This article presents an overview of the recent work on precarious employment and employment quality in relation to workers' health and well-being. More specifically, the article mainly reviews the work performed in the E.U. 7th Framework project, SOPHIE. First, we present our overarching conceptual framework. Then, we provide a compiled overview of the evidence on the sociodemographic and European cross-country distribution of employment quality and employment precariousness. Subsequently, we provide the current evidence regarding the relations with health and broader worker well-being indicators. A final section summarizes current insights on the pathways relating precarious employment and health and well-being. The article concludes with a plea for further data collection and research into the longitudinal effects of employment precariousness among emerging groups of workers. Based on the evidence compiled in this article, policymakers should be convinced of the harmful health and well-being effects of employment precariousness and (further) labor market flexibilization.

Despite the growing use of the term precarious employment, there is no consensus on a theoretical framework or definition. This hampers the study of the subject, especially in public and occupational health. We propose a theoretical framework for understanding precarious employment as a multidimensional construct where unfavourable features of employment quality accumulate in the same job. Future research should apply an intersectional and multi-level approach to analysis, with a focus on improving exposure assessment and investigating mechanisms.

Background Nurses and midwives play a critical role in the provision of care and the optimization of health services resources worldwide, which is particularly relevant during the current COVID-19 pandemic. However, they can only provide quality services if their work environment provides adequate conditions to support them. Today the employment and working conditions of many nurses worldwide are precarious, and the current pandemic has prompted more visibility to the vulnerability to health-damaging factors of nurses’ globally. This desk review explores how employment relations, and employment and working conditions may be negatively affecting the health of nurses in countries such as Brazil, Croatia, India, Ireland, Italy, México, Nepal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Main body Nurses’ health is influenced by the broader social, economic, and political system and the redistribution of power relations that creates new policies regarding the labour market and the welfare state. The vulnerability faced by nurses is heightened by gender inequalities, in addition to social class, ethnicity/race (and caste), age and migrant status, that are inequality axes that explain why nurses’ workers, and often their families, are exposed to multiple risks and/or poorer health. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, informalization of nurses’ employment and working conditions were unfair and harmed their health. During COVID-19 pandemic, there is evidence that the employment and working conditions of nurses are associated to poor physical and mental health. Conclusion The protection of nurses’ health is paramount. International and national enforceable standards are needed, along with economic and health policies designed to substantially improve employment and working conditions for nurses and work–life balance. More knowledge is needed to understand the pathways and mechanisms on how precariousness might affect nurses’ health and monitor the progress towards nurses’ health equity.