Irregular Migrant Workers and Social Security

The growing number of irregular migrant workers, i.e. unlawfully or lawfully present foreigners who engage in employment although not legally authorized to do so, poses a challenge for national social security policy. The challenge is twofold. First, irregular work by foreigners is usually undeclared work, i.e. work for which no social security contributions and taxes are paid. Second, irregular migrant workers may be confronted with the realization of a social risk, such as the loss of income due to the birth of a child or the need for health care. This poses the question for social security of how to deal with people who have no authorization to work in the country, and possibly also no authorization to reside there. Preliminary investigations have shown that both legal science and national legislators struggle with this question.The research of Klaus Kapuy sought to contribute to the current legal discourse on the social security status of migrants in an irregular situation. It was the aim of the research to come up with suggestions on how to treat irregular migrant workers in national social security law by deploying a method which has not hitherto been used in legal research: an analysis of social security law itself. In order to understand the mechanisms of social security law better, the author has not only looked at the treatment of irregular migrant workers, but also at the treatment of a reference group. The reference group the author identified consists of nationals whose work is not declared to social security authorities. The comparison between irregular migrant workers and undeclared national workers has been conducted in three different countries (Belgium, Canada and the Netherlands). In order to better understand the results of the analysis of national law and to ascertain the legal limits of any proposal on the legal position of irregular migrant workers, the author also investigated the existing international legal framework in this field.This article summarizes the results of the doctoral research of Klaus Kapuy