Europe has a growing crisis of insecure work. Just before Christmas, the European Commission triumphantly announced that employment in the EU had reached record levels in the latter part of 2018, with over 239 million people in work. Good news indeed, but much less prominence was given to recognition that the number of hours worked is still lower than in 2008, before the crisis began. So perhaps there is more employment, but spread more thinly—because too many people are in insecure jobs with too few hours to guarantee a decent living.[...]
Consequently, in January 2018, the commission published proposals for a Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions Directive. It was weaker than the European Trade Union Confederation hoped but, nonetheless, includes very important protections for workers. For example, employers must supply written details of the employment relationship on the first day of work. This means that seasonal-agricultural, domestic, on-demand, platform and other precarious workers will get stronger legal rights. The draft goes further in proposing measures to ensure that online platforms are held accountable as employers. [...]
The ETUC has watched the rise in precarious working conditions in Europe—platform working, zero-hours contracts, bogus self-employment and so on—with deep concern. Research in the UK found that young people on zero-hours contracts, for example, were far more likely to report mental and physical health problems than their counterparts in stable jobs. A study by the University of Limerick in Ireland warned that people on non-guaranteed hours could become ‘trapped in a cycle of poverty which strengthens employers’ control’, generating a fear of being penalised if they raised grievances about working conditions. In response, the Irish government has taken steps to prohibit the use of zero-hours contracts, unless the employer can show a genuine business need. Guaranteeing transparent and predictable working conditions would have wide-ranging benefits, in terms of workers’ health, work-life balance and employee retention.
No comments:
Post a Comment