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Expertviewsonthemanifesta2onsofprecariousemploymentinFlanders

KimBosmans*,StefanHardonk,NeleDeCuyper,FredLouckx&ChristopheVanroelen

*Correspondingauthor

E-mail:Kim.Bosmans@vub.ac.be

Phone:+3226148138

InterfaceDemographyWorkingPaper 2016-3

InterfaceDemography, Vr i je Univers i te i t Brussel , P le in laan5, B-1050Brussel , Belg iumTel . ++32/(0)2/6148150 – Fax ++32/(0)2/6148135 Website: http://www.vub.ac.be/demography

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Expert views on the manifestations of precariousemploymentinFlanders

KimBosmans,StefanHardonk,NeleDeCuyper,FredLouckx&ChristopheVanroelen

Abstract

‘Precarious employment’ can be defined as amultidimensional concept composed ofseveraldimensions:employmentinstability,lowmaterialrewards,erosionofrightsandsocial protection, de-standardised working time arrangements, limited training andemployability opportunities, lack of possibilities for employee representation andimbalanced interpersonal relations. Starting from this multidimensional approach, inthisarticlewefirstreportonexpertknowledgeabouttheemploymentarrangementsinwhich employment precariousness ismost stronglymanifested in Flanders, Belgium.Second,wepresentdifferentperspectivesexpertsusetodefineajoboranemploymentsituationasprecarious(e.g.isanemploymentsituationprecariousiftheworkerhimorherselfconsidersitasprecarious?).Fortheseaims,semi-structuredinterviewswith16experts were conducted and thematically analysed. The characteristics of themultidimensional conceptualisationofprecariousemploymentwereattributedby theexperts to a large extent to ten categories of employment arrangements: temporarywork, seasonal work, temporary agency work, on-call work, part-time work, workwithintheservicevouchersystem(asubsidisedsystemfordomesticworkinBelgium),informal work, bogus self-employment, subcontracting and posting (a system fortemporary foreignworkers). Further, four perspectives are detected from the expertinterviews:anobjective,asituational,asubjective,andahealth,well-beingandsafetyperspective.

Keywords

Employment conditions, employment relations, expert interviews, precariousemployment,qualitativeresearch

Introduction

Over the past decades the erosion of the traditional Fordist ‘Standard EmploymentRelationship’ (SER) resulted in an increasing number of people working in non-standard and more flexible forms of employment (Rubery & Grimshaw, 2003). Theprocess of ‘de-standardisation’ is often described as ‘precarisation of employment’.Precariousnessnotonlymaintainsade-standardisationofthelegal-contractualfeaturesofemployment,butalsoofotherfeaturesofstandardemployment.Someexamplesarethe provision of a family wage, predictability of work schedules, collective workerrights,socialprotection,employer-providedtrainingandworkerparticipation(Benach,Muntaner,&Santana,2007;Rodgers,1989;Tucker,2002;Vosko,2006).Consequently,

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onecanspeakaboutprecariousnessasa‘degreeofprecarity’,basedonthecombinationoffeaturesfrommultipledimensionsoftheemploymentsituation(Louieetal.,2006).

Since employment arrangements are strongly linked to policy, analyses requiresensitivity for the national context. So far, research about precarious employment ismostlyconductedinliberalwelfarestatessuchastheUSA,Canada(Kalleberg,Reskin,&Hudson,2000;Lewchuk,Clarke,&deWolff,2011),AustraliaandNew-Zealand(Hannif&Lamm,2005;Underhill&Quinlan, 2011), and in SouthernEuropeanwelfare statessuch as Spain and Italy (Degiuli & Kollmeyer, 2007; Vives et al., 2011). However,precarious employment is a theme gaining more and more attention in continental,European welfare states, because of the increasing flexibility and the polarisationbetween ‘good’ and ‘bad’ jobs in these labour markets (Fernandez-Macias, 2012;Standing, 2011). Although trends towards flexibilisation/dualisation are (still)relativelymodestinBelgium,somefiguresillustratethisprocess.Whilein19835.4%ofthetotalnumberofemployeeswasemployedintemporaryemployment,thiswas8.7%in20141.Thetotalamountoftemporaryagencyworkersperyearwas50,591in1985,whilealready540,462in2014(Federgon,2015).Furthermore,accordingtoOECD9.8%of theemployees inBelgiumworkedpart-time in1983,compared to18.1%in20142.Therefore, a first objective of this study is to reveal in which kind of employmentarrangements the dimensions of employment precariousness are most stronglypresent/manifested in Belgium (Flanders). This is important because policy makersshould focus on these groups to tackle precariousness, which can be different indifferenteconomiccontexts.Forthispurpose,wereport the insights from16Flemishexperts.Oursecondobjectiveistoprovidedifferentperspectivesexpertsusetodefineajoboranemploymentsituationasprecarious(e.g.subjectiveperspective:asituationisdefined as precarious if the worker considers it him or herself as precarious),irrespective of the dimensions of precarious employment (e.g. instability ofemployment,material rewards, etc.) involved.Theperspectives arehelpful tonuancethe debate on precarious employment and can be taken into account in policydevelopment.

Precariousemploymentasamultidimensionalconcept

EmploymentprecariousnessrelatestotheerosionofthetraditionalFordistSERofthepostsecondworldwaryears.Conceivedasan‘idealtype’itcanbedescribedasagoldenstandard for ‘goodemployment’ (Lowe,Schellenberg,&Davidman,1999). In theSER,the inherent power disequilibrium between employers and employees wasinstitutionally corrected by a number of mechanisms: wage-setting procedures,statutory constraintsonhiringand firing, collective representation, andemployment-related rights and benefits (Standing, 2009). The SER-employment regime was also1OECDstatistics:http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DatasetCode=TEMP_I#2OECDstatistics:http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DatasetCode=FTPTC_I

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characterised by Internal LabourMarket careers (Scott-Marshall, 2005). The InternalLabourMarket constituteda setof employmentpractices created to tie employees tofirms, guaranteeing improvements in wages, social security benefits, career-advancementopportunitiesandjobsecuritytoloyalemployees(Scott-Marshall,2005).Moreover, the SER was embedded within an expanding welfare state, offering agenerous social security net (Esping-Andersen, 1990). From the 1970s onwards, thissystem witnessed a process of crisis and subsequent transformation (Jessop, 1994;Rubery&Grimshaw,2003).

Often,approachesofnon-standardemploymentrefertotheSERasapointofreference(Clarke,Lewchuk,deWolff,&King,2007;Hannif&Lamm,2005;Lewchuk,Clarke,&deWolff,2008;Rodgers,1989;Tucker,2002;Vosko,2006).Mostofthemultidimensionalapproaches assert that in order to grasp into the de-standardisation of SER-employment, conceptsofemploymentprecariousness shouldconcentrateondifferentaspectsoftheemploymentconditionsandrelations.InalandmarkpublicationRodgers(1989) introduces a multidimensional precarious employment approach to the de-standardisation of employment, involving (1) uncertainty of continuity of work(instability),(2)lowcontroloverworkingconditions,wagesandthepaceofwork,(3)lack of protection in terms of discrimination, unfair dismissal, unacceptable workingpractices, low social protection and benefits or collective organisation, (4) and lowincome.Thesedimensionsofprecariousemployment inspiredother scholars, suchasTucker (2002),Vosko(2006),Tompaetal. (2007),Scott-MarshallandTompa(2011),Standing(2011),Amableetal. (2006),Vivesetal. (2010),andEurofound(Eurofound,2013;Vandenbrandeetal.,2013).

Theapproachused in thisstudy is largelybasedon theEurofound(Eurofound,2013;Vandenbrande et al., 2013) approaches that integrate the dimensions of the otherabove-cited multidimensional approaches in one approach. The dimensions ofprecariousness are presented in Table 1. Our concept includes five dimensions ofemploymentconditionsandtwodimensionsofemploymentrelations.Theemploymentconditions concern theagreementsbetweenemployeesand their employerabout theorganisation of employment. It assesses issues such as employment stability (e.g.contracts), material rewards (e.g. income, fringe benefits), workers’ rights and socialprotection, working time arrangements (e.g. overtime work, flexible working hours,weekendwork),andtrainingandemployabilityopportunities(Eurofound,2013;Vets,DeWitte,&Notelaers,2009).Theemploymentrelationsassessthewayallstakeholdersatworkinteractwitheachother,bothformally–i.e.employeerepresentation(suchascollective bargaining processes), and informally – i.e. interpersonal power relationswithemployers,supervisors,colleaguesandclients(Eurofound,2013;Vandenbrandeetal.,2013;Vetsetal.,2009).

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Table1:Dimensionsofprecariousemployment

Employmentconditions1. Employmentinstability

Type of employment contract, threats to thecontinuationofemployment

2. LowmaterialrewardsLowearnings,lackoffringebenefits

3. Erosionofworkers'rightsandsocialprotectionPaidvacation,healthinsurance,pensionplan,etc.

4. De-standardisedworkingtimearrangementsUnsustainable working times (e.g. involuntary part-time employment), intensiveworking times (e.g. longworkinghours),flexibleworkingtimes

5. LimitedtrainingandemployabilityopportunitiesTraining provided by the employer, training abouthealth and safety at work, opportunities for careeradvancement

Employmentrelations6. Lackofpossibilitiesforemployeerepresentation

Availability of an employee representative, collectivenegotiationprocedures

7. ImbalancedinterpersonalrelationsInterpersonal power relations (with superiors,colleagues and clients), capacity to exercise rights(knowledge about rights, the possibility to obtainmandatory rights), vulnerability (fear of arbitrarydismissal,authoritarianbehaviourofsuperiors)

Fromtheliteraturewealreadyhaveindicationsabouttheemploymentarrangementsinwhich precarious employment dimensions are often manifested: e.g. temporaryemployment (Vosko, 2011), casual employment (Tweedie, 2013), temporary agencyemployment(Bosmans,Hardonk,DeCuyper,&Vanroelen,2016;Underhill&Quinlan,2011), part-time employment (Kim, Kim, Park, & Kawachi, 2008) and subcontracting(Hasle,2007;Wise,2013). In thisarticle,we revealwhichemploymentarrangementsareparticularlyvulnerableforprecariousemploymentinFlanders.

Methods

Keyinformants/expertsarepersonswithprivilegedaccesstoinformationaboutgroupsof persons or decision processes (Gogner, Littig, & Menz, 2005). In this study wesearched for experts with an extensive knowledge on precarious employment in the

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Flemish labour market. We aimed at interviewing a range of experts with differentviews and opinions to get a broad picture of the manifestations of precariousemploymentinFlanders,anddifferentviewsondefiningjobs/situationsasprecarious.The experts in our study were recruited through snowball sampling (Patton, 2002).Entrypointswerecontactpersons fromthe tradeunionsand theoccupationalhealthsector. Through exploratory conversations we were able to locate relevantcategories/disciplines/serviceswhereexpertscouldbecontacted.Lateronourmethodwasalteredfromsnowballsamplingtointentionalsamplingofrelevantexpertprofilesthatwerenotsurveyedyet.Thereforeasaturationschemewithrelevantcharacteristics(expertise,profession,sector,organisation)wasconstructed.Intotal14interviewswithexpertshavebeenconductedintheperiodfromNovember2010untilJune2011.Oneoftheseinterviewswasacollectiveconversationwiththreeexpertswithsimilarexpertise.As a result, in total 16 experts from various backgrounds were interviewed: (1) aphysician working in a working class neighbourhood, (2) a human resourcesmanagement specialist, (3) a trade unionist specialised in among others workingconditions,healthandsafetyatwork,andcollectivebargaining,(4)apolicymakerandscientific researcher specialised in sustainable work, (5) an occupational healthphysician, (6) an expert working at the research department of a trade union, (7) arepresentativeofthetemporaryagencyemploymentsector,(8)anoccupationalhealthphysician, (9)anacademicresearcher/expert in labour legislation, (10)a tradeunionrepresentative from the cleaning sector, (11) a civil servant and policymaker of thegovernmentaldepartmentofemployment, labourandsocialdialogue, (12,13and14)social legislation inspectors, (15) an academic researcher specialised in workingconditions, health and safety, and (16) a representative of a large employers'organisation.

Theinterviewsweresemi-structured,guidedbyatopic-listinspiredbyourconceptualknowledgeonemploymentprecariousness.Openquestionswereusedinordertogivetheexpertsfreedomtogivetheirviewonprecariousemployment.Ourmainquestionswere ‘which perspective/criteria they employ to define a job as precarious’ and ‘inwhichcategories/groupsofworkersprecariousnessismoreprevalentinFlanders’.Thetopic-listwasadjustedduringtheinterviewprocess,asmoreinformationwasgathered.Allinterviewsweredigitallyrecorded,followedbyverbatimtranscription.

Thematic content analysis is applied to the interviews. This method is based oncategorising recurrent or common themes (Green & Thorogood, 2004). It is a usefulapproach for answering questions about salient issues for particular groups ofrespondentsor identifying typical responses (Green&Thorogood,2004). In thematiccontentanalysisqualitative informationiscoded, intheformatofa listofthemes.Weapplied a combined approach in constructing themes, i.e. based on theory aboutprecarious employment (deductive) and on new issues that occurred from the data(inductive) (Green & Thorogood, 2004). Codes included different dimensions (e.g.employment instability, low material rewards) and manifestations (e.g. temporary

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agency employment, informal work) of precarious employment, andcriteria/perspectives on how to decide whether a job is precarious (e.g. householdcomposition, perspective/feelings of the employee). Subsequently, the coded themeswere organised into a codebook, which allows for mutual combinations in lateranalyses. Our codebook was conceived as a work in progress until the end of theinterview process. Accountability of coding was further improved through theapplication of analytical triangulation to some interviews. This implies that differentresearchersdevelopedthecodingschemeindependently,andafterwardscomparedanddiscussedthesimilaritiesanddifferences(Patton,2002).

Results

Themanifestationsofprecariousemployment

Ten manifestations found in the experts' statements are discussed regarding theirfeaturesintermsofprecariousness.Thesemanifestationsarethefollowing:temporarywork,seasonalwork,temporaryagencywork,on-callwork,part-timework,theservicevouchersystem,informalwork,bogusself-employment,subcontractingandposting.

Temporary work. A frequently returning issue about temporary contracts is theirinstability. Such contracts cause insecurity about future employment and in case of(company)restructuring,temporaryworkersarethefirsttobelaidoff.However,someof theexpertsargued thatemployeeswithanopen-endedcontractdonotnecessarilyenjoy more job security. Expert 4 gave the example of the reorganisation of a bigcompany:theemployerjustcountedthedaysofabsenceinthelastyeartodecidewhowould get fired. Further, the period of notice for employees is very short is somesectors.Furthermore,expert7statedthattemporaryemploymentstillconstitutesonlyasmallpartoftheworkforceinBelgium:

Temporary employment is less developed in Belgium, compared to othercountries. 8% in Belgium, while 14% in Europe… So the mean for Europe isabouttwicethepercentageofBelgium…

Seasonalwork.Seasonalworkcanbeconceivedasprecarious,becauseofitstemporarycharacterandtherelatedexposuretoconstantlynewrisks.Moreover,horticultureandagriculture for example are sectors thatusemanypeoplewhodonot speak the locallanguage,whichimplieshighervulnerabilityregardingknowledgeaboutsocialrightsoradverse employment and working conditions. Very often in Belgium, people fromabroadarerecruitedtoperformseasonalwork.

Temporary agency work. Most experts argue that temporary agency employment isalways characterised by instability in Flanders/Belgium. In that context expert 1mentionedthatdailyandweeklycontracts,whichareoftenusedintemporaryagency

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employment, can be regarded as ‘the highest degree of precariousness’. In contrast,according to expert 3 temporary agency work can be seen as a 'good form ofprecariousness'sincetherearealotofrulesthatareregulatingthistypeofemploymentarrangement in Belgium. Moreover, expert 7 pointed out that temporary agencyworkersarenotlesspaidcomparedtootherworkers,becauseBelgianlegislationstatesthat temporary agencyworkers should receive wages and benefits equal to those ofpermanentemployeesatthebeginningoftheircontract.However,expert3mentionedthat some companies try to skirt the law by giving rights and benefits only after aminimal tenure.Therefore, temporaryagencyemployeesoftendiffer frompermanentones regarding pay and benefits. Furthermore, they have sometimes less or inferiorpersonal protection gear at their disposal. Some temporary employment agenciesprovidesecond-handprotectiongear,althoughthisisprohibited.

Accordingtoexpert8medicalsurveillanceisnotwellorganisedfortemporaryagencyworkers, largelybecause the surveillance system is not adapted to temporary agencywork.Ingeneral,manyexpertsstatethatbasicsafetyregulationsareofteninadequatelyexplained to temporary agency workers (see infra: health, well-being and safetyperspective). Some connect this to the fact that temporary workers need to be asproductiveaspossibleduringashortperiod.Theresultingaccumulationofriskfactorswasexplainedbyexpert3:

Thesafetyinstructionsarelacking,theyareinexperienced,theyareyoung,thesearealreadyriskfactors:beingyoung,beinginexperienced,noseniority,...Thosepeopledomoredangerousthingsontheshopfloor...butiftheyaredeployedinahazardous environment, and they have no previous safety training, no propersafetyframework,thisresultsinproblems.

However,expert7stressedtheinvestmentsintrainingandeducationbythetemporaryagency sector. He argued that temporary employment agencies take preventionseriouslybecausetheyarelegallyliablefortheirworkers.Further,manyexpertsarguedthattemporaryagencyworkersreceivealmostnotrainingthatisusefulfortheirfurthercareerdevelopment.This isduetothetemporarycharacterof thework.Ontheotherhand, expert 7 remarks that many temporary agency workers become permanentemployeesaftersometime.Incaseswheretemporaryagencyworkisusedasawayofrecruitment,itisintheclient’sbestinteresttoinvestintraining.

Although the trade unions find it important to defend temporary agency workers’interests, it is adifficult task (expert3).Many temporary agencyworkersdobecometrade unionmembers, especiallywhen they need assistance in solving problems, e.g.with regard to social security or unemployment benefits. However, their connectionwith the trade union representatives on the shop floor is weak, because of theirunstableemploymentsituation.Inthatregardexpert4mentionedthefollowing:

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There is also a corporatist reflex. Because of course, if an organisation is builtaroundacoregroupofworkers,supplementedbyprecariousworkers,incaseofrestructuringthelatterarethefirsttobelaidoff,therebysecuringthejobsoftheformer.So, Ibelieve layingoff temporaryagencyworkerswill seldomresult instrikesthatdisrupttheoperationsofanentirecompany.

Expert 7 disagreed, arguing that trade unions in Belgium are strong and that agencyworkersarenotasvulnerableasmanypeopleclaim.

Intheirdailyworkpractice,personswithdailyorweeklycontractsareconfrontedwitha lot of arbitrariness, for example with regard to the evaluation of their workperformance.Consequently,workerswithdailyorweeklycontractsareoftenreluctanttoreportproblemsortosay‘no’,becauseoftheriskofnotbeingaskedtocomebackthenext day/week. Expert 1 argued that temporary agency workers’ weak positionincreasestheriskofdangeroussituationsandpushesthemtoaccept flexibleworkinghours:

AtacertainmomentIsawpeoplearoundmedoingdoubleshifts:anearlyshiftfollowedbyalateshift...soastretchof16hours.AtfirstIthought‘thisisachoicetheymake,because theywant toearnmore,orbecause theywant togetsometimeoff,butyouarenotobliged todo it’.But then the temporaryemploymentagencycalledme,theysaid‘Weneedsomeonefortomorrowtodoadoubleshift’.Until then I thought it was the workers’ decision, but it appeared that it wasrequestedby theemployer.So that leftmewithachoice:either I say ‘yes’,butthen I putmyhealth at risk. Imagine16hours of staying focused, 16hours ofwork,16hoursofstandinginthedust,isthathealthy?Idonotthinkso.OrIsay‘no’ and stay loyal to my health and my principles... But then they will askanothercandidateandifhesays‘yes’...youjustdon'tcomebackanymore...3

For the same reasons, expert 1 noticed thatworkers under short-term contracts areoftenscaredtocallinsick.Sicknesspresenteeismthencomesontopofthestressfacedasaconsequenceof ‘permanentperformancepressure’ (e.g.accepting longor flexibleworkinghours).

Inaddition, temporaryagencyworkers find itoftendifficult toknow their rightsasaworker.Accordingtosomeexpertstemporaryemploymentagenciestakeadvantageofworkers’ lack of knowledge by holding back holidays, bonuses and sick leave, or bypurposefully making ‘mistakes’ in the pay slip. In that way, only the well-informedreceivewhattheyareentitledto.

3Experts1 and10had experiencewithprecarious employment themselves: expert1deliberatelyengagedinprecariousemploymenttostudythesubjectandexpert10isatradeunionrepresentative.Therefore, theseexpertsalsomakereferencetotheirownexperiencesofprecariousemployment.

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Finally,alsoimbalancedpowerrelationswithco-workersareaspecificissue.Expert1testified that in some cases the relationship between temporary agencyworkers andpermanentemployeesisproblematic,withtheformerbeinggiventheleastfavourabletasks.Furthermore, sometimespermanentemployeeshave toevaluate the temporaryagency (co-)worker. The division between permanent employees and temporaryworkerscanextendtosocialactivitiesaswell.Expert1mentionedexperienceswhereabarbeque or a football match was organised only for permanent workers. However,expert7consideredlowerqualityofsocialrelationsamongtemporaryagencyworkersasnormal,becausetheyexperiencedifficultiesintegratingthemselveswithco-workersintheshortperiodofemployment.Thisexpertstressedtheimportanceofacompany’smanagement for the well-being of its temporary agency workers. For example byavoiding that they think of themselves as beingworkers of second choice.Moreover,because of job insecurity a competition in terms of productivity can arise amongtemporaryagencyworkers:'Ifheworksharderthanme,Icannotcomeback,soIhavetoworkharder'(expert1).Bydoingso,pressureforhigherproductivityisplacedonallco-workers.

On-callwork. The experts only briefly mentioned on-call work. On-call contracts areillegalinBelgium,unlesstheemployeeispaidalsowhennotworking.Althoughillegal,itseemstoexistandit ismentionedbysomeexpertsasamanifestationofprecariousemployment:

Theyhavetobepaidwhilebeingon-call,butofcoursethisdoesnothappeninreality.Employerscanskirtthislaw.Howdoyoucheckthis?Howdoyouprovethat the employee is systematically on-call without being paid? The employerwill say ‘It was only for one time, inspector’. It is the word of the employeragainstthewordoftheemployee.(expert11)

Part-timework.Whetherpart-timework isprecariousornot,dependsonthebroadersituation,accordingtoexpert7(seeinfra:situationalperspective).Whenthespouseofa man who earns enough money decides to work part-time, it should not becharacterisedasprecarious.However,shouldtheydivorce,thewomancanfindherselfinaprecarioussituationveryquicklybecauseofinsufficientearnings,especiallyifshehaschildren.Someexpertsconsideredonly involuntarypart-timeworkasprecarious.Expert 4 gave the example of employers in the distribution sector,who seldomofferfull-timecontracts,becauseitenablesthemtodeploytheiremployeesinaflexibleway.Moreover,underemploymentcancauseanincomeshortfall.

Servicevouchersystem. The service voucher systemwas implemented by the FederalGovernmentofBelgiumwiththepurposeofcreatingnewjobsforlow-skilledpeople.Itallows individuals to buy home services such as cleaning and meal preparation atattractive rates, using government subsidised service vouchers (Idea Consult, 2014).Expert 9 mentioned that the positive point about this system is that the domestic

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workers are protected by labour and social security legislation in contrast to manyinformallyemployeddomesticworkers.Expert4mentionedthatmanywomenliketoget paidwith service vouchers. The systemgives thema lot of freedom to plan theirwork,butaccording to thisexpert theyexploit themselves in the longrun.Aproblemwithworkers in the service vouchers system is that they almost alwayswork alone,cleaning private homes. This is regarded as a potentially risky situation. In addition,althoughrelated,theyconstantlyworkindifferentplaces,withdifferentproducts,oftenwithoutknowledgeaboutnecessarysafetyprecautions.Anotherproblemrelatedtothecasualness of service voucher employment is insufficient health and safety screening.Further, the service voucher system is characterised by a tripartite employmentrelationshipbetweenthecleaner,theservicevouchercompanyandtheclient.Thiscancauseproblems,e.g.concerningresponsibilitybetweenthe‘twoemployers’.Finally,theexpertspointattheratherlowwagesandlackofbenefitsintheservicevouchersystem.

Informalwork. Informalworkisoftenseenashighlyprecarious.It impliesanunstableemployment relationship, almost automatically leading to high vulnerability of theworker. It has adverse implications for social security coverage. Problems may alsooccurwhenonlypartoftheworkinghoursisperformedinformally:

Someemployers aredisregard social security legislation. They try topay theiremployers(partly)inaninformalway.Inthiscase,theemployerdoesnotbuiltup social security rights, for examplenopension rights (or to a lesser extent).Some workers are even ignorant about this, and in this way this can beconsideredasprecarious.(expert2)

Incaseofillness,forexample,disabilityinsurancecoverageisonlybasedontheofficialnumberofworkinghours.Oftenillegalworkersareforcedtoworkverylonghoursoralotofdaysinarow,ortheyarepaidlessthantheyareofficiallyentitledto.Expert11however adds that informal work is not only characterised by workers’ lack ofknowledgeabout their rights: ‘It goes from ignorance to complicity’ (from thepartofthe employee). In this regard, he points at individuals who receive unemploymentbenefitsandcombinethiswiththeirincomefrominformalwork.

Bogusself-employment.Bogusself-employmentisseenasacategoryofspecialinterest.Bogus self-employed are in reality employees, because they onlywork for one client.Thereforetheyarelackingtheemploymentstabilityandsocialsecurityofanemployee,while still having to operate under the authority of a boss (expert 2). Bogus self-employment is commonamong foreigners coming towork inBelgium. In some casesthey are made ‘associates’ of a company without actually having any real economicpower.

Subcontracting/outsourcing.Whennon-core tasksareoutsourcedtoanothercompany(mostly from another sector), subcontractedworkers can be bound to less beneficial

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regulationsonwage-levelsandotheremploymentconditions.Accordingtotheexperts,someimportantsectorswithalotasubcontractingfirmsarethecleaningindustry,thebuildingindustryandthesurveillancesector.Thecompetitionbetweensubcontractorsishighasexplainedbyexpert10:

Iwork for a cleaning company subcontracted to companyX. I startedworkingthere 26 years ago, but during that period I worked for a lot of differentsubcontracted companies. Because of the competitionbetween subcontractors,the staff has to change from subcontractor to subcontractor frequently. Onesubcontractoroffersabetterpricethantheother,andsoon…

As a consequence, the cleaners in the company of expert 10 have to clean the sameareas in a shorter time period, so their workload increased substantially in the lastyears. Subsequently, asexpert1argues, this canalso result inpressureon thewagesandtheworkloadofworkersbelongingtothecontractor.

Subcontracted workers have also weaker trade union representation, as theirrepresentativesoftenworkatanothersite.Accordingtoexpert10alotofworkersdonot know their trade union representatives or find them not easily accessible.Moreover,manysubcontractorsaresmall tomedium-sizedenterprises,without tradeunionrepresentation.

Subcontractedworkers oftenwork at different sites andwith differentmaterials andproducts.Combinedwiththeirlackofknowledgeofsafetyregulations,thismayleadtodangerous situations. Moreover, they often work in dangerous or unsafe workingconditions,performinglessfavourabletasks.Bypassingrisks(technical,chemical,...)forsafetyandhealthfortheirown‘coreworkers’isinfactoneofthereasonsforcompaniestointroducesubcontracting(expert6).Someexpertsexplainedthatsubcontractorscanworkcheaper, inpartbecausetheyeconomiseonsafetyandhealthprotection.This issurprising, because Belgian legislation prohibits companies to engage unsafesubcontractors.However,according toexpert11, thisrule isnotput intopractice.Heelaboratesontheproblemswithsubcontractors:

Workisoftensubcontractedforapriceofwhichyouknowthatitisimpossibletosecure the health and safety of the workers. It is subcontracted to ‘cowboy-companies’whodonothavetheintentiontoprovidehealthandsafetymeasures.Sometimesworkissubcontractedtocompanieshavingalargelabourturnover,thatarebankruptafterlet’ssayoneyear,thatkindofdodgycompanies…Inthisway,themostriskyworkisdonebycompanieswiththeleasthealthandsafetymeasures,ofwhichtheemployersarenotinterestedinthehealthandsafetyoftheiremployees.

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Expert 16 stresses that employers’ organisations are taking measures to tackle theproblem of unsafe subcontractors. Further, expert 15 nuances the degree of‘precariousness’insubcontracting:

Forexample,itisverycommonnowthatsomeIT-servicesaresubcontracted,orevenservicesforbanks.Therearesomesubcontractedcompanieswithveryhighprofile workers: lawyers, economists, IT specialists,... They have very goodconditions of work and stable employment. But this is not the major part ofsubcontracting…

Posting.Aworkeris‘apostedworker’whenheisemployedinoneEUMemberStatebutsentbyhis employeron a temporarybasis to carryouthiswork in anotherMemberState(EuropeanCommission,2011).Accordingto theexperts,postingappearstopopup mostly in the building industry, the food industry, horticulture and agriculture.Labour legislation requires that postedworkers should be paid according to Belgianwagestandards,but this isoftennot thecase.Furthermore,holidays,holidaypayandend-of-yearbonus are oftennot paid. Sometimes employersdonot pay thewages orpaythemindribsanddrabs,preventingworkersfromleaving.MostpostedworkersdonotknowtheBelgianlegislation.Theirlegalstatusinthecountryandtheirentitlementtosocialsecuritybenefitscanbeaproblem,whichmakesthemparticularlyvulnerable.Legislationislackingconcerningthisissue:

With the form ‘A1’, in thepast itwas the form ‘E101’, theyhave toprove thattheir social security is paid in their country of origin. But, for example inGermany, everybody can pick those forms from the Internet. And in the hostcountry, the social inspection is not allowed to control whether the form isauthentic.That’stheEuropeanlegislation…So,Europeisorganisingfraud.That’swhatishappeningtoday…(expert11)

Furthermore,postedworkersareoften lowlyskilled,donotspeak the local language,are not unionised, and not seldom have to work long hours. In addition, theemploymentcontractscanbeunclear,incomplete,inalanguagethatisnotunderstood,orsignedunderpressure.Thispotentiallymaintainsa lackof formaltiesbetweentheworkerandtheemployer,whichmakesitdifficulttoproveabuses.Expert14explainsthevulnerablestatusofpostedworkers:

Those postedworkers are here for a short period. Even if they instigate legalproceedings, there will never be a trial, because they will already be in theircountryoforiginbythen.Moreover,theyarenotamemberofthetradeunions,theyevendon’tknowthetradeunions...

Combinationsofmanifestations. Finally, from the discourses of the experts it appearsthat some manifestations overlap in the same employment situation, e.g. temporarypart-timeworkorseasonalworkthroughposting.Some‘combinedmanifestations’can

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makeemployeesveryvulnerable.Regularly, postedworkers are employedby foreigntemporaryemploymentagencieswithoutaBelgianlicense,oremployersusegrey-zoneorclearlyfraudulentconstructionsof‘subcontracting’:

Many Dutch (from the Netherlands) companies are working in Belgium withemployees fromPoland, Romania andBulgaria. Actually, this kind of labour isdefinedastemporaryagencyemployment,buttheydisguiseitandpresentitassubcontracting.(expert14)

I give you an example from the sector of horticulture.What is the task of thesubcontractor?Theyputmushroomsinbins,theyputcoversonthosebins,theyputlabelsonthosebins,andtheypilethebinsontopofeachotheronapallet.Here the task of the subcontractor stops. So, a piece of the tasks was‘subcontracted’ to a subcontractor, a Polish firm with Polish employees, whoworkedinBelgiumfor2,5eurosperhour.(expert14)

Other problems regarding the combination of posting and (false) subcontracting arethatitisoftendifficulttorevealtherealemployerofanemployee,thatpostedworkersoften do not pay social security because they are ignorant about this, and that thecontractor is not responsible for the employment conditions (e.g. wages) of theemployees employed by his subcontractors. Expert 12 explains the difficulties inrevealingtherealemployerinsubcontractingchains:

Youhavetotrytofindabeginningandanendinthesubcontractingchain.‘Forwhom does this employee actually work?’ If you have to book because of aninfringement,youshouldknowtherealemployer.Anemployeecandrivewithaminibusfromacertainemployer,soyouthink‘thatwillbehisemployer’.Butheusesthematerialofanotheremployer…andthatemployerappearstohavesomeauthorityovertheemployee…

Another fraudulent construction is theuseofmailbox companies that actuallydonotexist.Further,bogusself-employment is frequentlyusedwhiletheactualemploymentsituationisanillegalformoftemporaryagencyemploymentorsubcontracting.

Thedifferentperspectiveson‘precariousemployment’

It quickly became clear that not all experts share the same understanding of thesituationsinwhichwecanspeakof‘precariousemployment’.Thisisimportant,sinceithas considerable influence on how the experts talk about precarious employment.Ofcoursetheirperspectivesalsodependontheir(occupational)background.

A first perspective can be described as the objective perspective. Regarding thisperspective, twoapproachesare found in theexpertdiscourses. In the firstapproach,precariousemploymentpresents itself asa legalor contractual status, ageneral term

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equivalentto‘non-standardemployment’,usedfordifferentemploymentarrangementssuchasfixed-termcontractsandtemporaryagencywork.Thisimplies,forexample,thattemporaryemploymentisprecarious,regardlessofthefamilysituation,theperceptionoftheworker,theamountoftrainingreceived,thewage,etc.Anexampleisfoundintheinterviewwithexpert4:

Then we think about temporary agency employment, temporary employment,bogusstatutes,thatkindofstuff.Ifyoutalkabout‘precariousemployment’withtradeunions,theythinkaboutthekindofcontract.

Someexpertsarguedthat incomeshouldadditionallybetaken intoaccount.Forthemlow-paid work should be conceived as precarious. The second ‘objective’ approach,takes into account the different dimensions of precarious employment to define anemploymentsituationasprecarious.Ifacombinationofthedimensionsispresentinanemploymentsituation, it isdefinedasprecarious, irrespectiveoftheperceptionoftheworkerorhis/herpersonalsituation.So,apermanentjobcanalsobeprecariousifitisforexampleaccompaniedbyirregularworkinghours,alowwage,alackofbenefitsanda lack of employee representation. According to this approach, employmentprecariousnessisconceivedinagradationalway:aspecificjobtakesacertainpositiononthe ‘precariousnessscale’dependingonthedifferentdimensionsofprecariousnesspresentinthejob.Insum,fromtheobjectiveperspective,onlytheobjectivedimensionsarethekeycriteriatoqualifyemploymentarrangementsasprecarious.

Asituationalperspectiveisdifferentfromtheobjectiveperspectivebecauseittakesintoaccount for example social, financial and personal characteristics. Experts 7 and 16mentionedthatprecariousnessisdependentuponthesituation:

Inmyopinion…Idetestitifprecarityislinkedtolegalstatutes,contracts,formalelements…Forme,itshouldbereflectedinthefacts.(expert16)

Expert 7 argues for example that in Belgium people do not remain in temporaryemploymentforalongtime.Alargeproportionoftheseworkersfindapermanentjobrelatively fast. So, from a situational perspective short periods of temporaryemploymentarenottobeconsideredasprecarious.Bycontrast,ifpeopleareunabletoescape from temporary contracts their employment situation becomes precarious. Arelatedpointofviewpointsattherelativecharacterofcontracttypes:adailycontractisnot the same as a three year-lasting contract, while currently some open-endedcontractsarealsounstable. Similarargumentshold for subcontracting: subcontractedworkers who always work in the same host company with an open-ended contractcannotbeconsideredasprecariousaccordingtosomeoftheexperts.Aclearexampleisthe IT sector, where subcontracted workers often have high wages and stableemployment. Also personal and family characteristics are considered from thisperspective.Worrisomeexamplesareworkersfacedwithfinancialproblemswhoneed

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tomakequickmoneyby engaging inprecarious employment, or radical changes in aworker’sprivatelifeaffectingtheemploymentsituationortheneedforlabourmarketre-entry. Single mothers, migrants, persons with psychological problems or lowintellectual abilities are specifically considered as groups prone to precariousness.Expert7 explains the importanceof a situationalperspective in the caseofpart-timework:

I don't like the term ‘precarious’, because precariousness depends on thesituation.I'llgiveanexample:asinglemotherwithtwochildreninatemporaryemploymentagencycontract,andwhoisnotabletoescapefromthissituation,isin a precarious situation. Because with the system in Belgium that lady canusuallybetter remainunemployed.Theseare the facts ifyou take intoaccountthecostofchildcare...Butifthatsamewomanismarriedtoamanwhoearnsalot of money, and that woman says 'I want to work a little bit, but I willparticularlycareforthekids.SoIwanttoworkmainlyattimeswhenitsuitsme,for example, not during the holidays, but a few months per year'. Is thatprecarious?Itisabsolutelynotprecarious!

In sum, the situational perspective stresses the need to consider not only thecontractual aspects and other dimensions of ‘precarious’ employment, but alsohousehold composition, financial situation, personal characteristics, educational level,masteryofthelocallanguage,etc.

Third, the subjective perspective opposes the objective perspective. From thisperspective,expertsarestressingfeelings,meanings,workerpreferences,etc.regardingtheemploymentsituation.Consequently,definingprecariousemployment isbasedonthe perception of a worker regarding his/her own employment situation. Thisperspectivefocusesonthemeaningthatisgiventoemploymentbytheworkerhimself.Inthisperspective,ajobcanbedefinedasprecariousiftheemployeeoccupyingthejobdefinesitasprecarious.Anexampleisfoundinthediscourseofexpert15:

Some people who are working for subcontracted companies don't seethemselvesasprecarious...becausetheyearnamountsthatIcan'timagine...

The fourthperspective starts from the impact onhealth,well-beingandsafety.Here ajob isdefinedasprecarious, given that itsemploymentcharacteristicsaffectworkers’healthandwell-being.Inthatsense,ajobisconsideredasprecariousif,forexample,itstemporary contract and its low wage cause stress for the worker, affecting his/hermental health andwell-being. Jobs that involve hazardous situations are not seen asprecariousaslongasworkershaveforexamplealong-termcontractandgetsufficienttraining, implicitly supposing that in that situation workers are well-informed abouttheirrisksandhaveaccesstoappropriateprotectivegear.Precariousnessonlyarisesifthesamejobisforexampledonebyaworkerwithatemporarycontract,whodidnot

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receivetraininganddidnotreceiveappropriateprotectivegear.Expert8explains:

Some work is inherently dangerous, but when people are well educated andprepared,thosejobsarenotnecessarilythatdangerous.Reverselysomeworkisinherently not that dangerous, butwhen done by peoplewho are not familiarwith it, those jobs become dangerous. In sum, a job can be more or lessdangerousdependingontheorganisationofwork,thesafetydemands,andthetrainingthatisgiven.

Of course not all experts kept themselves strictly within one analytical perspective.Someexpertscombineddifferentperspectives in theirdiscoursesandnuancescanbephrasedwithregardtoeachofthem.

Conclusion

Ingeneral,theexpertsinterviewedinthisstudyattributedcharacteristicsofprecariousemploymenttotentypesofemploymentarrangementsontheBelgian(Flemish)labourmarket. First of all, it concerns temporary work, because of its inherent contractinstability. Also seasonal work is inherently instable and often (foreign) seasonalworkers are vulnerable for exploitation regarding wages, benefits, rights and socialprotection. Temporary agency work is also inherently instable employment, and isassociated with a lack of benefits, lack of training and less supportive employmentrelations.On-callworklacksincomeandworkinghoursstabilityandischaracterisedbyaviolationofworkers’rightsiftheyarenotpaidwhilebeingon-call.Part-timeworkisoftenassociatedwithprecariousnessincaseofinvoluntarypart-timeworkthatisoftencharacterisedbylowearningsandflexibleworkinghours.Employeesemployedintheservice voucher system have low earnings, lack benefits and training.Moreover, thiskind of employment is arranged in a tripartite employment relationship, which cancause problems. Informal work is regarded as highly precarious because it ischaracterised by instability, andworkers are vulnerable because they lack rights andsocial protection. Bogus self-employment is seen as precarious becauseworkers stillworkundertheauthorityofabosswithoutthenecessarysocialrightsandprotection.Subcontracting can be seen as precarious because (dangerous) work is oftensubcontracted fora lowprice,bywhichworkershave lowerwages, lessbenefits,andoften lackhealthandsafetyprotection.Moreover,employeerepresentation isdifficultin subcontracted companies. Finally, posted workers often lack rights and socialprotectionandarevulnerableforexploitationconcerningwages,benefits,longworkinghours,etc.

Furthermore, the definition of ‘precarious employment’ used by the experts reflectedfourkindsofperspectives.Firstly,theobjectiveperspectiveconsistsoftwoapproaches.The first approachdefines an employment situation as precariouswhen it involves anon-standard type of contract. The second approach takes into account different

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dimensionsofprecariousnesstodefineanemploymentsituationasprecarious.Onecanspeak of a degree of precariousness, dependent on the dimensions involved in aparticularemploymentsituation.Secondly,fromthesituationalperspectiveitisarguedthatanemploymentsituation isdefinedasprecariousdependingonthesituation,e.g.familycomposition, financialsituation,etc.Accordingto thisperspective,a temporaryjobisforexamplenotprecariousifitisdoneforashortperiodoftime.Thirdly,fromthesubjectiveperspectiveprecariousemploymentisdefinedfromthemeaningthatisgiventoemploymentbytheworkerhimself.Finally,accordingtothehealth,well-beingandsafety perspective, a job is defined as precarious, given that its employmentcharacteristicsaffectsafetyatworkorworkers’healthandwell-being.

This study is innovative because of different reasons. First, it starts from amultidimensionalapproachonprecariousemploymentincontrasttostudiesthatonlytake contractual arrangements into accountwhen studyingprecariousness. Second, ituses expert knowledge to explore themanifestations of precarious employment in aparticularcontext,whichisseldomdoneinformerresearch.Third,thisstudyexploresprecariousemploymentinaEuropeancontinentalwelfarestate,namelyBelgium,whichisacountrythatisseldomstudiedwithregardtothesubjectofprecariousemployment.Fourth, themanifestations found in the expert discourses are an interesting tool foridentifying employment arrangements that are prone to employment precariousness.Future research in Flanders can focus on these manifestations when developing aresearchagendaregardingemploymentprecariousness.Aweaknessofthisstudyisthatit only focuses on Flanders. Therefore, it would be interesting, in future research, todetect the most important manifestations of employment precariousness in othereconomiccontexts/countriesaswell.Knowledgeonthesemanifestationsisalsousefulfor policy makers. It enables them to focus their policies to tackle precariousemploymentonthemostvulnerablegroups.This is importantbecauseweknowfrompreviousresearch thatprecariousemployment isdetrimental for thehealthandwell-being of workers (Benach et al., 2014). Finally, the four perspectives are helpful tonuancethedebateonprecariousemploymentandcanbetaken intoaccount inpolicydevelopment.

Acknowledgements

Thisresearchisfacilitatedbytheresearchgrant'FWO1.1.B13.12N',thatisassignedtothe first author by the Research Foundation Flanders. The authors like to thank theexpertsfortheirparticipationinthisscientificresearch.

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