Abstract:
In most countries, a standard (or core) model of employment relationship (i.e. full-time work
under an open-ended employment contract) typically receives the greatest labour and social
security protection, with divergent work arrangements receiving less protection in correlation to
the magnitude of the differences between the former and the latter. However, recent develop ments concerning non-standard forms of work may question this dynamic.
In this article, we examine the nature and current evolution of the standard employment
relationship, then analyse how other forms of work deviate from this standard. In order to do
so, we draw on the conclusions of the numerous studies recently published by scholars and
international organisations in the wake of the growing public debate on the ‘new world of work’.
Afterwards, we analyse the situation of non-standard workers under certain social security sys tems, in order to determine how those systems have approached the divergent character of these
forms of work. This leads us to identify the main challenges that social security systems experience
when faced with non-standard forms of work. The article concludes by addressing the need to
adapt the basic principles of social security to the atypical features of non-standard work.
