Secure Mobility: Uncovering gaps in the social protection of posted workers (SMUG)

SMUG seeked to improve the evidence base for posting policy, by conducting a targeted policy-focused research project with clear dissemination channels into policy. The central objective was to map the pan-EU labour market from the perspective of the workers, showing how country of origin and other worker characteristics shaped their opportunities and personal mobility decisions. We aimed to reveal specific causes of inequality, and propose practical policies to remedy them.

[Det centrale mål var at identificere, hvornår og hvordan der opstod huller i de udstationerede arbejdstageres sikkerhedsnet. Dette skete ved at interviewe udstationerede arbejdstagere om deres arbejdsliv og derefter diskutere fundene fra disse interview med interessenter i de 6 involverede deltagerlande. På den måde ville vi i projektet afdække specifikke årsager til usikkerhed og foreslå praktiske politikker for at afhjælpe dem.]

The project aims to:

1. document the specific forms of precarity experienced by posted workers in the European Union, resulting from their movement between national systems;
2. map the structure of the posted worker labour market, by finding out the factors segmenting it into more and less precarious segments;
3. identify specific rules that might be changed, or practices enacted to better protect posted workers and reduce labour market segmentation; and
4. disseminate these findings and proposed solutions, through direct interactions with social actors, via a transnational workshop, conference, consortium team meetings and published policy documents.