Between Freedom and Security 1

1 Flexibility 7

1.1 The Origins of the Issue: The Demand for Labour Market Flexibility 7

1.2 Different Kinds of Flexibility 9

1.3 From the Standard Employment Contract to a Plurality of Types 11

2 Segmentation 15

2.1 Segmentation in EU Labour Markets 15

2.2 Contractual Arrangements and Segmentation in EU Labour Markets 18

2.2.1 The Prominence of Young People among Temporary Workers 18

2.2.2 The Missing Transition to Permanent Contracts 19

2.2.3 The Consequences of Labour Market Segmentation 20

2.2.4 Where Do We Go from Here? 21

3 The Single Employment Contract: Origins and Presuppositions 23

3.1 The Origins of the Single Employment Contract: 'Re-Thinking' Work 23

3.2 The Presuppositions of the Single Employment Contract 26

3.2.1 Protection and Employment: Questioning the Received Wisdom 26

3.2.2 Effective System, Effective Market: The Search for Compatibility between Law and Economics 29

3.3 The European Commission Perspective 34

4 An Outline of the Single Employment Contract 37

4.1 Basic Structure and Application 37

4.2 Monetary Compensation 38

4.3 Legal Norms 38

4.4 Other Rights 39

4.5 The Anticipated Benefits of the Single Employment Contract 39

5 Contrasting Views of the Single Employment Contract 41

5.1 Introducing the Single Employment Contract 41

5.2 Criticisms of the Proposal and Some Responses 42

5.2.1 Increasing Flexibility Might Damage Workers Who Are Currently Protected 42

5.2.2 Enterprises Will Have Less Flexibility in Recruitment 43

5.2.3 The Consolidation Period is Too Long 43

6 Selected Proposals for Introducing the Single Employment Contract 47

6.1 Italy: The Debate about Flexicurity 47

6.1.1 The Single Employment Contract: The Debate 49

6.1.2 The Single Employment Contract and Article 18 of the Workers' Statute 52

6.2 France: The Contrat de Travail Unique (CTU) 57

6.2.1 The Origin of the CTU 57

6.2.2 The Content of the CTU 58

6.2.3 Predecessors of the CTU: The CNE and CPE 59

6.2.4 The Debate 60

6.2.5 The Labour Market Situation 62

6.3 Spain: The Debate on the Single Employment Contract 64

6.3.1 Introduction 64

6.3.2 Factors in the Debate 65

6.3.2.1 Fixed-Term Contracts and Unfair Individual Dismissals 65

6.3.2.2 A Solution to Structural Labour Market Problems? Constitutional and Legal Perspectives 66

6.3.3 A Lively Debate 68

7 Contractual Arrangements in EU Labour Markets 69

7.1 Types of Protection Offered 70

7.2 Incentives to Convert Temporary Contracts into Open-Ended Contracts 73

7.3 Cost Structures and Financial Incentives in Choice of Contract Type 73

8 Further Developments 75

Conclusions 77

Annex. The Single Employment Contract Proposal 79

Select Bibliography 83

Index 91

Editorial Reviews

"This compact publication offers a very good introduction to the debate concerning the single employment contract. It is recommended reading for comparative lawyers in the field of labour law and also those who are active in the field of social policy because it contains important stimuli for political discussion. (translated from the original German)" --Zeitschrift fur Arbeit und Sozialrecht, Number 5, 2014

From the Publisher