Life Cycle Arrangements and the Concept of Employment

Abstract

Discussions about life cycle arrangements tend to focus on issues of policy and of social security, more than on questions of regulation and employment law. The way in which life cycle policies can be laid down, formalized into legal rules and integrated into labour law should not, however, be considered as merely a ‘technical’ matter to be solved afterwards. On the contrary, the question may be raised as to what extent current legal concepts are (in)adequate to such arrangements. Are we deemed to mould arrangements in the forms of ‘subjective rights’ or ‘private financial savings’? Is the ‘property of one's labour capacity’ still an adequate conceptual basis for transactions between employers and employees?

After a brief account of what may be seen as ‘life cycle’ arrangements in the past, I turn to an analysis of the employment contract as an exclusionary device. Employment contracts, which currently regulate the time frame and the types of work carried out, may have to be extended to provide for adequate arrangements. In light of this, I review proposals made by Supiot (‘social drawing rights’) and Schmid (‘opportunity structures’ compensating for ‘social risks’) and argue that a revision of the property concept in relation to labour may be required.