Integrative Employment and Social Security Rights

Abstract

Workers today face many labour market transitions (e.g., between work and caring for family members). This article is intended to make two main contributions to the ongoing debate on how the law should regulate labour market transitions. First, it aims to promote a better understanding of existing and theoretically possible employment and social security provisions by placing them on a spectrum of regulatory models, from individual to integrative regulation. Second, it examines the concept of Integrative Employment and Social Security Rights (IERs), as one of the models on the spectrum. IERs are legal rights that apply to workers in several or all labour market transitions (e.g., the right to request working reduced hours). The application of IERs has several justifications (e.g., promoting individual autonomy and fighting discrimination) tempered with considerations that would at times limit their usage (e.g., inefficiencies). By presenting the justifications for IERs as well as the limitations on their normative application, the article provides a possible roadmap for rethinking employment and social security law.