Casual Work beyond Casual Work in the EU

Abstract

Casual work is rarely associated with industrialised economies. Nonetheless, several work arrangements have been introduced or are proliferating in EU countries in recent years that present with the features of the statutory definitions of casual work in other countries and may be accompanied by severe decent work deficits. This article proposes a renewed concept of casual work based on a combination of criteria found in social sciences and in the legislation of non-EU countries, in particular, developing ones. It provides a summary of the international and European legal sources mentioning casual work, almost invariably to allow exclusion from national implementation instruments; and an extensive overview of national legal definition and regulation of casual work in developed and developing countries. Despite this overview revealing that casual workers are totally or partially excluded from labour protection in many instances, several national regulations address some particular features of casual work, for instance by providing specific criteria of calculation of continuity of employment or compensation in case of cancellation of work. This article then calls for action at the EU and national levels to address the specific protection needs of causal workers and to revise provisions allowing their exclusions from labour regulation.