The EU social pillar

AuthorPaul Schoukens,Saskia Montebovi,Alberto Barrio
DOI10.1177/1388262718798393
Date01 September 2018
Published date01 September 2018
Subject MatterArticles
Article
The EU social pillar:
An answer to the challenge
of the social protection
of platform workers?
Paul Schoukens*
KU Leuven Belgium and Tilburg University, Tilburg, the Netherlands
Alberto Barrio
Tilburg University, Tilburg, the Netherlands
Saskia Montebovi
Tilburg University, Tilburg, the Netherlands
Abstract
With atypical work gaining popularity, platform work seems to combine all the elements which, by
deviating significantly from the standard employment relationship, challenge social security sys-
tems. After an overview of the features of the standard employment relationship and the different
ways in which non-standard forms of work diverge from them, the article focuses on the nature of
platform work. It then analyses how platform work is regulated in five European social security
systems (i.e. Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Belgium), and how this
regulation may fare when analysed under the lens of the recent European Commission’s proposal
for a Council Recommendation on access to social protection for workers and the self-employed.
The article concludes by highlighting the need for further adaptation of social security systems to
the specific features of platform work, and by noting the risks of a regulatory approach towards
*This article is based on comparative research into atypical work and social security that is currently being conducted at the
Tilburg University in the Netherlands as part of the project ‘Grenzen aan atypische arbeid: flexwerk en zelfstandige arbeid
getoetst aan Europese beginselen van het socialezekerheidsrecht’ [Limits to atypical work: flexwork and self-employment
assessed with regard to European social security law principles], running until Mid-2020, financed by the InstituutGak. An
earlier version of some parts of this article was presented at the conference ‘The Platform Economy – Legal Status of Online
Intermediaries’ at KU Leuven on 19 February 2018.
Corresponding author:
Paul Schoukens, KU Leuven Belgium and Tilburg University, Tilburg, the Netherlands.
Email: paul.schoukens@kuleuven.be
European Journal of Social Security
219–241
ªThe Author(s) 2018
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/1388262718798393
journals.sagepub.com/home/ejs
EJSS
EJSS
this new form of work being dominated by the exclusion of low-paid work from the scope of
labour-related social insurance schemes.
Keywords
platform work, non-standard work, atypical work, marginal work, social insurance, European Pillar
of Social Rights
Introduction
Once again, atypical work is increasing in popularity, due in part to an ever more flexible labour
market. Self-employment and part-time work are on the rise.
1
‘Newer’ forms of atypical work
2
are
also appearing in the ever-growing platform ec onomy, such as app-based work, crowd work,
portfolio work, unpaid forms of work (within the phenomenon of the ‘sharing economy’
3
)or
activities that are not done in accordance with a fixed work pattern but still generate regular
income (such as those performed by some owner-manager or by micro-enterprises).
When designing work-related social security schemes, systems were traditionally based on the
employee’s typical ‘default’ situation.
4
However, if the work is organised in an atypical form, legal
problems arise in the application of social security law. In this contribution, we look at the social
protection situation of platform workers, a fast-growing new group of atypical workers. We
examine how existing systems deal with the insertion of this group in the social security systems
in place, what challenges this new group of atypical workers creates for traditional social security,
and whether the applied solutions are in line with the European social pillar that sets standards for
the social protection of atypical forms of work. The appearance of platform work is nascent and its
expanding use, like the broader phenomenon of the gig-economy
5
, is challenging traditional
economies in our global world. For social security purposes, the group is of particular interest,
as platform work is organised in an extremely flexible manner, combining most of the character-
istics of untraditional work due to its autonomous character (i.e. workers may work for several
commissioners through one or more platforms and decide when to perform work),
6
irregular time
patterns and fixed work terms. Moreover, as some of the platform work generates low income, it
challenges the basic idea of an income guarantee that is often attributed to social insurance, and it
may even jeopardise the financial sustainability of social security systems that are largely built on
contribution flows from stable, full-time work. This article, however, will not deal with all of these
enumerated challenges. The focus is on how social security is designed for platform workers,
whether it is adapted to their specific working circumstances, and whether all that is being put in
place remains in line with the EU’s aspirations of decent access to social protection as proclaimed
by the European social pillar.
1. International Labour Office, Non-standard employment around the world: Understanding challenges, shaping pros-
pects, Geneva: ILO, 2016.
2. Eurofound, New Forms of Employment, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2015.
3. The ‘sharing economy’ (also referred as ‘collaborative economy’) may be understood as encompassing the activity of
sharing the access to goods, services or knowledge, see Hamari, Sjo¨ klint and Ukkonen (2016).
4. For an (historical) overview regarding this see Vleminckx and Berghman. (2003).
5. Huws, U. (2017) Work in the European Gig Economy, Brussels: FEPS
6. This autonomy may, however, be questioned, as it is heavily dependent on demand, see Barrio and Zekic (2017: 21f).
220 European Journal of Social Security 20(3)

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT