Conditions of Work and Employment Series No. 65

Re-regulating for inclusive labour markets

There is growing international evidence that current employment regulation is not providing adequate and inclusive protection due to the exclusion of those engaged in care work and the growth of nonstandard contracts, informal employment and more complex employment relationships spanning organisational boundaries. As a consequence not only are mainstream economists calling for employment deregulation but other commentators
suggest that the standard employment relationship and associated regulation only favours insiders and that more attention should be paid to providing universal social protection not dependent on employment status. This paper argues for a different approach which combines more universal social protection with increased obligations on employers to extend and promote employment protection across a wider variety of employment statuses.