Market volatility and uncertainty have put welfare and social security policies back centre stage and point up the need for closer links with employment policy. The inability of existing income support systems to respond to the increasing fragmentation of people's working careers, the needs of people in difficulty, and the spread of various forms of poverty calls for well-coordinated and efficient responses. This volume highlights the best practices in the various regions of the world in the contexts of international and EU labour law, industrial relations, and social security. Authoritative reports by leading scholars of labour law and social security – originally presented at the twenty-second World Congress of the International Society for Labour and Social Security Law (ISLSSL) held in Turin in September 2018 – cover the following research themes in depth: – informal workers; – migrant workers; – global trade and labour; – organization, productivity, and well-being at work; – transnational collective agreements; – new forms of social security; and – the role of the State and industrial relations. In its insistence that, despite the radical changes in the world of work and business brought about by globalization and digital technologies, the decisions of institutions and public and private actors can lead to a more coherent system of international economic and social governance, this timely volume shows the way forward. Practitioners, policymakers, and scholars in the relevant fields will bene_ t immeasurably from its expert analyses and recommendations.

It cannot be denied that in recent decades, for many if not most people, work has become unstable and insecure, with serious risk and few benefits for workers. As this reality spills over into political and social life, it is crucial to interrogate the transformations affecting employment relations, shape research agendas, and influence the policies of national and international institutions. This single volume brings together thirty-nine scholars (both academics and experienced industrial relations actors) in the fields of employment relations and labour law in a forthright discussion of new approaches, theories, and methods aimed at ameliorating the world of work. Focusing on why and how work is changing, how collective actors deal with it, and the future of work from different disciplinary angles and at an international level, the contributors describe and analyse such issues and topics as the following: new forms of social protection and representation; differences in the power relations of workers and political dynamics; balancing protection of workers’ dignity and promotion of productivity; intersection of information technology and workplace regulation; how the gig economy undermines legal protections; role of professional and trade associations; workplace conflict management; lay judges in labour courts; undeclared work in the informal sector of the labour market; work incapacity and disability; (in)coherence of the work-related case law of the European Court of Justice; and business restructurings. Derived from a major conference held in Leuven in September 2018, the book offers an in-depth understanding of the changing world of work, its main transformations, and the challenges posed to classical employment relations theories and methods as well as to labour law. With its wide range of insights, analysis, and reflection, this unique contribution to the study of industrial relations offers an authoritative reference guide to scholars, policymakers, trade unions and business associations, human resources professionals, and practitioners who need to deal with the future of work challenges.

In this book, leading international thinkers take up the demanding challenge to rethink our understanding of social justice at work and our means for achieving it – at a time when global forces are tearing the familiar fabric of our working lives and the laws regulating them. When fabric is torn we can see deeply into it, understand its structural weaknesses, and imagine alterations in the name of resilience and sustainability. Seizing that opportunity, the authoritative commentators examine the lessons revealed by the pandemic and other global shocks for our ideas about justice at work, and how to advance that cause in the world as we now find it. The chapters deliver critical re-assessments of our goals, explore our new challenges, and creatively re-imagine trajectories for progress on two global fronts - via international institutions and by a myriad of other transnational techniques. These forward-looking essays are in honour of Francis Maupain, whose international career and scholarly writing are inspiring models for those who, in a changing world, seize opportunities for creativity in the pursuit of global justice at work.

Platform work – the matching of the supply of and demand for paid labour through an online platform – often depends on workers who operate in a “grey area” between the archetype of an employee and a self-employed worker. This important book explores the utility of the International Labour Organization’s existing standards in governing this phenomenon. It indicates that despite their relevance, many standards have little or no impact. The standards apply to the issue but they fail to connect with it. The author shows how three ILO conventions – the Home Work Convention, 1996 (No. 177), the Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181), and the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189) – can be revitalised to have an impact on the platform work debate. In the course of the analysis he responds in depth to such questions as the following: What are digital labour platforms? What does decent work mean? Did the ILO centenary fundamentally change anything? What is the link between private employment services and platform work? How do crowdworkers relate to homeworkers and teleworkers? Are platform workers engaged in domestic work? What form could a future ILO standard on platform work take? Given that the ILO plans to start discussions on a potential future standard for platform work in 2022, this book will prove very useful in highlighting the issues and standards that such discussions should consider. Research has shown that the techniques and tools of the platform economy have spread far beyond gig work, resulting in widespread “gigification” and restructuring of workplace behaviours and relationships, jobs, and communities across the world. For this and other reasons, including the book’s detailed analysis of issues not addressed elsewhere, labour lawyers, in-house counsel, researchers, and policymakers will gain valuable insight into what decent work in the platform economy would require, thus greatly broadening the discussion on this difficult-to-regulate phenomenon.

The state subsidies and philanthropy that traditionally allowed orchestras to flourish have greatly diminished in the wake of recent financial crises and the COVID-19 pandemic. As in other fields affected by the precarious labor arrangements prevalent in the world of work today, it is the employees and freelancers—in this case, the musicians themselves—who suffer most. In this deeply knowledgeable and provocative book, a highly acclaimed scholar who combines the roles of law professor, music journalist, and orchestral violinist presents the first major legal study to focus on labor relations and the institutional dynamics at play within orchestras. Drawing on personal interviews with more than 250 orchestral musicians and other stakeholders—whose testimonies and actions often stand in contradiction to narratives provided by cultural economists and government cultural policymakers—the author uncovers the deteriorating welfare of musicians in two countries, the United States and the Netherlands, in which she has considerable practical orchestral experience. The methodology will reverberate with great intensity to musicians worldwide with its novel system of “movements” that focus on different vulnerabilities besetting orchestral players to highlight such issues and topics as: orchestra financing, with a special focus on the nonprofit sector and the changing nature of state subsidies in Europe; the impact of the perception of orchestras as “elitist” and of limited social value; discriminatory practices in auditions and hiring; legal and practical relevance of contemporary questions of employee categorization (regularly employed; self-employed; false self-employed); and how fair practice codes and collective bargaining agreements can be designed, implemented, and enforced. An interdisciplinary approach to a multiplicity of vulnerabilities in the sector, the study incorporates economic, historical and legal research along with a consideration of sociological factors. Case studies—from the EU Court of Justice, the Dutch Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of the United States, and the U.S. National Labor Relations Board—offer practical insight into specific legal issues, including the fundamental question of how musician employees are differentiated from freelancers. Reflecting on the cutbacks and compromises that traumatize orchestral negotiations in today’s musical world, the book not only provides orchestral musicians with a wealth of useful information and suggestions for future action but also adds to the growing body of legal literature on the self-limitations of labor law and the increasing vulnerability of workers. Practitioners in labor and employment law as well as academics in the field will benefit from a powerful analysis of workers’ vulnerabilities in today’s labor market.

In-work poverty is a reality for too many persons in the European Union (EU). Although everyone is in agreement that poverty must be reduced, rarely is there a specific focus on the plight of those who, despite working, are poor. This important book is the first to unreservedly meet the challenge of defining, measuring, and comparing the legal regimes to combat in-work poverty in Europe, fully attending to the strengths and shortcomings of indicators and allowing the assessment of comparative best practices among the Member States. The distinguished contributors each describe and analyse this complex and multidimensional phenomenon, with its manifold and intertwined causes, in relation to such factors as the following: employment-related factors (wage, type of contract, atypical employment); worker’s socio-demographic characteristics (level of education, gender, age, country of birth); size and composition of household; household work intensity; and institutional factors (childcare, flexible work arrangements, employment protection, housing, technological change). In a major innovation, the book’s methodology approaches the ‘working poor’ by distinctly defining four groups of vulnerable and under-represented persons (VUPs) with detailed statistical information on in-work poverty in each group. Following an in-depth introduction focusing on the definition and ramifications of the concept of in-work poverty – including a discussion of legal scholarship and relevant EU instruments – the situations in seven EU Member States (Belgium, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden) are compared, revealing important variations. For each of the VUP groups, these chapters explain their composition at the national level and assess the impact of regulation on the incidence of in-work poverty. The last chapter highlights differences and similarities in an attempt to find patterns and identify common regulatory problems and best practices. The book’s comparative perspective greatly assists in understanding in-work poverty determinants, appraising varieties of relevant national policies, and stimulating the development of effective legal measures. With its close analysis of the limitations of existing measurement indicators, the book sheds light on the role of regulation in the prevalence and persistence of the phenomenon and equips policymakers at the EU and national levels with targeted tools to tackle this severe social problem.

Since Anu Bradford's groundbreaking book on the Brussels Effect there is a vastly evolving literature on the EU as a global regulatory actor as well as the global reach of EU law. This edited collection connects to this debate. Yet, it shifts the focus from the currently predominant public law focus to investigating European and EU private law and to connecting to literature and research on transnational law. To that end, it proceeds first conceptually by introducing and giving shape to the notion of a “European Transnational Private Law” through four conceptual contributions by the editors. Secondly, it focuses on several sectors (finance, taxation, investment, consumer law, labour law) and topics (climate litigation, global value chains, non-discrimination) to trace sector-specifically the role of EU private law in relation to transnational legal ordering.