Social protection of foreign seasonal workers: from state to best practice

Abstract

The employment of foreign seasonal workers is often advocated for filling labour shortages, but at the same time criticised for being prone to exploiting migrants as cheap labour without granting them sufficient protection. The question of social protection rights of seasonal workers thus seems to be a crucial aspect in determining the success of seasonal worker schemes. This article analyses seasonal worker regulations in Australia, New Zealand, Germany and France. First, the level of protection international law provisions have set in place is examined. Second, the social security and work-related rights the four countries grant their seasonal workers are reviewed. Third, this article draws upon soft law, and legally non-binding or not widely ratified provisions in order to determine elements of a comprehensive set of social protection rights for seasonal workers. In conclusion, the practice of making social security contributions for seasonal workers mandatory without at the same time enabling them to benefit from these contributions is criticised. Therefore, it is recommended that a best practice model should provide for equal treatment with nationals in the area of work-related rights but make social security contributions either optional or shorten the qualifying periods, thus enabling workers to benefit from these services.