The tale of transparent and predictable working conditions intertwined with work-life balance: Assessing the impact of the new social policy directives on decent working conditions and social protection
| Published date | 01 December 2020 |
| Author | Bartłomiej Bednarowicz |
| Date | 01 December 2020 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1388262720968575 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
The tale of transparent
and predictable working
conditions intertwined
with work-life balance:
Assessing the impact of the
new social policy directives
on decent working conditions
and social protection
Bartłomiej Bednarowicz
University of Antwerp, Antwerpen, Belgium
Abstract
Precarious employment is often associated with job insecurity and limited corollary entitlements
to income support. More specifically, what makes the jobs precarious are factors such as in-work
poverty and low pay, insufficient labour law and social security protection, high levels of stress and
health problems, limited career development and training options or low levels of collective rights.
Precarious workers engaged in atypical forms of employment such as casual work, zero-hours
contracts or platform-mediated work are particularly prone to experiencing precarious working
conditions and often consequently, in-work poverty and thus social exclusion. A question
therefore emerges as to the adequate response at EU level to combat precarious employment and
provide for decent jobs with fair working conditions including protection against discrimination
and also access to adequate social protection. Against this background, this article takes stock of
the two first legally binding roll-out initiatives from the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR),
namely Directive (EU) 2019/1152 on transparent and predictable working conditions in the Eur-
opean Union and Directive (EU) 2019/1158 on work-life balance for parents and carers, to assess
their impact on decent working and employment conditions, and social protection, while also
exploring in greater detail their coverage and potential limitations.
Corresponding author:
Bartłomiej Bednarowicz, University of Antwerp, Prinsstraat 13, 2000 Antwerpen, Belgium.
E-mail: bartlomiej.bednarowicz@uantwerpen.be
European Journal of Social Security
2020, Vol. 22(4) 421–433
ªThe Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/1388262720968575
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