Adapting labour law and social security to the needs of the 'new self-employed' — comparing the UK, Germany and the Netherlands

Abstract

The emergence of the category of 'new self-employment' presents a challenge for political actors in European countries. The new self-employed are exposed to the same social risks as dependent employees, but they generally enjoy fewer social and labour rights. How are social policymakers reacting to this situation? Our response to this question is structured as follows. First, comparing the situation in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, we briefly describe the factors which have contributed to the increase in self-employment and the structure of `new self-employment' . Second, we outline the initiatives to adjust legislation in these countries so as to accommodate new self-employment and those types of work that are found on the borderline between dependent employment and self-employment. We then describe the ways in which these types of work are considered under national labour legislation and the extent to which they are taken into account by the respective statutory social security systems. The main finding that emerges is that despite the similar challenges faced by the three countries, path-dependency has led national legislators to adopt very different strategies to adjust social security and labour law regulations.