Precarious work

A “precarious employment” or a “precarious work” indicates a Emploi which present not enough guarantees to in the near future obtain or preserve a “acceptable” Standard of living, and which generates a deep feeling of uncertainty on the future, a feeling of Précarité. One speaks sometimes about “halation of precariousness”.

Very weak incomes or short contracts on a strongly affected Job market by unemployment are the independent sources of precarious work.

For an active , the situations of precarious work can have various origins, in particular:

  • of the uses with limited duration in Branches of activity or Profession S where the Unemployment rate is high;
  • the absence of Insurance unemployment;
  • a work insufficiently remunerated to live in acceptable Living conditions;
  • of employment with consequent clauses of mobility geographical,
  • of employment in a company in financial problems one within a sector in technological mutation, where the probability of a Licenciement “for economic reasons” is high;
  • a State weak incompetent to protect an employee from a non-observance of sound Work contract or Moonlighting;

The consequences of precarious work can go beyond the risk of a situation degraded in the near future. For example, a bank will more easily refuse a loan with a precarious worker, who will have difficulitées to provide guarantees.

In France

Description

In France, the most widespread work contract is the permanent contract (TDCI); the recourse to the other types of contract must be the subject of justifications explaining their need.

Because of their weak duration, these limited time contracts, like the limited time contract (CDD) or the Interim, do not offer the same job security as a TDCI. However, a TDCI is not a rampart against precariousness. Thus, a person who connects employment at limited duration (as the craftsmen) in a sector where there is little unemployment (like tourism or the building) is in situation less precarious than a civil servant which can be moved with the other end of France without it not being able to it to be opposed.

It is thus important to make the difference between continuity of employment and the guarantee that a situation does not worsen. In France, the term of “insecure contract” is used by the Wage earners associations which intend to make a parallel between the contracts unguaranteed in the duration by the employer and precariousness. The analogy implies a notable difficulty to find another employment and an insurance unemployment not covering sufficiently this risk.

Definition and measurement

Taken as a whole, the Limited time contract, the Interim, the helped training courses and contracts (SCA) represent in March 2000 more than one employee job out of ten. However, their increasing widths concern more and more people ((CDD: + 60% between 1990 and 2000, Interim: + 130%, training courses and contracts helped: + 65%).

In 2003, for the people entered depus little of time on the labor market, i.e. primarily the young people, the share of the precarious employment is approximately 18% for the men, and 12% for the women.

In 2005, the whole of the precarious employment accounted for 23% of total employment and 21% of the Active population.

According to INSEE, “precariousness does not answer a univocal definition and its appreciation raises theoretical and methodological difficulties”. “Two dimensions of precariousness can be distinguished on the one hand precariousness from employment is characterized by the contractual relation and its more or less great stability; in addition the precariousness of the work which returns to the way in which the individual represents his report/ratio with employment (work conditions, possibility of promotion, appreciation of work environment, etc) and the job security. ”

If the employees in TDCI can be laid off, they will touch dismissal indemnities and Allocations unemployment (if their duration of contribution were higher than the minimum duration). On the other hand, for a “precarious worker” in CDD, the fear of a dismissal before the end of the contract is weak (the dismissal indemnities are then very high), and the worker profits from a “Prime of precariousness”, however principal fear not to find another employment immediately can be difficult to live.

The precarious workers have more difficulties in obtain loans near the finance companies. They have also more evil to reach formations.

Other factors

Other factors call into question the continuity of employment, including within the framework of permanent contracts, and can involve a feeling of precariousness:

  • the economic bad health of its company,
  • the risk of decisions of the employer whom can involve closings of site, displacement of workshop…
  • the situations little protected like those from the free lances or the persons in charge of small companies whose income is directly related to the risks of the request of their customers,
  • the changes of objectives of the employer without questioning of continuity of employment, it is then the nature of the employment which is precarious (case of the civils servant subjected to the political risks),
  • the instability of the places of employment (personal not occupants of stations).

Following the example wages, the precarisation of employment can constitute a variable of adjustment of the economy. For this reason, the Travailleur S little qualified can be the most touched by precariousness. With more small scales, the employers have recourse to the insecure contracts for:

  • to accompany the economic fluctuations, by deferring the risks of the request on the employees, while avoiding the strong constraints related to the dismissal of paid under Permanent contract;
  • to avoid reaching a manpower of paid in permanent contract, situation which can bring an increase in the applicable lawful requirements, or exceeding statutory quotas of employment;
  • various other reasons as the substitution of the periods of vacation by layoffs (case of certain airline companies which used hostesses in CDD renewed a few weeks after their interruption).

Other countries

With the Canada, approximately 11% of the employees have a “nonconventional or temporary” employment.

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