The ‘long Covid’ of work relations and the future of remote work
The pandemic made us all familiar with ‘social distancing’. Employers are starting to glimpse a future where ‘contractual distancing’ is normalised.
politics, economy and employment & labour
Social Europe is an award-winning digital media publisher that publishes content examining issues in politics, economy, society and ecology. This archive brings together Social Europe articles on the economy.
The pandemic made us all familiar with ‘social distancing’. Employers are starting to glimpse a future where ‘contractual distancing’ is normalised.
Last October, the European Commission proposed a framework directive on minimum wages. Whether one likes it or not, the EU is competent to do so.
by Peter Bofinger on
A ‘helicopter money’ stimulus of direct payments to individuals, as in the US, would be neither well targeted nor transformatory in Europe.
by Fabian Lindner on
The arcane notion of ‘monetary dominance’ lay behind the last eurozone crisis. Unless challenged, it could underlie another one.
Monetary policy is never neutral. The recovery must not follow financial markets but rather reflect a shared vision of a green future.
by Branko Milanovic on
Branko Milanovic warns that the post-pandemic world could see further polarisation in a now global labour market.
by Michael Dauderstädt on
Between 2017 and 2019, income disparities in Europe decreased. The pandemic stopped that decline.
by Ane Aranguiz on
Legal amendments will not only recognise ‘riders’ as employees but require algorithm transparency from platforms generally.
by Bercan Begley on
After Ireland closed its notorious corporate-tax loophole, it might have been thought tax avoidance would have gone with it. Not so.
Legal victories for workers against platform corporations remain partial and limited in the absence of legislative and institutional change.
The proposal to cancel ECB-held sovereign debt is not the best riposte to the looming renewal of austerity.
by Jayati Ghosh on
Jayati Ghosh begins a new Social Europe column by pricking Europe’s conscience on its pandemic-related responsibilities towards the developing world.
by Jill Toh on
The UK’s highest court has delivered another benchmark judgment on gig workers. But the battle is not over.
by John Hurley on
If the 2008 crash brought on a ‘mancession’ of lost jobs, the sectors most hit by the pandemic employ mainly low-paid women workers.
by Roman Kormann on
The Federal Labour Court ruled late last year that a crowdworker was indeed an employee, despite the platform’s contrary claim.
by Pierre Bérastégui on
Most discussion of gig workers has focused on their material insecurity. More attention also needs to be paid to what goes on in their heads.
by German Bender on
Work in the social sciences on algorithmic systems can inform how unions address their impact on the power balance between workers and employers.
by Iván Williams Jimenez, Aude Cefaliello and Ana Cristina Ribeiro Costa on
With the EU strategic framework on occupational safety and health expiring, the post-pandemic version should prioritise prevention and wellbeing.
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