The Social Security Position of Irregular Migrant Workers

How should a State treat an irregular migrant worker, i.e. a foreign worker without authorisation to stay and/or work in the country, who is confronted with the realisation of a social risk? For instance, how should the State deal with an irregular migrant worker who becomes incapacitated for work due to a labour accident? Should he/she be treated like any other worker and qualify for income replacement benefits, medical benefits and labour-market reintegration measures? Or should the worker be denied benefits since he/she lacks work authorisation and may also lack authorisation to be in the country? This book addresses these questions and sets out proposals on how irregular migrant workers should be treated in national social security law. These are based on an analysis of the current social security position of irregular migrant workers and of a reference group, i.e. a country's own nationals who engage in undeclared work, in three selected Western States: Belgium, Canada and the Netherlands.In addition, the author conducts an in-depth investigation of the existing international legal framework (UN, ILO, EU, and CoE law), in order to ascertain the legal limits of any proposal on the legal position of irregular migrant workers.