OECD Economic Studies No . 21. Winter 1993 EMPLOYMENT REGULATION AND PATTERNS OF WORK IN EC COUNTRIES David Grubb and William Wells CONTENTS Introduction and summary ..................................... I . Statistical indicators for employment regulation ................. A . B . The legal bases of employment regulation ................. C . Individual dismissals .................................. D . Fixed-term and temporary work agency (TVVA) work .......... E . Working time ........................................ F . Part-time work ....................................... II . Work patterns ........................................... A . Self-employment and temporary and part-time work .......... B . VVorking hours and flexible working practices ............... 111 . Cross-country correlations between regulation indicators and patternsofwork ...................................... IV . Employment regulation and employer and employee dissatisfaction V . Conclusions ............................................ Annex 1 . Annex 2 . Annex 3 . A definition of employment regulation ..................... Bibliography ................................................ Regulation of individual dismissals ...................... Regulation of temporary employment .................... Regulation of working time ............................ 8 9 9 10 11 15 17 18 19 19 21 23 30 33 40 41 51 53 David Grubb is an administrator in the International Migration and Labour Market Policies Division of the Directorate for Education. Employment. Labour and Social Affairs and William Wells is an adminis- trator in the United Kingdom Department of Employment . The views expressed by the authors do not necessarily represent those of their employers . The authors thank Jmgen Elmeskov. John P . Martin and Peter Sturm for helpful and careful reading of earlier versions. Sandrine Duchesne for statistical assistance. and Lydia Anthenor for technical assistance . 7