Who Regulates Employment? Trends in the Hierarchy of Labour Law Sources

Abstract

The hierarchy of labour law sources plays an important role in shaping the employment protection afforded by national labour law. This article provides a comparative overview of the global trends in the relation between the different layers of employment regulation. To this end, it considers three cluster of countries, respectively the European coordinated market economies, the liberal market economies and the European post-socialist countries. This analysis will make it possible to identify common patterns of transformation of the hierarchy of sources, indicating the current direction of labour law. Based on the three models, we discuss the following four trends and their interactions: (1) the increasing role of legislation; (2) the decentralization and decline of collective bargaining; (3) the growing importance of individual employment contracts based on waivers; (4) the erosion of the favourability principle by means of clauses allowing less favourable terms of employment. We argue that these parallel changes may lead to a worsening of employment conditions. Sources of Labour Law, Hierarchy, Favour Principle, Statutory Mandatory Rules, Collective Bargaining Decentralisation, Freedom of Contract, Flexibilization