Regulating non-standard employment in ASEAN and East Asia: A comparative survey of regulatory frameworks and trade union strategies

Melisa R. SerranoSchool of Labor and Industrial Relations-University of the Philippines

Content outline

Convergences and divergences of trends in non-standard employment (NSE) in: ASEAN: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines,

Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam East Asia: Hong Kong, Japan, South

Korea and Taiwan Types of regulatory regimes Role and strategies of trade unions in

regulating NSE

Defining non-standard employment

Dimensions Standard work/employment

Nonstandard work/employment

Contractual Highly regulated* and collectively negotiated

Deregulated and individually negotiated

Spatial Spatially concentrated, specialist site separate from home

Spatially variable, multiple sites

Temporal Full-time, permanent Variable time, impermanent

Gender system

Male breadwinner/female houseworker

Dual earner/variable houseworker

*Regulations covering hours, pay, redundacy, health, safety and benefits such as pensions, holiday and sick pay, etc.

Source: Table reproduced from Edgell, S (2012) The Sociology of Work: Continuity and Change in Paid and Unpaid Work (2nd ed). London: Sage Publications Ltd., p. 146.

A variety of terms in ASEAN

Terms Ind0 Mal Phil Sing Thai Viet

(Fixed or short) Term contract

√ √ √ √

Casual work √ √ √ √

Contract of service

√

Contract/piece paid

√ √ √

Project-based √

Seasonal work √ √

Apprenticeship √ √

On-call employment

√ √

A variety of terms in ASEAN

Terms Indo Mal Phil Sing Thai Viet

Part-time work √ √

Outsourced work*

√ √ √ √ √

Contract for service*

√

Service/labour contracting*

√ √ √

Agency hire* √ √ √

Labour dispatch work*

√ √

Employee subleasing*

√

*Involving triangular employment relationsSource: Serrano, 2014

A variety of terms in East Asia

Forms/types HK Japan S Korea Taiwan

Part-time √ √ √ √Fixed-term (directly-hired) √ √ √ √Contract work (directly-hired) √ √ √ √Agency/dispatch work √ √ √ √Contract-out or in-house subcontracting

√ √

Arbeits &/or temporary workers

√

‘Disguised’ self-employment √ √ √Entrusted √

Continuous & non-continuous employment

√

Casual work/daily workers √ √

Zero-term contract (as a special category)

√

Non-standard employment (NSE): Common characteristics & trends

Fixed or short duration employment contract

Lower and unstable incomes Fewer or absence of social security

benefits Working at multiple worksites Dominance of elementary occupations

without career prospect Dominance of services jobs Over-representation of women & young

workers; but increasingly among older workers in East Asia (except Taiwan)

Non-standard employment (NSE): Common characteristics & trends

Dangerous & risky jobs without adequate protection

Largely unorganized/non-unionized Use of fixed term contracts through

outsourcing in almost all sectors & across a variety of occupations

Outsourcing increasingly done within the enterprise

Outsourcing giving rise to triangular employment relations

High and increasing incidence of NSE (except in Singapore, Hong Kong & Taiwan)

Incidence of NSE

Country Incidence

Indonesia (2010)**

65% of all employed in formal enterprises

Malaysia (2011)*

1 in 4 workers in informal employment

Philippines (2012)*

1 in 3 rank-and-file workers in formal enterprises

Thailand (2012)* 63% of all employment considered informal

Viet Nam (2012)**

1 in 3 labour contracts with 1-3 years term

Japan (2013)* 36.3% of all workers are non-regular workers

South Korea (2014)*

32.1% of all workers are non-regular workers, plus 20% subcontracted workers= 52%

Notes: *Source of data from official statistics and official surveys of each country;**Source of data from studies done by various academics and organizations

Classification of legal frameworks

‘Relaxed’ regime

‘Highly-regulate

d’ regime

None

Existence of specifications on sectors, activities and types of jobs where fixed term & agency work is allowed

Yes

None

Limitations set on the duration of term contracts and the number of times a contract can be renewed

Yes

None

Laws and regulations on manpower recruitment and supply complemented with stricter and special regulations on the operations of third-party labour suppliers

Yes

None

Provisions on solidary liability between user company and third-party labour supplier

Yes

None or not clea

r

Provisions or regulations on the rights and legal entitlement of non-standard workers

Yes

Two stylized types of regulatory framework on non-standard

employment

Classification of countries according to regulatory regimes

‘Relaxed’ ‘Highly-regulated’

In between

Malaysia Indonesia ThailandSingapore Philippines TaiwanHong Kong Viet Nam

JapanSouth Korea

• However, having a “highly regulated” legal framework is no guarantee that abuses and violations will be prevented or at best minimal

Trade union strategies

Country Innovating new forms

of represent

ation

Use of collective bargainin

g

Use of strike action

Improving

regulatory

framework

Use of tripartite mechanis

ms

Indonesia √ √ √ √

Malaysia √ √

Philippines

√ √ √ √

Singapore

√ √

Thailand √ √ √

Viet Nam √

Hong Kong

√ √ √ √

Japan √ √

S. Korea √ √ √ √

Taiwan √ √ √

Note: Most of the trade unions interviewed belong to the services sector.

Conclusion and insights

Expansion and diversification of NSE in most of the 10 countries

Tightening of regulations as a result of expansion of NSE Equal treatment rules Specification on the duration and permitted

circumstances Listing of permissible jobs that can be

outsourced or subjected to agency work

Conclusion and insights

Existence of possible associations between union density trend, growth in NSE and type of regulatory regime In highly-regulate regimes, union density is

declining and proportion of non-standard workers is increasing (e.g. Philippines, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea)

Increasing role of trade unions in regulating NSE at various levels Use of a variety of strategies to accord

protection to non-standard workers and arrest the spread of NSE