Transforming undeclared work into regular employment Finn Ola J

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Transforming undeclared work into regular
employmentFinn Ola JølstadEuropean
CommissionDG Employment, Social Affairs Equal
OpportunitiesUnit A2 Employment Strategy
ETUC seminar14-15 April 2005, Brussels
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The concept of undeclared work

• "Any paid activities that are lawful as regards
  their nature but not declared to the public
  authorities, taking into account differences in
  the regulatory system between Member States"
• Broad categories
• Undeclared work through "undeclared hours" as
  part of a regular job.
• A regular worker has one or several additional
  jobs which are not declared.
• The main job held by a worker which is
  undeclared, including work of low number of hours
  per week/per month.

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Undeclared work many dimensions

• Measurement difficult, but indications that size
  of undeclared work vary substantially between
  Member States, from 1-2 to more than 20 of
  GDP.
• Implications for
• Workers
• Businesses
• Consumers
• Gender Equality
• Sustainability of social protection systems

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The changing nature of undeclared work

• Sectorial variations between Member States.
• Agriculture, building and construction, hotel and
  restaurant business and domestic services are
  amongst those sectors most frequently cited to
  have a high prevalence of undeclared work.
• Different causes and variations between Member
  States
• Institutional and regulatory conditions (tax and
  social contributions, regulatory burdens, trust
  in the public authorities)
• The ways of life (cultural and economic
  differences)
• Illegal immigration (supply of undeclared
  workers)

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The policy framework at the European level
2003/2004 Employment Guideline "Member States
should develop and implement broad actions and
measures to eliminate undeclared work, which
combine simplification of the business
environment, removing disincentives and providing
appropriate incentives in the tax benefit system,
improved law enforcement and the application of
sanctions. They should undertake the necessary
efforts at national and EU level to measure the
extent of the problem and progress achieved at
national level". 2003 Council resolution 2005
Employment Guideline (Commission
proposal) Promote flexibility combined with
employment security and reduce labour market
segmentation through ... determined action to
transform undeclared work into regular employment
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The policy framework at the European level
2005 -2010 Social Agenda Green Paper on the
development of labour law Corporate Social
Responsibility Green Paper on an EU approach to
managing economic migration (COM(2004)811 final
of 11.01.2005 Social Dialogue 2003/2005 work
programme European Economic and Social
Committee The role of civil society in helping to
prevent undeclared work (7 April 2005) European
Parliament