Local-level concertation: the scope for innovative regulation of non-standard forms of employment in Europe

The paper presents the main findings of research into the interest of the social partners and local institutions in seeking new ways to regulate the use of non-standard forms of employment. The research, based on case studies, revealed an unexpectedly broad scenario of concerted initiatives, highly heterogeneous and not always successful, at the local level and within companies. On the basis of the objectives pursued by such initiatives, it is possible to identify logics of intervention which differ in the extent to which they distance themselves from the model of protection traditionally associated with standard forms of employment. In the most innovative cases, alternative forms of protection are devised either by redefining the boundaries within which workers are entitled to stability and protection, or by releasing workers from the need to establish permanent relations with a firm in order to enjoy rights and security. Such solutions challenge established practices of labour regulation, but are perhaps also best suited to the way in which the world of work and production is changing, at least if the aim is to provide more extensive, inclusive ‘light’ protection for everyone, rather than ‘heavy’ protection for only a few.