MEPs call for equal rights for part-time and contract workers
Any reform of labour law should seek to protect workers in "non-standard" employment, such as part-time or temporary work, and make it easier to move between various types of work and unemployment, says a resolution adopted by the European Parliament on July 6 2010.Most jobs should be based on indefinite contracts, and national governments should implement "flexicurity" in a fairer and more balanced way, the European Parliament resolution says.Labour law reform should focus on protecting workers in "atypical forms" of employment - such as part-time, casual, temporary and fixed-term contract work - and on making it easier to switch between various types of employment and unemployment, the resolution says.MEPs call on the European Commission and national governments to tackle the situation of the "outsiders" (employees with atypical or "very atypical" contracts) and to ensure that their rights and social-protection requirements are balanced with those of the "insiders". They emphasise that most jobs should continue to be based on contracts of indefinite duration.The European Parliament called on EU member states to put in place a more balanced and fair implementation of flexicurity principles and emphasised that flexicurity cannot function properly without strong social protection.