By non-standard work, we refer to temporary employment, part-time work, on-call work, disguised employment, and dependent self-employment. These workers are often excluded from social dialogue processes and lack the same protections and opportunities to voice their concerns as permanent employees.

This project aims to explore the needs, interests, and motivations of non-standard workers in engaging with social dialogue. Additionally, we seek to assess the capacity and willingness of social partners to integrate these workers into existing dialogue structures.

Researchers from Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia and United Kingdom participates. The project started in February 2025 and will last for 48 months.  

The project is divided into several work-packages. See "Project overview" for more details.

Social dialogue is a cornerstone of the EU social market economy.  In times of transition, the significance of social dialogue grows, facilitating adjustments to digital and environmental shifts in economic activities and playing a vital role in enhancing work and living conditions. However, social dialogue has not always been sufficiently inclusive. This leads to an increasing dualization of the labour market between the better off (insiders) and the NSWs (outsiders). It is therefore urgent to find novel ways of including NSWs in social dialogue, to avoid leaving a growing segment of workers behind. 

INTEGRATE-DIALOGUE ambitiously aims to pioneer a comprehensive approach by synergising the needs, interests and motivations of NSWs with the strategic capacities of social partners. This innovative endeavor will not only provide in-depth scientific analysis and policy recommendations to augment the inclusiveness of social dialogue at all levels (EU, national, regional and firm), but will also proactively address and propose enhancements to the existing legal framework. The aim is to create a more cohesive, effective, and legally robust environment for social dialogue, contributing a novel perspective to the EU’s efforts to strengthen social dialogue.

INTEGRATE-DIALOGUE combines a top-down approach, focusing on the role of social partners and unions in approaching and including NSWs in collective institutions and a the bottom-up perspective, i.e., NSWs’ needs and interests to be represented and have a voice. The project will specifically look into the following main issues: (i) the rationale for social dialogue; (ii) the importance of the institutional framework in facilitating social dialogue within different business models; (iii) the capacity and willingness of social partners to include NSWs; (iv) the subjective view of NSWs on social dialogue; and (v) alternative policies that lead to the strengthening of social dialogue.