Since 2007 and the economic meltdown caused by the financial crisis, our societies have been evolving in different ways. New political movements have emerged in Southern Europe and new social movements in pursuit of common concerns are playing a more active role in our daily lives. In a parallel way, after the failure to predict the financial crisis, economist and social science researchers seek fresh thinking and new models that can better explain this new reality. Regulations are of critical importance in shaping the welfare of economies and society. Thus, core legal disciplines are exploring the effects of the financial crisis on social rights, labour market regulations, and civil, common law or international law, among others. With no doubt, the economic crisis has deeply impacted our economic, social, political and legal environment. During the last decade, researchers from a wide range of disciplines have been looking for solutions. Now it is time make a side stop on the way and to gather results. The 1rst International SBRLab Conference, Finding solutions for a post-crisis society, is organized by the Social and Business Research Lab (SBRLab), Universitat Rovira i Virgili. It is as an international and virtual meeting point of interdisciplinary research and researchers. The purpose of this international conference is to bring together researchers from management, economics, political, social and legal disciplines in order to present and discuss new trends in their respective fields.

The book reflects on constitutional balancing from the perspective of fundamental labour rights. It draws on neo-constitutional theories and builds on the assumption that fundamental labour rights, understood as rights aimed at protecting workers during their working life or after retirement, are the normative expression of founding values and can be balanced against equally axiological constitutional principles. The balancing of constitutional labour rights can be conducted by various institutional actors and by applying different techniques. This volume reviews the theoretical debates on judicial balancing and the approaches adopted by the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights, to proceed with a closer assessment of Italian and Spanish judicial traditions. In particular, it addresses the main profiles of the case law of the Italian and Spanish Constitutional Courts on labour and social law reforms adopted in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis, where balancing takes place between labour rights and economic principles. The analysis is focused on four main aspects: the fundamental labour rights in the balance; the role of the Courts; the technique applied by the Judges; and the constitutional interests subject to the balancing. It ultimately reveals that the axiological nature of fundamental labour rights is preserved and the economic and financial contingencies confirm their factual character, although they are occasionally recognised a prominent role in the ratio decidendi. The book will be a valuable resource for academics and researchers working in the areas of labour law, social security law, legal theory and constitutional law.

This discerning book provides a wide-ranging comparative analysis of the legal and social policy challenges posed by the spread of different forms of precarious work in Europe, with various social models in force and a growing ‘gig economy’ workforce. It not only considers the theoretical foundations of the concept of precarious work, but also offers invaluable insight into the potential methods of addressing this phenomenon through labour regulation and case law at EU and national level.