Casual work in agriculture and horticulture – Social policy check by the National Social Security Office (NSSO)

Casual work enables employers in agriculture and horticulture to benefit from a flexible form of employment with reduced social security contributions. Given the risks of social fraud and human trafficking associated with these sectors, this advantageous social security scheme is regulated by a standards framework and checks performed by the NSSO. However, the numerous regulatory changes do not allow for the establishment of a coherent social policy. Moreover, the NSSO does not systematically check compliance with the conditions for benefiting from casual work and lacks some of the data necessary to carry out structural checks. For social security, the shortfall associated with this scheme is estimated at 29.3 million euros. Furthermore, the risk of human trafficking persists.