Résumés
Summary
To show how formal and informal jobs are not always discrete, this paper uncovers how many formal employees in the European Union are paid two wages by their formal employers, an official declared salary and an additional undeclared wage, thus allowing employers to evade their full social insurance and tax liabilities. Analyzing a 2007 Eurobarometer survey involving 26,659 face-to-face interviews in the 27 member states of the European Union (EU-27), one in 18 formal employees are found to engage in such quasi-formal employment, receiving on average one-quarter of their gross salary on an undeclared basis. Multi-level logistic regression analysis reveals that quasi-formal employment is significantly more prevalent in East-Central Europe, in smaller businesses and the construction sector, and amongst men, younger persons and the lower paid. The dichotomous depiction of employment as either formal or informal therefore needs to be transcended and a finer-grained continuum of types of employment depicted from wholly formal to wholly informal with many varieties in-between. The paper then briefly reviews what might be done to tackle this illegitimate wage practice. This clearly displays that this quasi-formal form of employment needs to be more fully integrated into discussions when discussing how to tackle undeclared work, since some measures that tackle wholly undeclared work, such as reducing the minimum wage, might simply allow formal employers to pay a larger portion of their formal employees’ earnings as an additional undeclared wage, rather than facilitate the creation of fully formal employment.
Keywords:
- illegitimate work,
- informal sector,
- shadow economy,
- undeclared work,
- informal employment,
- envelope wages,
- tax compliance,
- decent work,
- European Union
Résumé
Afin de démontrer que l’emploi formel et l’emploi informel ne sont pas toujours distincts l’un de l’autre, cet article met en lumière comment des travailleurs occupant des emplois dits formels dans l’Union européenne reçoivent, en fait, de leurs employeurs formels, deux types de salaires, soit un salaire officiellement déclaré et un salaire additionnel non déclaré, permettant aux employeurs d’échapper à leurs pleines obligations en matière fiscale et d’assurance sociale. L’analyse des données d’une enquête Eurobaromètre de 2007, comportant 26 659 entrevues en face à face dans les 27 États membres de l’Union européenne (EU-27), révèle qu’un employé sur 18 se retrouve embauché dans ce type d’emploi quasi formel, recevant en moyenne le quart de son salaire brut sur une base non déclarée. Une analyse de régression logistique à niveau multiple révèle quant à elle que l’emploi quasi formel est davantage prévalent dans les États de l’Europe centrale de l’Est, dans les entreprises de moindre taille et dans le secteur de la construction, ainsi que chez les hommes, les jeunes et les bas salariés.
Le représentation dichotomique de l’emploi, comme étant soit formel soit informel, mérite ainsi d’être revue en faveur d’un continuum plus raffiné de types d’emplois allant de l’emploi pleinement formel à l’emploi pleinement informel, avec toute une gamme d’entre-deux. L’article passe ensuite brièvement en revue ce qui peut être fait pour s’attaquer à cette pratique de travail illégitime. Il ressort clairement que cette forme d’emploi quasi formel doit être davantage intégrée dans les discussions portant sur la lutte au travail non déclaré, étant donné que certaines mesures allant en ce sens, telle une réduction du salaire minimum légal, peuvent avoir pour résultat d’inciter les employeurs formels à simplement accroître la portion non déclarée du salaire de leurs employés formels plutôt que de faciliter la création d’emplois vraiment formels.
Mots-clés:
- travail illégitime,
- secteur informel,
- économie souterraine,
- travail non déclaré,
- emploi informel,
- travail au noir,
- obligation fiscale,
- Union européenne
Resumen
Con el fin de demostrar que el empleo formal y el empleo informal no siempre son entidades distintas, este artículo hace resaltar que los trabajadores que ocupan empleos llamados formales en la Unión Europea reciben, en realidad, dos tipos de salario de sus respectivos empleadores, un salario oficialmente declarado y un salario adicional no declarado, lo que permite a los empleadores de eludir las plenas obligaciones en materia fiscal y de ventajas sociales. El análisis de los datos de una encuesta Eurobaromètre de 2007, incluyendo 26 659 entrevistas cara a cara en los 27 estados miembros de la Unión Europea (EU-27), revela que un empleado sobre 18 ocupa ese tipo de empleo casi formal, recibiendo en promedio el cuarto de su salario bruto bajo una forma no declarada. Un análisis de regresión logística de nivel múltiple revela por su lado que el empleo casi formal es sobre todo predominante en los Estados de la Europa Central del Este, en las empresas de talla menor y en el sector de la construcción, así como entre los hombres, los jóvenes y aquellos con bajo salario.
La representación dicotómica del empleo, es decir, formal o informal, merece de ser revisada en favor de un continuum más refinado de los tipos de empleos que van desde el empleo plenamente formal al empleo plenamente informal, incluyendo una amplia gama entre los dos. El artículo pasa brevemente en revista las estrategias posibles para atacarse a esta práctica de trabajo ilegitima. Resulta claramente que esta forma de empleo casi formal debe ser mejor integrada en las discusiones que abordan la lucha contra el trabajo no declarado, dado que ciertas medidas que van en este sentido, como una reducción del salario mínimo legal, podrían tener como resultado de incitar los empleadores formales a simplemente aumentar la porción no declarada del salario de sus empleados formales en lugar de facilitar la creación de empleos verdaderamente formales.
Palabras claves:
- trabajo ilegitimo,
- sector informal,
- economía subterránea,
- trabajo no declarado
Parties annexes
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