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OECD Employment Outlook 2020

Worker Security and the COVID-19 Crisis

image of OECD Employment Outlook 2020

The 2020 edition of the OECD Employment Outlook focuses on worker security and the COVID-19 crisis. Chapter 1 provides an initial assessment of the labour market consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak and the resulting economic crisis. It also presents an overview of the emergency labour market and social policy measures implemented by OECD countries and discusses directions for further policy adaptation as countries move out of lockdown. Chapter 2 investigates the uneven access to unemployment benefits for workers in part-time and less stable jobs, which often accentuates the hardship they face in times of crisis, and discusses the difficult balance between work incentives and income security. Chapter 3 provides a comparative review of employment protection legislation (EPL) across OECD countries by developing a new version of the OECD's EPL indicators, which now include an improved assessment of regulations for collective redundancies, unfair dismissals and enforcement issues. Chapter 4 takes a fresh look at job polarisation, and in particular the hollowing out of jobs in middle-skill occupations. Finally, Chapter 5 examines the changing labour market outcomes for middle-educated vocational education and training graduates, whose labour market perspectives are challenged by the contraction of jobs in middle-skill occupations.

English Also available in: French

Recent trends in employment protection legislation

Dismissal and hiring regulations – or employment protection legislation in short – are an important determinant of worker security and firm adaptability. This chapter provides an up-to-date review of employment protection legislation in OECD countries, building on earlier work by the OECD in the area. Taking into account legislation and actual practices, it describes the regulation of individual and collective dismissals of workers on regular contracts and the regulation for hiring workers on temporary contracts. It also discusses recent reforms in employment protection legislation. The comparison of employment protection across countries in this chapter brings evidence to the policy debate on the relative importance that different systems attach to the twin aspirations of protecting workers and promoting adaptable labour markets.

English Also available in: French

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