Precarious Work, French intermediary report Cathel Kornig, Valeria Insarauto, Nathalie Louit-Martinod, Philippe Méhaut Lest – AMU - CNRS.

Precarious Work, French intermediary report

Cathel Kornig, Valeria Insarauto, Nathalie Louit-Martinod, Philippe Méhaut

Lest – AMU - CNRS

Standard Employment / Open-ended Contract

The SER/OEC (1)

• Inherited from the 30 glorious: stability, seniority, full time, high level of social protection (based on employer’s and worker’s social contribution)

• Legal model (1982) of the open ended contract as the reference in the labour law for all other contracts (which partly derogate) ; and links with the model of civil servants (very important in the 30 glorious and later, and still more than 3 millions).

• Still a reference for some unions (our interviews) and an aspiration in the crisis (job stability)

The SER/OEC (2)

• All classical rights within the labour law and the three levels of collective agreements (90% coverage)

• The minimum wage (for all types of contracts), “political regulation”

• High level of EPL, Regulation by labour inspectorate + labour court,

The SER/OEC Eroding ? (1)

• Structural gaps : Big firms/SME’s and very small firms (lower advantages, representation)

• Structural gaps : Growing share of service sector, changes in employers behaviors

• Increase of part time, of fixed term and TAW, self employed, 1/3 not civil servants in the public sector, however OEC still the bulk

• New possibilities of opt-out clauses.• High debates about a “unified” labour contract

The SER/OEC eroding ? (2)

• OEC could be very short : 36% of new OEC broken before 1 year

• Old workers (under OEC) fired, leading to unemployment in the crisis

• However, new additional social protection (health) rights (for all contracts), introducing OEC in the public sector, extended and portable training rights

• Cannot speak of a global deregulation ?

An other approach ? core : OEC + part-time (v)+ Civil servant+ TAW (v) + self employedSkilled, unions,

Churning, short fix/taw, posted,

subsidizedLow skills

Unemployment

Transitional, long fixed term + TAW + part-time (unv) +

some self employed

Part Time

Part time (1)

• Increasing (16%), hard gender effect (30%), rather low skills, more young and old workers.

• Again sectoral and size effects (retail, care, public sector)

• 60% voluntary, depending of the contract and the transitions (higher share of involuntary among former unemployed, linked to workfare policies)

• Longer working hours that in most countries • 80% of part timers under OEC

Part time (2)

• Most of the SER/OEC regulations apply to part time• Equal treatment and proportionality rules• Recent new regulation with “compulsory” 24h/week

as a minimum (however, as usual in France with a lot of derogations). Some collective agreements with priority for part timers to move to full time

• Part time important within subsidized jobs and within job seekers without unemployment benefits looking for full time positions

Part time (3)

• Probably representation and enforcement gaps• Obviously wage (monthly or yearly) gaps,

however unclear for hourly wages everything equals… 10% ?

• Gaps in the access to training and in careers• Gaps in the social protection (unemployment

benefits), minus in retirements (150 hours in 3 months give you a full time trimester)

Part time (4)

• Why include part time in precarious work ? Probably yes for involuntary, not for most of the part-timers

• Subjective versus objective answers to voluntary/involuntary dealing also with the societal regime of part time

• Precariousness of part timers not necessarily linked to work position (family situation, health…)

• However, clearly precarious positions for involuntary low skilled, single women, subsidized job

Fixed term contracts (FTC) and Temporary agency work (TAW)

FTC and TAW (1) • Numerous types of contracts, increasing (10% of the

total labour force)• 84,2 % of workers hired on FTC (including TAW) in

2014 despite the cost (more expansive than SER for TAW) Changes in emplyer’s behaviours, using loopholes

• A “churning” effect : more and more very short FTC, a revolving door with unemployment

• Young people are the most touched by FTC • Women are less represented in TAW and more in FTC• TAW concentrated in some branches of

manufacturing sectors• FTC and TAW : sensitive to economic fluctuations

FTC and TAW (2)

• Strictly regulated by the law, however a lot of derogation (enforcement gaps)

• Temporary employment as stepping-stone ? Analyses using more and more longitudinal data : trapped or not in “precarious work” ?– in the school to work transition ? • Young people transition FTC to SER stable

– In SER for other people ?• TAW : with crisis, that’s less and less the case (2000-2014)

FTC and TAW (3)

• Almost the same rights as SER but …• The principle of equal treatment … but in fact TAW are

less paid … FTC are penalized in access to training…gaps• A lot of social protection are created for temps… but

seniority conditions prevents real access to this rights• The same rights to unionization and representation for

FTC and TAW but a fear of losing their job (representation and enforcement gaps)

• TAW less and less aware of their rights because of the dematerialisation of relationship (they go less frequently in the agency)

FTC and TAW (4)

• Furthermore, a lot of controversies : TAW or fixed-term contract not necessarily precarious– Professional temps– For certain sectors (entertainment sector e.g.)

• A new open-ended contract for temps since 2014

• French (not the only one) debate about precariousness : social class or conditions of work/employment ?

Self employed (and bogus)

Self employed (and bogus) (1)

• Why ?• Self employment is increasing in the recent period.

It is not marginal (13% of the work force)• It is a black hole of the employment.• The margins between self employment, dependent

employment, mix of the two are more and more blurred. An new employment relationship ?

• Self employment is not the graal, however expanding in new “fashion” activities

Self employed (and bogus) (2)

• A divide between “classical self employment” (independent retailers, crafts, professionals) and new areas (high tech, sports, “autoentrepreneurs”)

• Strong public incentives to self employment (less now)

• A kind of new part time activity (complementary/supplementary to wage earner job) and/or (bogus) a way for employers to escape from the SER (Building industry, transports, entertainment, sports….

Self employed (and bogus) (3)

• Out of the labor law, however with some compulsory social protection regulations, gaps in social protection

• Could be reintegrated in the labour law if subordination relationship is proved (numerous cases at the labour court)

• Gaps in resources (more poor self employed than in average)

• Representation gaps ? Not so clear, out of unions, however some strong professional's and collective’ associations with voice power (nurses)

Self employed (and bogus) (4)

• Gaps in social protection and working conditions : more working hours, less social protection, bad health conditions and work injuries

• The new “autoentrepreneur” status, on the one hand an opportunity for wage earners to get additional activity and resources, on the other hand a kind of bogus self employment, close to the new “Uber” activity.