Atypical Employment: General Characteristic of Legal Regulation in EU Countries

The article is dedicated to the general characteristics of legal regulation of atypical employment in the EU at international and national levels. Legislation in Europe and the regulations of the International Labor Organization concerning non-standard employment have been analyzed. The article begins with an explanation of what is meant by non-standard and standard employment, and a consideration of the overlaps and differences with other concepts used to explain types of work, such as informality and precariousness. It then provides a definition of each of the different forms of atypical employment, both in law and in practice. Precarious work is a concept that does not have a universally accepted definition across Europe. According to the International Labor Organization, in the most general sense, precarious work is a means for employers to shift risks and responsibilities onto workers. It is work performed in the formal and informal economy, and is characterized by variable levels and degrees of objective (legal status) and subjective (feeling) characteristics of uncertainty and insecurity. The article discusses four non-standard employment: (1) temporary employment (fixed-term contracts, including project- or task-based contracts; seasonal work; casual work, including daily work); (2) part-time and on-call work (normal working hours fewer than full-time equivalents; marginal part-time employment; on-call work, including zero-hours contracts); (3) multi-party employment relationship (also known as “dispatch”, “brokerage” and “labor hire”; temporary agency work; subcontracted labor); (4) disguised employment/ dependent self-employment (disguised employment, dependent self-employment, sham or misclassified self-employment). The article analyzes the main conventions of the International Labor Organization that regulate labor relations in atypical employment