Subordinate, Autonomous and Economically Dependent Work: A Comparative Analysis of Selected European Countries

The issue of who is or is not in an employment relationship has become problematic in recent decades as a result of major changes in work organization as well as in the adequacy of legal regulation in adapting to such changes. In different parts of the world, there are increasing difficulties with establishing whether or not an employment relationship exists in situations where the respective rights and obligations of the parties concerned are not clear, where there has been an attempt to disguise the employment relationship, or where inadequacies or gaps exist in legal frameworks or in their interpretation or application. Vulnerable workers tend to suffer most in these situations. At the same time, social partners and labour administrators emphasize that globalization has increased the need for protection, in particular against the circumvention of national labour legislation by contractual and/or other legal arrangements. Accordingly, the employment relationship is coming under more and more scrutiny not only from labour lawyers, but also from workers, employers and the judiciary. Changes in the world of work are continuing to modify the 'traditional employment relationship'. These changes are altering both labour legislation and affecting the ways labour law is implemented. This book presents the complex relation of labour legislation to the employment relationship, reporting on the many terms, notions, definitions.