Precarious employment in Poland – a legacy of transition or an effect of European integration?

Authors

  • Vera Trappmann

Keywords:

Labour market policy, Poland, working poor, precarisation, temporary work, civil law work contracts, Europeanisation

Abstract

The Polish labour market is characterised by increasing flexibility and precarisation of employment relationships. This is due to the spread of limited-term and civil-law work contracts, in many cases covering a de facto employee-like status without job-security and social rights. These new working conditions, particularly in low-skill service areas, provide many with what is a sub-poverty-line existence, but have yet to become a public scandal. This article seeks to explain why this is the case by reconstructing Polish labour market policies, which are torn between the influences of economic transition and European integration.

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Published

2011-03-01

Issue

Section

Articles