Table 3.

Measurement schemes of the EPL.

Basic Item	Short Description		Assignment of Numerical Scores
			Assigned Scores
			0	1	2	3	4	5	6
Individual dismissals of workers with regular contracts
Item1 Notification Procedures	Scale 0–3 0 when an oral statement is enough; 1 when a written statement of the reasons for dismissal must be supplied to the employee; 2 when a third party (such as works council or the competent labor authority) must be notified; 3 when the employer cannot proceed to dismissal without authorization from a third party;		Scale (0 − 3) × 2
Item2 Delay involved before notice can start	Days Estimated time includes, where relevant, the following assumptions: six days are counted in case of a required warning procedure; one day when dismissal can be notified orally or the notice can be directly handed to the employee; two days when a letter needs to be sent by mail; and three days when this must be a registered letter.		≤2	<10	<18	<26	<35	<45	≥45
Item3 Length of the notice period at	9 months tenure	Months	0	≤0.4	≤0.8	≤1.2	≤1.6	<2	≥2
	4 years tenure	Months	0	≤0.75	≤1.25	<2	<2.5	<3.5	≥3.5
	20 years tenure	Months	<1	≤2.75	<5	<7	<9	<11	≥11
Item4 Severance pay at	9 months tenure	Months pay	0	≤0.5	≤1	≤1.75	≤2.5	<3	≥3
	4 years tenure	Months pay	0	≤0.5	≤1	≤2	≤3	<4	≥4
	20 years tenure	Months pay	0	≤3	≤6	≤10	≤12	≤18	>18
Item5 Definition of justified or unfair dismissal	Scale 0–3 0 when worker capability or redundancy of the job are adequate and sufficient ground for dismissal; 1 when social considerations, age, or job tenure must when possible influence the choice of which worker(s) to dismiss; 2 when a transfer and/or a retraining to adapt the worker to different work must be attempted prior to dismissal; 3 when worker capability cannot be a ground for dismissal;		Scale (0 − 3) × 2
Item6 Length of trial period	Months Period within which, regular contracts are not fully covered by employment protection provisions and unfair dismissal claims can usually not be made.		≥24	>12	>9	>5	>2.5	≥1.5	<1.5
Item7 Compensation following unfair dismissal	Months pay Typical compensation at 20 years of tenure, including back pay and other compensation (e.g., for future lost earnings in lieu of reinstatement or psychological injury), but excluding ordinary severance pay.		≤3	≤8	≤12	≤18	≤24	≤30	<30
Item8 Possibility of reinstatement following unfair dismissal	Scale 0–3 0 no right or practice of reinstatement; 1 reinstatement rarely or sometimes made available; 2 reinstatement fairly often made available; 3 reinstatement (almost) always made available;		Scale (0 − 3) × 2
Item9 Maximum time to make a claim of unfair dismissal	Months Maximum time period after dismissal notification up to which an unfair dismissal claim can be made.		Before dismissal takes effect	≤1	≤3	≤6	≤9	≤12	>12
Temporary employment
Item10 Valid cases for use of fixed-term contracts (FTC)	Scale 0–3 0 fixed-term contracts are permitted only for “objective” or “material situation”, i.e., to perform a task which itself is of fixed duration; 1 if specific exemptions apply to situations of employer need (e.g., launching a new activity) or employee need (e.g., workers in search of their first job); 2 when exemption exist on both the employer and employee sides; 3 when there are no restrictions on the use of fixed-term contracts.		6 − (Scale (0 − 3) × 2)
Item11 Maximum number of successive FTC	Number		No limit	≥5	≥4	≥3	≥2	≥1.5	<1.5
Item12 Maximum cumulated duration of successive FTC	Months		No limit	≥36	≥30	≥24	≥18	≥12	<12
Item13 Types of work for which temporary. Work agency (TWA) employment is legal	Scale 0–4 0 when TWA employment is illegal; 1 only allowed in specified industries; 2 only allowed for “objective reasons”; 3 generally allowed, with specified exceptions; 4 generally allowed, no (or minimal) restrictions.		6 − (Scale (0 − 4) × 6/4)
Item14 Restrictions on number of renewals	Yes/No		-	-	No	-	Yes	-	-
Item15 Maximum cumulated duration of TWA assignments	Months		No limit	≥36	≥24	≥18	≥12	>6	≤6
Item16 Does the set-up of a TWA require authorization or reporting obligations	Scale 0–3 0 no authorization or reporting requirements; 1 requires special administrative authorization; 2 requires periodic reporting obligations; 3 both authorization and reporting requirements.		Scale (0 − 3) × 2
Item17 Do regulations ensure equal treatment of regular and agency workers at the user firm?	Scale 0–2 0 no requirement for equal treatment; 1 equal treatment regarding pay or working conditions; 2 equal treatment regarding pay and working conditions.		Scale (0 − 2) × 3
Strictness of employment protection—Individual dismissals (Regular workers), summary indicator weights
Summary Index of EPR Scale 0–6	Sub-Indexes Scale 0–6		Items Scale 0–6						Weights
Individual dismissals—Regular worker (EPR)	Procedural inconveniences (1/3)		1. Notification procedures						(1/2)
			2. Delay to start a notice						(1/2)
	Notice and severance pay for no-fault individual dismissals (1/3)		3. Notice period after:
			9 months						(1/7)
			4 years						(1/7)
			20 years						(1/7)
	Difficulty of dismissal (1/3)		4. Severance pay after:
			9 months						(4/21)
			4 years						(4/21)
			20 years						(4/21)
			5. Definition of unfair dismissal						(1/5)
			6. Trial period						(1/5)
			7. Compensation						(1/5)
			8. Reinstatement						(1/5)
			9. Maximum time for claim						(1/5)
Strictness of employment protection—temporary contracts
Summary index of EPT Scale 0–6	Sub-indexes Scale 0–6		Items Scale 0–6						Weights
Temporary contracts (EPT)	Fixed term contracts (1/2)		10. Valid cases for use of fixed-term contracts						(1/2)
			11. Maximum number of successive contracts						(1/4)
			12. Maximum cumulated duration						(1/4)
	Temporary work Agency employment (1/2)		13. Types of work for which is legal						(1/3)
			14. Restrictions on number of renewals						(1/6)
			15. Maximum cumulated duration						(1/6)
			16. Authorization and re porting						(1/6)
			17. Equal treatment						(1/6)