Relied upon for the heavy lifting: can employment protection legislation reforms lead the EU out of the jobs crisis?

Abstract

This article examines the current drive within the European Union to weaken employment protection legislation. It subjects the case for reform to critical scrutiny and argues that labour market deregulation and the erosion of employment and social protections are reducing workers' security while failing to stimulate economic recovery.

Quality of employment and employment protection. Effects of employment protection on temporary and permanent employment

“…Despite the generalization of these reforms, there is no unambiguous empirical evidence on the impact of these measures on employment and unemployment rates (Bertola, 2017;Boeri, et al, 2015;Heyes and Lewis, 2015;OECD, 2018). For Blanchard and Wolfers (2000), the implementation of measures increasing employment protection in the late seventies led to the rise in the structural unemployment in European economies.…”

“…However, many studies conclude that a high employment protection has no negative impact on unemployment (Adams et al, 2019;Avdagic, 2015;Avdagic and Salardi, 2013;Bertola, 2017;Boeri et al, 2015;Flaschel et al, 2012;Heyes and Lewis, 2015;Myant and Brandhuber, 2013). Consequently, labour market reforms implemented since the 1980s have not contributed to reducing high unemployment rates.…”

The changing face of youth employment in Europe

“…8 Clearly the larger countries have more of an impact on changes in absolute numbers for a proportionally smaller change in employment compared to smaller countries. 9 The level of employment protections afforded temporary workers, and the gap between this and the protections afforded permanent workers, differs across European states and over time, see Heyes and Lewis (2015) for a discussion of trends in these protections. Such differences may affect worker perceptions of temporary work but is beyond the scope of this paper.…”

Austerity stabilised through European funds: the impact on Slovenian welfare administration and provision

“…This move also entailed a multilevel, multidimensional and multistakeholder coordination, which poses significant challenges to administration and provision of welfare as it requires new capacities in the form of sufficient financial and staff resources, differentiated and flexible procedures and new professional norms (Heidenreich and Rice, ). These pressures and challenges have further intensified after the global economic crisis that contributed to even stricter economic and budgetary surveillance and fiscal discipline of member states, accompanied by even tighter workfarist social policy prescriptions supported by European funds (Erne, ; Heyes, ; Heyes and Lewis, ).…”