Adapting labour law and social security to the needs of the new self-employed: Comparing European countries and initiatives at EU level

Karin Schulze Buschoff and Claudia Schmidt

Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Labor Market Policy and Employment from WZB Berlin Social Science Center

Abstract: The emergence of 'new self-employment' presents a challenge to political actors both in the individual European countries and at the EU level. The new selfemployed are exposed to the same social risks as dependent employees, but they generally enjoy fewer social and labour rights. How are social policymakers reacting to this situation? Our response to the question is structured as follows: First, comparing the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, we briefly describe the structure of new selfemployment. Second, we outline the initiatives carried out at EU level to adjust legislation in an endeavour to accommodate new self-employment and those types of work that are found at the boundary between dependent employment and self-employment. Third, we delineate the ways in which these types of work are considered under national labour legislation and the extent to which they are taken into account by statutory social security systems.

Date: 2007
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