Friday 22 October 2021 from 13:00 to 17:00

Flexible work has shown to be an important element for raising employment rates in Europe. However, companies enjoy benefits through flexible work which mostly come at the expense of workers’ labour conditions. The EU and national governments tried to diminish this effect through regulation that offers more security to the workers while maintaining a certain level of flexibility. Utrecht University and the Faculty of Law of the University of Rijeka jointly organize a conference to shine a light on how different EU member states approach this.

Programme
13.00 - 13.15
Introduction

13.15 – 13.30
Presentation by Karla Kotulovski (University of Rijeka) on Student work in Croatia – legal source of income or disguised employment relationship?

13.30 - 13.45
Discussion

13.45 – 14.00
Presentation by Ann-Christine Hartzén (Lund University) On: In-work poverty as a consequence of flexible/precarious work.

14.15 – 14.30
Discussion

14.30 – 14.45
Break

14.45 – 15.00
Presentation by Merel Keijzer (Utrecht University) On: The Dutch agency clause; future-proof or long overdue?

15.00 - 15.15
Discussion

15.30 – 15.45
Presentation by Aljoša Polajžar (University of Maribor) On: Collective rights of platform workers.

15.45 – 16.00
Discussion

16.00 – 17.00
Final remarks

About this conference
In general, flexible work enables companies to have workers at their disposal only when needed against lower costs and less responsibilities than when they would employ employees. It made companies less hesitant to engage with new workers during peaks or understaffing, which increased the offer of work for jobseekers. Over the past decades, many companies discovered the benefits of flexible work and more and more regular labour relationships transformed into flexible working relationships. However, the benefits companies enjoy through flexible work mostly occur at the expense of the workers’ labour conditions. The EU and national governments tried to diminish this effect through regulation that offers more security to the workers while maintaining a certain level of flexibility. In the meantime, or maybe as a response, new kinds of flexible working relationships emerged which were not covered – or not effectively - by legislation. As a result, all kinds of flexible working relationships exist nowadays, from temporary agency work to payrolling and platform work. Different regulation of these relationships increases inequality between workers, sometimes justified and sometimes not. Policy makers are faced with great challenges on how to best regulate these relationships. During this conference we’ll discuss different kinds of flexible working relationships and shine a light on how different EU member states approach this.

Contact information
This conference is organized by Utrecht University and the Faculty of Law of the University of Rijeka, under the support of the Project "MI - jučer, danas, sutra" (Migrations – yesterday, today, tommorow“ (UP.04.2.1.06.0018) co-financed by the European Union from the European Social Fund " and support of the University of Rijeka Research Project “Legal Aspects of Companies Restructuring and Transition Towards New Corporate Governance Culture” (uni-ri-drustv-18-43).

More information can be obtained from: Merel Keijzer, Utrecht University (Labour law and social policy and Future of Work hub, m.a.c.keijzer@uu.nl) and Karla Kotulovski (University of Rijeka, Croatia, kkotulovs@pravri.hr)