Direction de l'Emploi, du travail et des affaires sociales
The Future of Social Protection
What Works for Non-standard Workers?
Social protection systems are often still designed for the archetypical full-time
dependent employee. Work patterns deviating from this model – be it self-employment
or online "gig work" – can lead to gaps in social protection coverage. Globalisation
and digitalisation are likely to exacerbate this discrepancy as new technologies make
it easier and cheaper to offer and find work online, and online work platforms have
experienced spectacular growth in recent years. While new technologies and the new
forms of work they create bring the incomplete social protection of non-standard workers
to the forefront of the international policy debate, non-standard work and policies
to address such workers’ situation are not new: across the OECD on average, one in
six workers is self-employed, and a further one in eight employees is on a temporary
contract. Thus, there are lessons to be learned from country experiences of providing
social protection to non-standard workers. This report presents seven policy examples
from OECD countries, including the "artists’ insurance system" in Germany or voluntary
unemployment insurance for self-employed workers in Sweden. It draws on these studies
to suggest policy options for providing social protection for non-standard workers,
and for increasing the income security of on-call workers and those on flexible hours
contracts.