European Policy Analysis
with the Law on Posted Workers . As soon as the employer hires them himself then he cannot have them there 24 hours at your service , that does not work , than they have to have normal working hours , normal free time . It really only works if you do it with the Law on Posted Workers and they are employed in their country of origin . ( Head of a German agency for live-ins )
This statement is interesting because what she described is also illegal in Germany . As has been mentioned before , basic working rights apply for all workers in Germany , also those who are employed by foreign agencies . Intriguingly , the informant uses the Law on Posted Workers ( AEntG 2009 ) as the legal foundation for the precarious working conditions , a law aimed at protecting basic working rights of posted workers in Germany . One regulation which does applies is the Act on Working Hours ( ArbZG 2012 ) which limits the possible hours per day to 8 – 10 hours . In a 24-hour care setting , which the agency described , these basic rules are broken . This shows that there are uncertainties about valid laws even within the agencies who place live-ins in German families . The circularity of live-ins is thus founded on a partially wrongful interpretation of valid laws and takes place within a legal grey area , also due to the inability of the state to control working conditions . This shows the precarity of the situation of live-ins , as controls in other sectors contracting a high share of posted workers , such as the construction industry , is realized more easily .
The interviews indicate that there is a high degree of organization involved in the employment of live-ins , which also points to a high degree of controllability . One of the reasons for this increased controllability is because of the nature of the business . The employees never know how long they can keep a position because the person they are taking care of might die , which results in the loss of the position . This is why they highly depend on the agencies to get a new position soon afterwards . Families and live-ins themselves have a limited influence on the rotating system , as they can only navigate within the set boundaries . But beyond that , they both depend on the agency and are bound to them because they have the information necessary for the employment to take place .
Consequences of Circularity
Now that the organization of circularity has become clear , what are the consequences of this circularity on the situation of live-ins ? What advantages does circularity have for the employers ? One advantage of the recruitment of liveins for the receiving country is that this recruitment fills positions , which would otherwise stay empty . The profession of live-ins is what Piore ( 1979 ) calls an immigrant job , a result of the bifurcation of the labor market with an increasing number of lower paid jobs , which are unattractive for natives .
In the case of live-ins it can be argued , that the demand for their labor also derives from other processes in society such as emancipation . One informant pointed out , that because of emancipation in Germany , this kind of caring and domestic work has become unattractive for women as they have a wider range of professions to choose from . The informant explained that this process of emancipation is not that
126