"Now that super-capitalism reigns unchallenged in our globalized economies, the need for a realistic and effective flexicurity is more in demand than ever. No need to say that employees need correspondingly more effective security. Security for the employees means also “decent work”. “Decent work is”, according to the ILO, “productive work in which rights are protected, which generates an adequate income, with adequate social protection”.
One of the elements of decent work is that contracts of an indefinite duration are and will remain the general form of employment relations between employers and workers. This fundamental principle is contained in and recognised by the framework agreement on fixed term work, signed by the European social partners, ETUC, BusinessEurope (UNICE) and CEEP on 19 March 1999. This framework agreement is obligatory in all the Member States of the Union, following the adoption of Council Directive1999/70 of 28 June 1999.
With good reason, the European Court of Justice has judged that the contract of an indefinite duration is the general type and “is a major element in the protection of workers, whilst the fixed-term contract may satisfy the needs of the employers as much as the workers in certain circumstances”.
If the contract of an indefinite duration is the general rule, then the fixed-term contract must be considered to be the exception. This exception must therefore be interpreted in a restrictive way and must be justified on the basis of objective reasons.
So, the question arises whether the rules and practices concerning fixed term contracts in the EU Member States are in conformity with the European 1999 framework agreement on fixed-term work; and how other countries, outside the EU conform to the principle that employment contracts for an indefinite period are the general rule and the fixed term contracts the exception. How much security does national labour law and collective agreements provide regarding fixed term employment contracts? The study consists of international, European and 18 country reports. "

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