Abstract

The paper analyses the position of non-standard workers in the Federal Republic of Germany. Attention is paid, in particular, to the social insurance system. The qualitative and quantitative limits of qualification, insurance and contribution conditions, and the benefit calculation are analysed in order to assess their impact on atypical workers. It can be said that part time workers are normally covered by the social protection system; the unemployment insurance, however, still shows how part time employment is not yet fully regarded as a normal working pattern in terms of social protection, all the more so when the part timer total earnings are under a certain monthly limit. Occasional and discontinuous workers are often not sufficiently protected within the social protection system, as they lack continuity of contributions and because of the short period of previous employment taken into consideration for the purpose of benefits calculation. Finally, the Author analyses the incentives to the creation of new working pattern introduced through the social insurance system and the consequences of this process in terms of social protection of the atypical working patterns thus developed.