WP 1 - The first part-time economy in the world. Does it work?



The First Part-TIME Economy in the World
Does it Work?

but will have to pay a higher premium if absentee rates are higher than average in the
industry. Similar experience rating applies to disability insurance as from 1998 and may be
introduced with respect to unemployment insurance. Since the law forbids employers to ask
questions relating to medical histories during job application interviews (unless it is
manifestly related to the job), they tend to be even more risk-adverse than in the past and
use temporary contracts as a means of screening through observation.

Three more forms of temporary contracts need mentioning: regular workers on call
(oproeparbeid), temporary substitutes (invalkrachten) and contracts with unspecified hours
(zero-hours and min-max contracts).

4.3  Employment on call, temporary substitutes and unspecified hours

Research of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment shows that 29 per cent of all
firms use there forms of external flexibility (Van Bolhuis 1996). In 1996 there were 276,300
‘call’ contracts (around 30% of all flexible contracts), 77,200 (8%) temporary substitutes
and 101,900 contracts (11%) with unspecified hours. Together these add up for 6.5% of all
jobs. Seventy per cent of these jobs are held by women, in particular by married and single
mothers with children. Employment ‘on call’ will in 85 per cent of all cases be a job of less
than 20 hours per week; unspecified hours contracts will be even smaller, whereas
substitutes are found in jobs of all lengths. Unspecified hours contracts are mostly found in
retail and in hotels and restaurants; the other two types are much used in the health service,
education, in retailing and in hotels and restaurants. Employment ‘on call’ and employment
based on unspecified hours are used to increase the (short-time) flexibility of firms which
want to limit the size of the regular staff. Surveys among these workers suggest a
problematic ‘employment relation’ even though in 57 per cent of all cases there is a written
contract and in 90 per cent a wage and tax slip is provided (hence, we are not referring to
informal employment). Yet, research by the Ministry shows that most workers are poorly
informed about their wages, rights, holiday claims, and so forth (Tijdens 1999a).

New legislation, taking effect in 1999, strengthens the rights of these workers by
introducing a ‘presumption of law’ and laying down a minimum requirement of at least
three hours payment per call, even if no hours are worked. In a number of collective
agreements such norms already exist (restaurants: 3 hours, construction: 6, in the
agreements applying to manufacturing industry the minimum is even 18 hours or a half-day
week) (Van Bolhuis 1996: 22).

4.4   Internal flexibility

We have already discussed the tendency towards labour-time flexibility. This became the
main issue in collective bargaining during the 1990s. A survey among firms shows that one
of every two firms is confronted with some kind of demand fluctuation. Sixty per cent of the
firms that do experience demand fluctuation indicate that they prefer to deal with it through
internal (time and job) flexibility; 16 per cent prefer external flexibility and 24 per cent has
no preference either way (de Jong and van Bolhuis 1997). This preference of internal over
external flexibility is shared by the unions (FNV 1995; Passchier and Sprengers 1996) and
has become the basis for the central agreement of 1993 (‘New Course’) and the subsequent
rounds of collective bargaining. This development is supported by the new ‘working time
act’ of 1996, which replaces the old regulations of 1919 and 1945. The new act introduces a
dual regime: a legal standard and a more tolerant regime based on consultation. If employers
and employee representatives (works councils, union representatives) do reach a written

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