This book examines the concept of the single employment contract, which is designed to abolish or limit other types of permanent and temporary labor contracts. It presents the contract’s pros and cons, highlighting its virtues and revealing its inherent contradictions.
The authors lay out the general framework of the current debate over the single employment contract, outlining the origins of its proposal. They then review the differing views on labor market segmentation and the compromise "flexicurity" proposal—an attempt to conciliate flexibility and security in the labor market. They also examine the key characteristics of the single employment contract as well as the arguments for and against it. Case studies demonstrate how the idea has been taken up in France, Italy, and Spain.
The book concludes with a concise review of contractual arrangements in EU labor markets and of possible future projections and developments.
