Collective Bargaining for Self-Employed Workers in Europe

Bulletin of Comparative Labour Relations Volume 109

Collective Bargaining for Self-Employed Workers in Europe gives an up-to-date analysis and discussion on the law and practice of collective bargaining by and for the self-employed in Europe. The increase in the number of self-employed workers has raised the spectre of horizontal price-fixing by self-employed members of a profession. With a view to the increasing prevalence of self-employed work characterized by a manifest imbalance of bargaining power between the contracting parties, there is a vital need to overcome these obstacles to exercise an internationally recognized fundamental labour right. It is now commonplace for companies to offer various forms of non-standard employment that shift risk from the labour engager to the labour provider – which may increase the likelihood of those workers to fall outside the legal concept of ‘employee’. The book combines an analysis of the supranational framework by experts in labour law as well as competition law with in-depth country reports from Member States of the EU that have regulation or practices of collective bargaining for the self-employed in place.

What’s in this book:

Among the various issues discussed in this book are the following:

• collective bargaining and international labour rights;
• self-employed individuals and the concept of undertaking in EU competition law;
• concept of ‘social dumping’;
• importance of case law of the European Court of Justice;
• concept of ‘vulnerability’;
• competition authorities’ enforcement strategies and priorities;
• concept of ‘false self-employed’; and
• possible introduction of exemptions, presumptions, safe harbours, or smart regulation solutions in competition law.

The present contribution discusses the current practice of collective bargaining and how law is reflected in the academic discourse on the right of self-employed people to bargain collectively.

How this will help you:

This important book, in its presentation of legally sound and effective ways to shape the application of the right to bargain collectively that are attuned to the business and technological realities of the twenty-first century, offers a basis for the discussion of regulatory measures to address the unsolved problems promoting an understanding of the consequences of current law and practice. Practitioners of labour law and competition law, national competition authorities, and other interested parties will benefit from the detailed analysis and extensive findings.