Valerio De StefanoKU Leuven | ku leuven · Research unit of Labour Law and Social Security Law
Valerio De Stefano
Doctor of Philosophy
About
69
Publications
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2,165
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Citations since 2017
Introduction
I am a professor of labour law at KU Lueven, Belgium. I hold a PhD in law from Bocconi University, in Milan, where I also was a post-doctoral researcher from 2011 to 2014. My research interests include the development of the notion of subordination, the protection of freedom of association and trade union rights and the regulation of precarious work. My current research focuses on casual forms of work, including platform-based work and the gig-economy. From 2014 to 2017, I was an officer of the International Labour Office, where I did research on non-standard forms of employment and was of the main authors of the ILO Report "Non-standard employment around the world: Understanding challenges, shaping prospects" (Geneva, ILO, 2016).
Publications
Publications (69)
This article explores the relationship between modern labour law, trust-based management, and collective labour relations. It begins by examining the historical origins of labour law, which was established to give employers the means to govern their workforce, based on the assumption that workers were untrustworthy. We argue that this notion still...
This edited volume explores the need for a transformative approach to envisioning a just social and economic model. A cross-disciplinary team of academic experts was formed to develop this approach, with the aim of proposing concrete policy ideas that are both transformative and original. While these ideas should not be contingent on a revolutionar...
In this article, we provide an overview of efforts to regulate the various phases of the artificial intelligence (AI) life cycle. In doing so, we examine whether—and, if so, to what extent—highly fragmented legal frameworks are able to provide safeguards capable of preventing the dangers that stem from AI- and algorithm-driven organisational practi...
In this article, we provide an overview of efforts to regulate the various phases of the artificial intelligence (AI) life cycle. In doing so, we examine whether—and, if so, to what extent—highly fragmented legal frameworks are able to provide safeguards capable of preventing the dangers that stem from AI- and algorithm-driven organisational practi...
This article addresses the challenges raised by the introduction of algorithmic management and artificial intelligence in the world of work, focusing on the risks that new managerial technologies present for fundamental rights and principles, such as non-discrimination, freedom of association and the right to privacy. The article argues that collec...
What effect do robots, algorithms, and online platforms have on the world of work? Using case studies and examples from across the EU, the UK, and the US, this book provides a compass to navigate this technological transformation as well as the regulatory options available, and proposes a new map for the era of radical digital advancements.
From p...
Résumé
Avec la pandémie, les pratiques de surveillance numérique ont explosé sur les lieux de travail physiques et virtuels, modifiant les rapports de force professionnels, au profit de l'employeur. Tant les travailleurs essentiels que les télétravailleurs ont fait les frais de cette évolution, qui risque de survivre à la crise. Dans ce contexte, l...
Resumen
La expansión de la vigilancia digital a raíz de la COVID‐19 ha reconfigurado las relaciones de poder en los entornos profesionales. Aquí se analiza críticamente la interacción entre esa vigilancia intrusiva y la ampliación de las prerrogativas empresariales en el lugar de trabajo físico y digital. Con la supervisión excesiva como denominado...
Résumé
L'analyse porte sur le champ d'application personnel des normes internationales du travail de l'OIT. Relevant que celles-ci ne proposent pas de définition universelle des termes «salarié» et «relation de travail», l'auteur affirme qu'il faut déterminer ce champ d'application au cas par cas, en s'appuyant sur les comptes rendus des travaux pr...
Resumen
Este artículo examina la eficacia personal de las normas internacionales del trabajo de la OIT. Observa que no establecen una definición universal de «empleado» ni de «relación de trabajo». Por consiguiente, cuando utilizan dichos términos, su alcance debe determinarse caso por caso y remitiéndose a los trabajos preparatorios y a las opinio...
COVID‐19‐induced digital surveillance has ballooned in an unprecedented fashion, causing a reconfiguration of power relationships in professional settings. This article critically concentrates on the interplay between technology‐enabled intrusive monitoring and the managerial prerogatives augmentation in physical and digital workplaces. It portrays...
This article examines the personal scope of the International Labour Standards of the ILO. It argues that the ILS do not set out a universal definition of the terms “employee” or “employment relationship”. Instead, even when the ILS use such terms as “employment” or “employment relationship”, their scope should be determined on a case‐by‐case basis...
Lo scritto analizza l’ordinanza in risposta alla domanda pregiudiziale emessa dalla Corte di Giustizia dell’Unione Europea a fine aprile 2020 nella causa C-692/19, Yodel. Nel caso in questione, un fattorino di una società di consegne aveva chiesto in giudizio di essere riclassificato come “worker” ai sensi del diritto del lavoro britannico per bene...
This paper aims at filling some gaps in the mainstream debate on automation and the future of work. This debate has concentrated, so far, on how many jobs will be lost as a consequence of technological innovation. This paper examines instead issues related to the quality of jobs in future labour markets. It addresses the detrimental effects on work...
Le epidemie, così come ogni emergenza, hanno la capacità di svelare la natura autentica delle società che colpiscono. Lo ha scritto Anne Applebaum, giornalista della rivista The Atlantic che si trovava in una Bologna rarefatta nei primi giorni di marzo, in un editoriale che esaltava il servizio sanitario universale italiano. È una verità incontrove...
Resumen
La transformación digital y la reorganización de la empresa han generado fórmulas distintas de la relación de trabajo típica. Frente al modelo de disrupción digital que proclama la inadecuación del marco jurídico a los modelos de trabajo y de negocio «innovadores», en este artículo se aboga por la reglamentación laboral como factor de innov...
Résumé
La transformation numérique et la réorganisation des entreprises font apparaître de nouvelles modalités de travail fort éloignées de la relation de travail typique. Selon les partisans de la rupture numérique, le cadre juridique actuel n'est pas adapté aux formes de travail et modèles d'entreprises «innovants». Pourtant, la réglementation du...
The term 'cyberbulling' has been used to describe aggressive conducts carried out through information and communication technologies (ICT), and can involve picture/video clips, emails, or social network sites, among others. Cyberbullying in the world of work is a relatively recent and unexplored phenomenon, despite the pervasive use of ICT in today...
Digital transformation and the reorganisation of the firm facilitate the emergence of new forms of work that diverge significantly from the standard employment relationship. Concomitantly, advocates of the digital disruption suggest that the existing legal framework is not suitable enough to accommodate “innovative” working templates and business m...
This paper deals with the main labour implications of the so-called “gig-economy”. The gig-economy is usually understood to include chiefly two forms of work: “crowdwork” and “work on-demand via apps” (De Stefano, 2016a; Smith and Leberstein, 2015, Sundarajan, 2016).
The spread of non-standard forms of work, including platform work, has created some friction between labour law and competition law, in particular concerning the collective bargaining of self-employed workers. This article aims to suggest a different, complementary rather than antagonistic, relationship between competition law and labour law. It in...
The Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal is publishing a collection of articles on "Automation, Artificial Intelligence, and Labour Protection" edited by Valerio De Stefano (KU Leuven). This collection gathers contributions from several labour lawyers and social scientists to provide an interdisciplinary overview of how new technologies, includ...
La libertà sindacale e il diritto alla contrattazione collettiva dei lavoratori non-standard e dei lavoratori su piattaforma Sommario: 1. Introduzione. 2. La disciplina e l'(ir)resistibile crescita del lavoro non-standard. 3. Diritti umani, diritti dei lavoratori e lavori non-standard. 4. Legislazione antitrust e contrattazione collettiva dei lavor...
Seguramente puede decirse que las evoluciones actuales no presentan caracteres de linealidad. Esto, combinado con la naturaleza intrínsecamente cambiante de algunos fenómenos y las sinergias prometedoras entre los diferentes vectores de cambio, hace que todas las predicciones sean frágiles y, al mismo tiempo, nos desanima a mirar al pasado en busca...
This report maps a kaleidoscopic array of platform-mediated working arrangements, by clustering the findings into three main subsets (passenger transport services, professional crowdsourcing, on-demand work at the client’s premises). Many initiatives taken by the European institutions and aimed at promoting decent work in the collaborative economy...
A recent development on European labour markets, platform work, has attracted significant attention in academic and policy circles (Eurofound, 2015). Still, much of the available evidence is anecdotal, and there is limited understanding of the implications of platform work for the labour market and for the workers.
There is no uniform definition fo...
Com'è cambiato il lavoro in Italia? Quali sono i caratteri distintivi delle nuove occupazioni, dei rapporti tra lavoratori e datori di lavoro? Le trasformazioni profonde del mercato del lavoro e le interconnessioni con l'apertura a nuovi mercati sovranazionali hanno determinato una vera e propria rivoluzione che, poco alla volta, ha trasformato pro...
This paper aims at filling some gaps in the mainstream debate on automation, the introduction of new technologies at the workplace and the future of work. This debate has concentrated, so far, on how many jobs will be lost as a consequence of technological innovation. This paper examines instead issues related to the quality of jobs in future labou...
This paper aims at filling some gaps in the mainstream debate on automation, the introduction of new technologies at the workplace and the future of work. This debate has concentrated, so far, on how many jobs will be lost as a consequence of technological innovation. This paper examines instead issues related to the quality of jobs in future labou...
The spread of non-standard forms of employment in industrialised and developing countries over the last decades has prompted an extensive debate on how to reshape labour regulation to accommodate these new formats. However, limited attention has been devoted to the access of non-standard workers to fundamental labour rights. This chapter aims at re...
The debate on how to adjust existing regulation to keep pace with the rise and spread of the non-standard workforce worldwide has mainly concentrated on individual employment law. This article means to draw attention to some collective labour regulation issues that have a significant impact on the labour protection of non-standard workers. Without...
Casual work is rarely associated with industrialised economies. Nonetheless, several work arrangements have been introduced or are proliferating in EU countries in recent years that present with the features of the statutory definitions of casual work in other countries and may be accompanied by severe decent work deficits. This article proposes a...
The Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal is publishing a collection of papers on the gig-economy and labor law, edited by Valerio De Stefano (International Labour Office and Bocconi University). This collection, entitled “Crowdsourcing, the Gig-Economy and the Law”, gathers contributions from several labour lawyers and social scientists to provid...
The so-called “gig-economy” has been growing exponentially in numbers and importance in recent years but its impact on labour rights has been largely overlooked. Forms of work in the “gig-economy” include “crowd work”, and “work-on-demand via apps”, under which the demand and supply of working activities is matched online or via mobile apps. These...
Paper available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2682602
The so-called “gig-economy” has been growing exponentially in numbers and importance in recent years but its impact on labour rights has been largely overseen. Work in the “gig-economy” includes “crowd work”, and “work-on-demand via apps”, under which the demand and sup...
Case law review article on the case law of the Italian Supreme Court concerning transfer of business and of part thereof
Case law review article on the RMT v. UK judgement of the ECtHR, regarding freedom of association and secondary strike action within the framework of the European Convention on Human Rights
Case law review article on the multilevel protection of trade union affiliation on the basis of European and Italian anti-discrimination law.
According to the relevant supervisory bodies, the principles set out in the Laval Quartet may infringe the European Social Charter’s and ILO’s standards on the right to collective bargaining and collective action. The Author analyses these supervisory bodies’ decisions and the potential clash between the Laval line of cases and the recent case law...
After advocating flexibilisation of non-standard work contracts for many years, some European and international institutions and several policy makers now indicate the standard employment relationship and its regulation as a cause of segmentation between the labour market of ‘protected’ insiders, employed under permanent contracts with effective pr...
Case law review article commenting the Telecom vs Amatori ECJ judgment (C-458/12) on the intrepretation of the “Acquired Rights Directive” in case of transfer of part of a business
Case law review article on the criteria allowing trade unions to establish employees’ representative bodies at the workplace, set out by the Italian Constitutional Court
Book chapter dealing with employment law reforms and the pursue of flexibility subsequent to the economic crisis in European Countries
Law review article on a national framework collective bargaining agreement reforming the Italian system of industrial relations
Case law review article on the construction of Italian anti-union discrimination regulations in light of the international and European sources of law
After advocating flexibilization of non-standard work contracts for many years, some European and international institutions and several policy makers now indicate the standard employment relationship and its regulation as a cause of segmentation between the labour market of "guaranteed" insiders, employed under permanent contracts with effective p...
Case law review article on the FIAT industrial dispute, discrimination on the basis of union membership and company-based collective agreements
Case law review article on out-of-court settlement agreements on employment rights and collective dismissals
The thesis focus on the evolution of employers’ managerial prerogatives and its consequences on the juridical notion of employees’ subordination
Law review article on Directive 2008/104/EC on Temporary Agency Work and its implementation in Italy
Law review article on Outsourcing Contracts, Project-based Self-Employment Contracts and labour protections
Case law review article on agency work
The paper describes some of the changes in business and workforce practices during the last decades. In particular it focuses on the increasing recourse to outsourcing and non-standard forms of employment, in pursuing business flexibility. The Author argues that whereas internalisation of working activities and permanent employment provide a greate...
Case law review article on Italian dismissal law and indemnity in lieu of notice
