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34 Comp. Lab. L. & Pol'y J. 21 (2012-2013)
The Legal Determinants of Precariousness in Personal Work Relations: A European Perspective

handle is hein.journals/cllpj34 and id is 29 raw text is: THE LEGAL DETERMINANTS OF PRECARIOUSNESS IN PERSONAL WORK RELATIONS: A EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE Nicola Kountourist I. INTRODUCTION The purpose of this Article is to provide a legal conceptual framework for the analysis of the concept of precarious work, or more precisely the concept of precariousness in work relations. This objective will be pursued in three main stages. The Article begins by providing a broad distinction between three main theoretical approaches to the conceptualization of precariousness in work relations, one primarily seeing precariousness as inherently associated with work relations in particular sectors of the labor market characterized by the high presence of casual labor, a second approach that essentially identifies it as any form of atypical or nonstandard work that departs from the standard employment relationship (stereo-)type and a third one, that recognizes it as a multifaceted phenomenon, which while inherently linked to particular sectors of the labor market and particular forms of nonstandard work, spans beyond these labor market niches and increasingly affects what have been long considered mainstream, secure, and typical work relations. The subsequent Part III moves onto a more detailed level of analysis and seeks to identify the main legal factors that, together or in isolation, can contribute to rendering work relations-any work relation-inherently precarious. This Part is based on what is perhaps the central argument of the present Article, that is to say suggesting that precariousness is no longer, if it ever was, an exclusive feature of atypical work, but rather a dynamic, a trend, based on a number of fairly discernible legal features- f Reader in Law and the Faculty of Laws of University College London. An earlier draft of this Article was presented at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem symposium on Precarious Work and Human Rights, in May 2011. Some of the ideas discussed in this Article are the product of research work carried out jointly with Professor Mark Freedland and now appear in the publication MARK FREEDLAND & NICOLA KOUNTOURIS, THE LEGAL CONSTRUCTION OF PERSONAL WORK RELATIONS (2011). I am grateful to Professors Guy Davidov, Judy Fudge, and Dr. Einat Albin for their invaluable comments and insights. All views expressed here are those of the author, who remains the sole responsible for any opinions or omissions. 21

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