Beyond Employment

This book is the English edition of what has become widely known as 'The Supiot Report' - a bold and far-reaching look at the changing nature of work initiated by the EC. It takes as its starting point the profound changes that have taken place in the underlying employment relationship and associated human resource practices over the past twenty years. These developments are placed in their economic, social, institutional, and legal contexts. Competitive pressures on firms, the search for greater efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of public services, the changing role of women in society, and the desire for greater choice on the part of individuals are all important motives for change. The legal framework and the structures and organizations which represent the interests of workers and employers must respond to these changes. Drawing on illustrations from a number of European countries, the book suggests that the legalframework should encourage greater collaboration in the workplace, particularly over issues such as training. But it should also place work within its social context and facilitate genuine choices by individuals.

Supiot's basic theme - that European labour law must wake up to the transformation in work patterns wrought by rapid economic, social and technological change - leads him to a set of intriguing conclusions ... a useful contribution to the debate on how society should go about regulating work in the early 21st Century., Suited to students interested in labour law and employment in Europe., A valuable comparative study of labour law in the main European countries.

Alain Supiot received his State Doctorate in Law in 1979 (Bordeaux), and became Professor of Law in 1980, first at the University of Poitiers and then at the University of Nantes. His career has included many periods of research abroad including at the Institute of Industrial Relations, Berkeley in 1981; the European University Institute, Florence in 1989/90; and the Wissenschaftskolleg (Institute of Advanced Studies), Berlin in 1997/8. He has written many books onlabour and social security law including Critique du Droit du Travail (1994), and the collective work Le Travail en perspectives (1998). He is a member of the Scientific Council of the French National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS), and chair of the National Council for the Development of theHuman and Social Sciences.