The apparent rise in precarious work has received increased attention in a number of countries in recent decades. However, studies highlight the difficulties of both defining and capturing the extent of precarious work. In this paper, we report on a study of zero hours contracts in Ireland and drawing on the varieties of capitalism framework, examine the lessons for both LMEs and CMEs. The study found that zero hours contracts, as defined by Irish legislation, were not common; however, evidence of ‘If and When’ contracts emerged during the course of the research. We outline our key findings showing how information garnered from qualitative research provided nuanced insights on the reality of precarious work, which was not captured in the national data set. This is important for measuring the extent of precarious work in future studies.

中文翻译：

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定义和规范零时工作：自由市场经济的教训

近几十年来，不稳定工作的明显增加已引起许多国家的关注。但是，研究突显了定义和捕捉不稳定工作范围的困难。在本文中，我们报告了对爱尔兰零小时合同的研究，并借鉴了资本主义框架的多样性，考察了伦敦金属交易所和CME的经验教训。研究发现，按照爱尔兰法律的定义，零工时合同并不常见。但是，在研究过程中出现了“如果以及何时”合同的证据。我们概述了我们的主要发现，这些发现表明从定性研究中获得的信息如何对不稳定工作的现实提供细微的见解，而这在国家数据集中并未体现出来。这对于衡量未来研究中不稳定工作的程度非常重要。