Non-Standard Employment and Unemployment Protection in Europe
A recent working paper in the context of the Horizon Europe project TransEuroWorks written by Silvia Girardi, Anna Ilsøe and Trine P. Larsen takes a closer look at how contractual flexibility—contract length, working hours, and employment status—shapes access to unemployment benefits across European welfare regimes. Analyzing six countries, the study examines how regulatory gaps affect social protection for non-standard workers, emphasizing the importance of balancing labour market flexibility with income security.
Labour market transformations in recent decades have led to an increase in non-standard employment, such as part-time work, zero-hours contracts, fixed-term contracts, and platform-based work. However, European social protection systems, originally designed for full-time permanent employment, often fail to adequately cover workers in these flexible arrangements.
This working paper examines how contractual flexibility—specifically contract length, working hours, and employment status—affects access to unemployment benefits across different social protection regimes in Europe. Focusing on Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Slovakia, and Poland, the authors analyze legal entitlements and eligibility criteria for first-time applicants of unemployment benefits. Their findings reveal that contractual flexibility plays a crucial role in shaping eligibility for social protection, with stronger barriers observed in certain national contexts.
The study highlights key cross-country variations and underscores the need to address regulatory gaps to ensure fair access to unemployment benefits for workers in non-standard employment. By examining how different welfare regimes interact with contractual flexibility, the research contributes to ongoing debates on balancing labour market flexibility with income security.
Read the full working paper "Non-standard Employment and Access to Social Protection Across European Countries: Exploring the Role of Contractual Flexibility on Eligibility for Unemployment Benefits" by Silvia Girardi, Anna Ilsøe, and Trine Pernille Larsen.