Developed into a “system error”.Unions pushed for the elimination of petty jobs
At first it doesn’t sound bureaucratic: a small job where you don’t have to pay social security contributions. However, criticism is now coming from the Union. It is said that anyone who does small jobs throughout his life “will end up empty-handed in old age.”
The head of the workers’ group in the Union’s parliamentary group, Stefan Nacke, called for petty jobs to be abolished. “Too many people are caught in the trap of working small – we can no longer accept that,” Nacke told “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. “Small jobs should be abolished because they are replacing regular jobs.” What was once a good idea had “evolved into a system error.” The employee group consists of 62 Bundestag members.
“What was intended to be unbureaucratic aid has now become a parallel world of work that is eroding the foundations of our welfare state,” Nacke said. Anyone who works at small jobs all his life “ends up empty-handed in old age.” This “was not an industrial accident, but a design error.” There are political reforms that start with good intentions and end with poor structures. “Small jobs are part of it.”
Millions of people work in small jobs
Originally intended as a simple way to make small, occasional activities in the household legal, “it has long become a labor market unto itself – outside the social order on which our labor markets and welfare states depend.” Currently, between six and eight million people work in petty jobs. What was once the exception has now become commonplace, especially in sectors such as catering, retail or cleaning.
The principle of “gross equal net” for small jobs sounds tempting, but is essentially anti-social, Nacke said. “This shifts the costs of insurance against illness, old age and unemployment to the general public.” The consequences are predictable: lower income from social security, increased costs for basic security.
“Small jobs must be returned to their original purpose – as a form of transition for students or retirees, not as a replacement structure for permanent work,” Nacke demands. The way to achieve this is “through clear legal change – towards the elimination of petty work as a permanent form of employment”. A transition period and a socially acceptable model are necessary, but the goal is clear: “Those who work must be socially protected. Step by step, small jobs must be turned into permanent jobs – with fair contributions, real rights and real opportunities for advancement.”
