The employment of third-country nationals (TCNs) is an exceptional and fast-developing labour market phenomenon in the EU which is characterised by a very complex set of rules around gaining access to the European labour market and many issues concerning the protection of such workers’ rights. In practical terms, the TCNs are a virtually unlimited source of labour supply for EU-based companies. At the same time, these workers tend to be more vulnerable than EU nationals due to a lack of resources and knowledge amongst other difficulties. Their residence permit is also often directly dependent on their employment contract; there is thus a large disincentive for them to leave employment even if they are paid less than local workers and are being exploited.
During the gust lecture the first findings of the ETUI project ‘Mapping of the rules on short-term migration and posting of third-country nationals’ (led by Dr. Zane Rasnača and Dr. Vladimir Bogoeski) will be presented. When it comes to TCNs working for short periods of time in one or multiple EU countries, immigration rules and social security rules tend to interact with posting and migration rules in a complex manner exuberating the vulnerability of TCNs. As a result of the legal framework within which workers from third countries work, there is a significant clash between the role TCN workers play on the EU labour market and their rights.

Zane Rasnača works as a senior researcher at the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) in Brussels and is an affiliated member at the Institute for European Law (KU Leuven). Her current research projects focus on the enforcement of EU labour law, short-term labour oriented migration in the EU and other matters of European labour law.

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83732764632
Meeting-ID: 837 3276 4632