Necessity of Reconsideration of Labour Law Relations – Pandemic, Labour Market, Social Innovation1

Necessity of Reconsideration of Labour Law Relations – Pandemic, Labour Market, Social Innovation1 Summary The﻿ changing﻿ of﻿ labour﻿ law﻿ relations﻿ has﻿ been﻿ accelerated﻿ because﻿ of﻿ recent﻿ events.﻿ The﻿ suddenly﻿ occurring﻿ pandemic﻿ situation﻿ has﻿ overwritten﻿ all﻿ the﻿ processes﻿ of﻿ the﻿ labour﻿market.﻿We﻿are﻿faced﻿with﻿numerous﻿problems﻿while﻿recovering﻿from﻿the﻿crisis.﻿ Basic﻿questions﻿ should﻿be﻿asked,﻿and﻿ they﻿have﻿ to﻿be﻿ considered.﻿One﻿ thing﻿ is﻿ sure:﻿ nothing﻿will﻿ be﻿ the﻿ same﻿as﻿before.﻿The﻿ situation﻿ created﻿by﻿COVID-19﻿ is﻿ a﻿disaster﻿ and﻿probably﻿an﻿opportunity﻿at﻿the﻿same﻿time.﻿It﻿is﻿an﻿opportunity﻿for﻿rebuilding﻿and﻿ developing﻿a﻿bit﻿different﻿and﻿maybe﻿a﻿ fairer﻿ labour﻿market.﻿There﻿are﻿ several﻿open﻿ questions﻿which﻿ should﻿ not﻿ be﻿ answered﻿ at﻿ once,﻿ but﻿we﻿ should﻿ dare﻿ to﻿ ask﻿ them.﻿ Given﻿the﻿initial﻿stage﻿of﻿the﻿epidemic,﻿this﻿study﻿seeks﻿to﻿shed﻿light﻿on﻿the﻿issues﻿that﻿ have﻿arisen﻿rather﻿than﻿to﻿give﻿concrete﻿answers﻿to﻿each﻿of﻿the﻿potential﻿problems.﻿The﻿ copy﻿ of﻿ the﻿manuscript﻿ submitted﻿ for﻿ publication﻿was﻿ finished﻿ in﻿April﻿ 2020,﻿ so﻿ by﻿ the﻿time﻿it﻿is﻿published,﻿we﻿may﻿have﻿already﻿received﻿answers﻿to﻿many﻿things,﻿but﻿it﻿ is﻿more﻿likely﻿that﻿many﻿questions﻿will﻿remain﻿open.


Introduction
Labourlawandemploymentissuesaresignificantlyinfluencedbythe coronavirus epidemic that broke out in the Chinese city of Wuhan in GáborMélypataki,DávidAdriánMáté s.2z20 2019 2 (hereinafter: . The virus has attacked the two most importantand,insomeways,theweakestelementsofourpresenteconomy.Oneistheglobalizedeconomy,basedonwhichitisworthwhile toimportcomponentsorrawmaterialsfromoverseasbecauseoftheir cost-effectiveness, rather than to obtain them at a higher cost domestically.Theotherimportant,butweak,elementishumanmanpower. Asthevirusanditsexactbehaviourarestillunknown,weknowonly thatitcanleadtodeathrelativelyeasilyinthecaseofcertainco-morbiditiesandriskfactors.Accordingly,governmentshaveordainedrestrictivemeasurespartlytoprotectthepeople.Theroleoftherestrictivemeasuresistoprotectcitizensandtheeconomy.Thesetwohave a significant impact on the world of work. If people are protected, it will be easier to restart the economy. But it should be added that the damages of economy and labour market can be estimated only quite impreciselyatthistime. 3 Theirrealscopewillbedetectablecompletely only during the years following the virus situation. The next years will be the years of reconstruction. But it is certain that we will not beabletocontinueasearlier.Ifevennotradically,ourconceptabout workandlabourmarketwillchangesignificantly.Severaleffectsshouldbeconsideredwhichhavehadonlyapartialrole.Thesearesuch tendencies and measures whose effects on changing labour law and thelabourmarkethavebeenexpectedforlaterorevenadecadelater. The role of alternative and atypical employment and the applicationofthetoolsoftechnologicaldevelopmentaregrowingsignificantly. These should be evaluated in the light of the fact that employees aregettingintoamorevulnerablepositionthanbeforeinthiscurrent situation. One reason for this is that the employers employing a significant part of the employees also find themselves in a vulnerable position.NotjusttheSMEsector,butmultinationalcompaniesaswell. Thebasisoftheemploymentcrisisisthatpersonalworkcarriesahigh risk of the spread of the epidemic. But it is also true that not all jobs canbeperformedfromahomeoffice.Thereisanotherimportanteffect NecessityofReconsiderationofLabourLawRelations… s.3z20 onthelabourmarket,namely,thedeclineinconsumption.Thedecline in consumption means less demand. 4 And less demand means fewer producedproductsandprovidedservices.Thesemeanlessmanpower is needed. The importance of this can be seen in the significant decreaseinconsumptionofluxuryproductsandthecollapseoftourism. 5 As it is also highlighted by Valerio Di Stefano, the employment crisis caused by a pandemic has no precedent since World War II. 6 The decline can best be illustrated by the decrease of the officially registered working hours. In the newest report of the U.S. BUREAU OFLABORSTATISTICSinMarch,theaverageworkfellby0.2hours, but fell by 1.4 hours per week in some sectors (such as catering, free time services). 7 The number of lost working hours is expected to increase with the increased spread of the virus. 8 The preliminary data ofEurofoundalsoshowthatcertainsectorswillbeaffectedespecially strongly by the economic effect of the pandemic. Based on the data ofMarch2020,HurleycollectedthereductionsfromEUcountriesdefinitely caused by  02April2020,hecounted16,000employeeswholosttheirjobsbecause of the pandemic during March. 9 Naturally, the above-mentioned reported16,000joblossesinMarchrelatedtotheCOVID-19outbreak representonlyatinypartofthedisruptionthatisunavoidablycaused by the crisis in Europe. The effects of the employment crisis will be felt in all the sectors, since it will not concentrate on only some sectors.DuetotheCOVID-19crisis,6.7%oftheformerworkinghoursis expectedtodisappearworldwideinthesecondquarterof2020,which means the working hours of nearly 195 million full-time employees. ThepredictionoftheILOexpectssignificantdecreases:8.1%oftheformer working hours will disappear in theArabic states, meaning that 5 million full-time employees will lose their jobs; this will be 7.8% in Europe,meaningthelossofabout12millionfull-timejobs,and7.2% inAsiaandthePacificRegion,meaningthedisappearanceof125million full-time jobs. 10 Not only the decrease of the amount of working hoursshouldbefaced,butthechangesintheratesbetweendifferent sectors as well. In total, the amount of total working hours is decreasing,butincertainsectors,suchashealthcareandsectorsemploying "unskilledmanpower"analysedbyO'Shea,theworkinghoursareincreasing.
The labour market will be significantly transformed. New principlesandreinterpreteddefinitionswilldefinetheemploymentandlabourlawframes.Itisnecessarytore-evaluatetheemploymentframes, asafterthecrisisin2008.Thecrisisin2008couldbehandledbyclassic labourlawandemploymentpolicytools.However,thelabourmarket haschangedalotsincethen,sonewformulasandinnovativesolutions willbenecessary.Herewemayrefertothepublicationsofthejournal "Fordulat" cited by Szalai that deal with the losers and winners of  It is absolutely necessary to underline that, according to thecurrentsituationofthelabourmarket,thoseemployeesworkingin 9 J.Hurley:Coronavirus:A labour market earthquake.https://www.eurofound.euro pa.eu/publications/blog/coronavirus-a-labour-market-earthquake,(19/04/2020). underrated and underpaid positions operate the economy while they are considered to be unqualified employees. But we have to cite the thoughts of O'Shea to re-evaluate this definition. She says that these jobsareunderpaidandusuallyrelatedtorepetitiveworkingprocesses, and they are mostly considered to be a dead end by both the society and the economy. The most important characteristic of these jobs, such as cashier, shop assistant or fast food waiter, is that they are all registered as "unskilled" jobs. But we have good reason to consider morepreciselythemeaningandimportanceofthisconcept.Although thesejobscanbecalledunskilled,peopleinthesepositionsoftenneed severalotherskills. 12 Based on the above, solutions are needed that go beyond previous values. The method of handling the crisis will be defined by its deep ness. In our opinion, based on the possible outcome mentioned bySzalai,amoremoderaterecessioniscominginwhichdifferentand contrary tendencies of contemporary capitalism will be strengthened, whichwillbecharacterizedbyafurtherrapiddecreaseinthenumber of face-to-face relationships, increasing dominance of the digital net in human relationships, robotization accelerated by the risk of infection,andthealmostcompleteexclusionofpeoplefromproduction.We wouldliketoexaminethepossibledegreeofthistendencyinthelight offlexibleworkinghoursandthedigitalizationofthelabourmarket. 13

The effect of distance on the employment relationship
Because of COVID-19, one of the most important social norms to follow is distancing. In the current context, distancing primarily means physicalandsocialdistancing.Theaimofdistancingistodeceleratethe spreadofthevirusandsavehumanlives.Likeeverything,thisdistancingalsodemandssacrifice.Itisnotjustaboutnotvisitingourrelatives for a few weeks to protect their health and our own, but the fact that the classic employment relationship is based on personal contact. It is sucharelationshipoftrustthatdemandspersonalcontactbetweenthe employer and the employee. Views derived from German dogmatics and spreading in continental law, 14 which characterize the relationship betweentheemployerandtheemployee,alsorefertothis.Ofcourse,it canbeseeninthechainofthetheoriesthatdistanceisbecomingmore andmoreevidentinthelegalrelationsofthepartiesaswell.Itsresultis thattheemployeehasbeenmovedfromarelationofpersonaldependence to one of economic dependence. Economic dependence, however, also supposes a kind of personal relation. This personal relation had startedtobreakupwhenthosefirstatypicalworkformsoccurredthat increased both physical and personal distance. As a result of the epidemic,thesurvivalofmanyemployersdependedontheintroductionof teleworkingandtheuseofthehomeoffice.Thesebecamenecessarynot onlyduetotheintroducedrestrictions,butalsoduetotheoccupational safetyobligationsarisingonthepartoftheemployer.Theseobligations requirestheemployertoensuregeneralconditionsforworkthatdonot endanger health and are safe. It can be stated that in the current situation, personal space is increasingly being transferred to digital space, and a system based on traditional personal work is being replaced by workinonlinespace.Theepidemicraisedlabourlawissueswhoseinterpretation suddenly became important. One such question is, what exactly is a home office? How is it different from telecommuting and otherformsofworkingfromhome? 15 Therearequestionsaboutthefundamentalsofclassicallabourlaw,suchasthedifferencebetweenlabour relationsandself-employment.Thisyear,withelementaryforce,thereis asearchfortheanswertohowmuchtherelationshipbetweenemployee andemployerisbuiltonpersonalandeconomicdependence. 16 Therole ofclassicphysicaljobswillchange.
However, it should be noted that not all work can be done in ahomeofficeandtelecommutingform.Therearejobswherepersonal presenceisessential.Inthesecases,itisnecessaryfortheemployerto adapttothenewsituationandcreatesafeworkingconditions.

Robotization
Theimpactofdistancingandthepandemicontheeconomywillhave a medium-tolonger-termimpact.In ourview one aspectofthis will bethedigitalisationoflabour.Thedemandfordigitalizationisexponentially increasing, and the importance of robots will be one of its features. We do not dispute that the technological change of the 21st centuryhadaneffectindependentoftheepidemic.However,itcanbe statedasafactthattheepidemichassignificantlyacceleratedtheneed toapplynewtechnologies.Thereis,inconnectionwiththis,therules of distance and the tendency to increase the so-called installation of "dark factories". In our opinion, some prognoses about automation 17 willbecomeinvalidasalotofcompanieswouldliketorobotizesome oralloftheirworkingprocesses.Ashasbeenmentioned,humanmanpower is one of the weakest elements of the developing globalized market; 18 itsreplacementbymachineshasbeengoingonfordecades, andthiswillbeacceleratedbythiscurrentsituation.
Usingarobotisastandardpracticetoday.Itwouldbehardtoimaginehowmanypurposesrobotsareusedforbysomecompanies.Some companies use them as supplementary workforce beside human manpower. And other employers use them especially for controlling purposes. 19 The combination of technologies has developed a lot in recent years. The COVID-19 pandemic will probably strengthen this process. Thelackofemployeesandtherestrictiononhumanrelationshipsbased 17 McKinsey Global Institute: A Future that Works: Automation, Employment, and Productivity. https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/featured%20insights/Di gital%20Disruption/Harnessing%20automation%20for%20a%20future%20that%20 works/MGI-A-future-that-works-Full-report.ashx,(12/01/2020). 18 Deloitte press release: A vállalati IT kihívásai COVID19 kapcsán. https://www2. deloitte.com/hu/hu/pages/technologia/articles/a-vallalati-it-szerepe-az-uzletmenetfolytonossag-fenntartasaban.html#,(28/03/2020.). on voluntary and legal measures due to the coronavirus pandemic are boosting the demand for service robots in China. According to some studies,thiscurrentsituationcouldpotentiallyresultinaboostforthis sectorwhichhasnotbeensostrongfromtheaspectofthemarket. 20 The massapplicationofrobotswillbeaprocessdrivenbycost-effectiveness besides the supplement/replacement of vulnerable human manpower. Inouropinion,ifthemaintenancecostofarobotfallsunderfivedollars aday,thequestionwillbeonlythetimewhenthecompanieswillseize theopportunity.Thesaidvaluelimitisthelimitthatmakesrobotscompetitiveagainsthumanlabour.Inlabourlawrelations,theuseofcheap robots will influence not just the direct working conditions, but also issuessuchaswagebargainingandtheexerciseofcollectiveemployee rights. Because of the recession caused by COVID-19, automation will probablyhaveeffects,forexample,someofthejobslostduetothevirus will never return 21 , since companies will transform their operations to be supported rather by machines than humans. The economic effects of the epidemic cannot be estimated at this time but great losses can bepredictedevenwithoutconcretenumbers.Automationandrobotizationendangersthose"unskilledemployees"whooperatetheeconomy underthecurrentconditions.O'Sheaalsohigh lightstherhetoricofthe employees'management,thebasisofwhichisthatusingrobotsisusuallyconnectedtotheunderpaidlayersofthelabourmarket.Thedebate abouttheautomationofthemanagementislesscommon.Thiscanincludethingssuchasthetimescheduleoftheemployees,whichismore andmoreoptimizedbytheuseoftechnology,anditdisproportionately influencesunskilledwork. 22 One main effect of robotization and automation will be collective reductions in the labour force. This process can be expected even if those analyses which say that employment may expand by using AI androbotizationareprovenaccurate. 23  ogyeliminatesjobs,andthejobscreatedbynewtechnologiesrequire completely different skills. Significant redundancies are expected on one side, but the other side of the labour market cannot compensate byrecruitment.Onthecontrary,adifferentviewistakenbyPabaand Solinas.Accordingtotheirfindings,robotizationandautomationwere just some factors which explained this labour force decline. 24 According to them, the application of the new technologies will create more jobsthanwelose. 25 Wealsoagreethatthechangesoflabourmarketare influenced by economic processes that are involved in social innovation. 26 Thesituationismostlyapproachedfromthenegativeside,butit canbeinterpretedasakindoffinalrehearsal.Standinginfrontofdigitalization,wecantestinactualtimehowmanyjobswillhaveanimmediatepossibilitytobetransformedtoteleworkingandhome-office work. According to some extreme views, these processes are a kind ofprofilecleaning.Thecurrentdominantapproachisthatpeoplewill simply be able to work less and occupy themselves with something else by the development of robotics. However, David Graeber highlightsthattheoretically,itcanbedebatedonmorelevels 27 thatmostof theproductivejobshavebeenautomizedandservicesandadministrative jobs have been created instead of them as these sectors have expanded. He often considers these to be meaningless and unnecessary jobs,whichhecalls"bullshitjobs"inhisbook,inwhichpeopledonot do anything and the jobs are performed completely needlessly. 28  it is a significant indicator of this process, revealing that distance can affect production, which will lead to investment in new technologies overtimetoincreaseefficiency.Theapplicationofthenewtechnology willnotonlyraiselabourmarketissues,butalsoissuesrelatedtothe labourlawrelationship.Werecognizethattheimpactofthepandemic will be indirect and rather a consequence of the changing economic situationduetothevirus.

Innovation -the importance of social innovation
Ourchangedlifesituationandourchangingeconomyrequireinnovativesolutions.However,innovationisnotjustabouttechnicalinnovation. The progress and development of our world has always been ensured by eccentric ways of thinking and ideas that transcend the particularera.Therearedifferentdrivingforcesandmotivatorsinthe background of reformers' solutions 29 , but the most central of them is the increase in efficiency. The pandemic and the recovery from the economic crisis caused by the virus are such incentive factors in our currentlifesituation.Nowadays,wearehearingmoreandmoreabout innovation, which has become an important basic concept also in the fieldofthesocialsciences.Inouropinion,itisbasedontheideathat accelerated technical development raises more and more possibilities and problems which require a reaction. This phenomenon occurs not onlyontheorganizationallevel,butalsoonboththesocialandglobal levels. The economic situation caused by COVID-19 is a crisis occurring on the global level, and it goes far beyond the frames of nationstate thinking. It can be told about innovation that it is a targeted, organizedsearchforchanges,theregularanalysis,realizationandutilization of renewal possibilities in the economy and society, and its mostcommon,slogan-likedefinitionis"fromtheideatorealization." 30 Earlier, people creating innovative solutions were mostly inventors. However, innovation should be separated from invention. Currently, thesolutionsandideasresultingfromthisinnovativepolicyshouldbe appliedinpractice.Theresultofinnovationisnotalwaysarealproduct.Itcanbearegulationorevenagoodpracticecreatedfortreating thecrisis.Therearemorefactorsbehindthis.Oneofthemisthattechnicaldevelopmentprovidesopportunityfornewideasandsolutions. It breaks down the borders and obstacles that have constricted some notions.Additionally,duetotechnologicaldevelopment,anincreasing percentageofemployeescanworkinjobswheretheycanunveiltheir knowledgeandcreativity.Employeesshouldperformfewerexercises thatwouldnotallowthemtodeveloptheirpersonalpotentialininnovationbecauseoftheirmonotonousandtrainedcharacter.Nowadays, innovation is characterized by a conscious break with earlier habits and systems. By means of research, it becomes possible to review older techniques and methods which often have surprising results. However, the reason for these processes is rooted in the fact that the world around us has changed due to digital changes. Our habits, life rhythms, consumption demands and traditions have changed. What was unimaginable earlier may now be built into our daily life as an innovative solution. Of course, innovative ideas can come appear not only in digital space, but may take the form of offline solutions as well.Theconceptthatjobrecruiterswillcreatenewmethodstoutilize theglobaltalentpoolbyusingnewtechnologiestosearchforprofessionals from all over the world, in order to accelerate the application processandmoderatethelossofmanpowerafterthecrisis,mayserve asanexcellentexampleforthis.Itwillbeespeciallyimportantastalent willbemoremobileandvirtual. 31 Innovation was previously considered to be the introduction of a new product, but nowadays it has a wider meaning, and more and moretypesofitcanbedistinguished.Oneofthemissocialinnovation. Simply defined, we are talking about a complex activity process that has the aim of finding a renewed or developing solution for a social problem. 32 Andsocialproblemswillalwaysexist:infacttheirnumber 31 J.Bello,S.Collins,R.Dreischmeier,andA.Libarikian:Innovating from necessity: The business-building imperative in the current crisis.https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/innovating-from-necessity-the-businessbuilding-imperative-in-the-current-crisis?cid=other-eml-alt-mip-mck&hlkid=5b915 457a2bd482296d3599f394b76c3&hctky=11535124&hdpid=3363065a-4a26-4da5-a605--b6868bf6781c,(19/04/2020). 32 Pauolovics,Cseh,op.cit.10.
has increased due to accelerated technical development; they are exacerbated by the global pandemic and they are waiting for solutions. Onlytohighlightsomeofthem,wemightmentiontheissueofmanpower which has been supplanted by robotization and automation, conformationtothedigitalenvironment,thegenerationofdifferences causedbydigitalincompatibilities,problemsrelatedtotele-education andtheincreaseduseofthehomeoffice.Inalotofcases,theseemergingquestionscanbesolvedonlybynew,innovativeideas.Inouropinion, based on the above, the topic of social innovation has a special significance. This is also confirmed by the circumstance that social problemsareoftencausedbyeconomicandscientificinnovationsand these problems can be solved only by the help of social innovations.
Research has shown that the significance of social innovation is not lessthanthatofeconomicandscientificinnovations. 33 Woolworthsretail company can be mentioned among the models of good practices evenrightnow.Ithastomaintainthousandsofrentedfoodmarkets. By a rational application process, it offers short-term work for those 20,000 employees of Qantas Airways who temporarily cannot work becauseofthecompany'sslowdown.Severalcompaniesshouldlearn newwaysThesenewskillscouldcreatethebasisofunorthodoxpartnerships.Thisexampleshowswellthatwearetalkingaboutatotally newlevelofinnovation.Thislevelisthelevelofsocialinnovation. Theexpressionsocialinnovationwascreatedinthe1970's.Itdoes not have a uniformly accepted definition, but several definitions can befoundintheliterature,including,butnotlimitedto,thefollowing, whichcanbeandshouldbeinterpretedinlightofthiscurrenteconomicsituation: -Socialinnovationisanewsolutionforsocialproblemsthatismore efficient, effective and sustainable than the present ones, and its value redounds primarily to the whole society and not to private persons.

Summary
One thing is sure: the economy has almost stopped everywhere. This causesasocialcrisisthatisrootedintheemploymentcrisisexplained above. Many people have lost their jobs and a lot more people will dointhenearfuture.Thissituationisalsoatestofsocialsystems.Is thesocialservicesystemformedunderearlieremploymentconditions abletodealwiththiscurrentsituation,andifnot,howfastcanitadapt toit?Thequestioniswhetherthetraditionalrecipewillworkornot.By thiswemeanjobswhereitisnotnecessarilypossibletousethehome office. The German legislature pulled out again the idea of shortened work(Kurzarbeit)asaninnovativesolutionwhichwasusedfortreating the crisis in 2008.According to some analyses, the relapse of the German economic performance was 45% less by the introduction of shortworkthanwithoutsuchascript. 39 AssummarizedbyKrauseand Kühn,theessentialfeatureofthemeasureistoprovideanopportunity forthecompaniesstrugglingwitheconomicdifficultiestodecreasethe employees' working hours by the application of a short work system insteadofshutdown.Thereby,economicfacilitationisachievedbythe decrease.Undercertainconditions,theaffectedemployeesareentitled tosocialinsurancebenefitswhicharetechnicallypaidbytheemployer andthecostofthiscouldberequiredfromthenationalorganizations inordertocompensateforthenetincomeloss(60%and67%).Theaim ofthismechanismistoavoidunemploymentandtoensurethesustenanceofwell-qualifiedmanpower.Butthisisnotonlyalabourmarket interest, but also a social one. If a part of the jobs could be saved by thismethod,itwouldmeanevenlesswouldgooutinthepaidwage compensationthanassocialbenefitsandunemploymentaid.
Althoughtreatingacrisisdoesnotconsistonlyofmeasurescreat ed by pioneer thoughts, it makes a traditionally complex point of view necessary. In our study, we primarily have asked our questions in a 39 Kurzarbeit könnte Wirtschaftseinbruch fast halbieren. https://www.zeit.de/wirt schaft/2020-04/kurzarbeit-coronavirus-pandemie-wirtschaftseinbruch,(20/04/2020). NecessityofReconsiderationofLabourLawRelations… s.15z20 debating manner. We are well aware that we might be charged with having produced a rather eclectic and perhaps incoherent text. This would be due to the fact that the set of problems researched is itself incoherent but is still fed from the same source. By the time the article is published, we will have already answered many questions, but wecertainlywillnothaveasolutionforeverything.Employmentand social crises should be treated in parallel with both innovative and classicemploymentpolicyandlabourlawinstruments.Thedominant elementdiffersbycountries.TheGermansapparentlyseethesolution in the Kurzarbeit, the Spanish have moved to the direction of unconditionalbasicincome. 40 Itdoesnotmatterwhetherthesolutionisold ornew:itshouldbeinnovativeandeffective.Theossifiedreflexesdo notwork.Thisisadifferentcrisisthanearlierones.Itrequiresadifferent solution to treat both employment and socialproblems. Toolsare availableforeveryone.Thequestioniswhetherthelegislatorswantto ordaretousethem,orwhethertheywillrejectthemandrepeatoldfashionedslogans,waitingfortheend.