The European Parliament has called for the expansion in precarious jobs to be tackled. For the first time, it defines these jobs in clear terms at a European level as part of an own-initiative report submitted by Neoklis Sylikiotis (GUE/NGL, Cyprus). It was adopted during the plenary session by a comfortable majority (504 votes for, 111 against, 59 abstentions) on Tuesday 4 July in Strasbourg.
On this occasion, the rapporteur declared that, “the apparent current increase in unemployment rates is only managing to conceal increasing forms of precarious employment”. In this regard, he mentioned “zero hour contracts”, the use of the “false self-employed” statuses and the involuntary imposition of part-time work. He explained that the aim of this report was to guarantee “decent” work. The shadow rapporteur, Claude Rolin (EPP, Belgium) welcomed the fact that the report was making progress “for the first time at European level” with a clear definition of precarious jobs.
The text introduces a clear distinction between “atypical” and “precarious” employment. The MEP stresses that these terms should never be synonymous. For the former, the definition by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) is included in the text. Therefore, work that is so-called “atypical” does not comply with the standard traditional work model, namely, full-time, regular and permanent with a single employer over a long period of time.
So-called “precarious” employment defines work that does not respect standards in the Union or at international and national levels and which do not provide sufficient resources for allowing workers to live decently. MEPs, however, point out that atypical work can present a high-level of precariousness and instability.
In this context, MEPs again reject zero hour contracts, just as they did at the beginning of the year (see EUROPE 11707). They also denounce the use of “false self employed” or part-time work that is imposed. In this regard, they call on the member state and Commission to adopt legislation in order to accurately monitor new forms of employment, particularly those relating to the collaborative and digital economy.
Some of the provisions voted in the employment and social affairs committee (EMPL) were not supported during the plenary session. The article mentioning the introduction of anti-cyclical economic policies for underpinning workers’ purchasing power was rejected. Parliament is therefore opposed to the possibility of introducing policies for economic recovery. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)