Strictness of employment protection — Temporary contracts by country
The OECD indicators of employment protection are synthetic indicators of the strictness of regulation on dismissals and the use of temporary contracts. For each year, indicators refer to regulation in force on the 1st of January. For more information and full methodology, see OECD Indicators of Employment...
What the numbers show
Strictness of employment protection — Temporary contracts is currently reported for 41 countries. The highest value is 4.25 0-6 scale in Mexico; the lowest is 0.25 0-6 scale in Canada.
The median across all reporting countries is 1.75 0-6 scale, and the mean is 1.9 0-6 scale.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 17.
Over the past decade 8 countries rose and 2 fell. The largest increase was in Mexico (up 106.1%), and the largest decrease in Argentina (down 31.6%).
Strictness of employment protection — Temporary contracts: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mexico | 4.25 0-6 scale | 2025 | up 106.1% | falling |
| 2 | Brazil | 4.12 0-6 scale | 2012 | — | flat |
| 3 | Uruguay | 4 0-6 scale | 2019 | unchanged | flat |
| 4 | Luxembourg | 3.75 0-6 scale | 2025 | unchanged | flat |
| 5 | France | 3.5 0-6 scale | 2025 | down 3.4% | rising |
| 6 | Spain | 3.47 0-6 scale | 2025 | up 40.5% | falling |
| 7 | Costa Rica | 3.38 0-6 scale | 2025 | unchanged | flat |
| 7 | Saudi Arabia | 3.38 0-6 scale | 2012 | — | flat |
| 9 | Chile | 3 0-6 scale | 2025 | unchanged | flat |
| 9 | Norway | 3 0-6 scale | 2025 | unchanged | falling |
| 11 | Indonesia | 2.75 0-6 scale | 2012 | — | flat |
| 12 | Portugal | 2.31 0-6 scale | 2025 | up 27.6% | falling |
| 13 | Greece | 2.25 0-6 scale | 2025 | unchanged | falling |
| 13 | Peru | 2.25 0-6 scale | 2019 | unchanged | flat |
| 15 | Belgium | 2.06 0-6 scale | 2025 | unchanged | falling |
| 16 | Italy | 1.88 0-6 scale | 2025 | up 15.4% | falling |
| 16 | Colombia | 1.88 0-6 scale | 2025 | unchanged | flat |
| 18 | OECD | 1.82 0-6 scale | 2024 | up 4.3% | flat |
| 19 | India | 1.81 0-6 scale | 2012 | — | flat |
| 20 | China | 1.75 0-6 scale | 2012 | — | flat |
| 20 | Paraguay | 1.75 0-6 scale | 2019 | unchanged | flat |
| 22 | Argentina | 1.62 0-6 scale | 2025 | down 31.6% | falling |
| 22 | Denmark | 1.62 0-6 scale | 2025 | unchanged | falling |
| 24 | Finland | 1.56 0-6 scale | 2025 | unchanged | rising |
| 25 | Czechia | 1.44 0-6 scale | 2025 | unchanged | rising |
| 26 | Austria | 1.31 0-6 scale | 2025 | unchanged | flat |
| 27 | Switzerland | 1.25 0-6 scale | 2025 | unchanged | flat |
| 27 | Hungary | 1.25 0-6 scale | 2025 | unchanged | rising |
| 29 | Australia | 1.12 0-6 scale | 2025 | up 28.6% | rising |
| 29 | Russian Federation | 1.12 0-6 scale | 2012 | — | flat |
| 31 | Germany | 1 0-6 scale | 2025 | up 33.3% | volatile |
| 31 | New Zealand | 1 0-6 scale | 2025 | unchanged | rising |
| 31 | Japan | 1 0-6 scale | 2025 | unchanged | falling |
| 34 | Sweden | 0.9375 0-6 scale | 2025 | up 15.4% | volatile |
| 35 | Israel | 0.875 0-6 scale | 2024 | unchanged | flat |
| 36 | Ireland | 0.625 0-6 scale | 2025 | unchanged | rising |
| 36 | Iceland | 0.625 0-6 scale | 2024 | unchanged | flat |
| 38 | South Africa | 0.5 0-6 scale | 2012 | — | flat |
| 39 | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 0.375 0-6 scale | 2025 | unchanged | rising |
| 40 | United States of America | 0.25 0-6 scale | 2025 | unchanged | flat |
| 40 | Canada | 0.25 0-6 scale | 2025 | unchanged | flat |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- Korea 2.25 0-6 scale
- Slovak Republic 2.25 0-6 scale
About this data
The OECD indicators of employment protection are synthetic indicators of the strictness of regulation on dismissals and the use of temporary contracts. For each year, indicators refer to regulation in force on the 1st of January. For more information and full methodology, see OECD Indicators of Employment Protection webpage Last data update: May 2022 OECD statistics contact: ELS.Contact@oecd.org