Page 77 - Azerbaijan State University of Economics

Abderrahmane Benouaret: Towards Regulating Freelance Work and the Informal
Economy in Algeria: Will the Self-Employed Contractor Law Suffice?

Many studies have highlighted the willingness of a large segment of teachers to provide
private tutoring for students after official hours, especially in core scientific subjects for
students preparing for final exams at different educational levels, particularly the
Baccalaureate and the Middle School Certificate exams. The results of the study by
(Ghounane, 2018) showed that most learners have positive attitudes towards private
tutoring. In fact, 86.25% of the respondents in this study, who were secondary school
students in all three years, received additional lessons through private tutoring.

Statistics indicate that the number of candidates for the Baccalaureate and Middle School
Certificate exams in June 2023 was estimated at 1,590,576 students (Algeria Press
Services, 2023). As studies have pointed out, most of these students receive support
lessons in at least three core subjects, with the average cost of each supported subject
estimated at 6,000 Algerian dinars, equivalent to €40.2 per subject per month (exchange
rate as of August 28, 2024: 1 DZD = €0.0067). Thus, we can all imagine the size of the
informal income and labor resulting from teachers working for themselves after official
hours.

If teachers were allowed to benefit from the self-employed contractor card, they would
gain from the advantages provided, while the state would also benefit from tax
revenues and additional contributions to the National Social Security Fund linked to
their additional activities.

CONCLUSION
After eight months of actual implementation of the self-employed contractor law in
Algeria, the issue of whether this law can achieve its intended goal has surfaced. The
goal is primarily to organize the self-employment market and integrate freelancers
into the formal sector.

This research paper addressed the contribution of the self-employment sector to
raising indicators of the informal Algerian economy. It also reviewed some features
of the freelance labor market as a form of self-employment, focusing on the type and
location of activities and skills offered. The study concluded by highlighting the extent
to which the activities eligible for benefiting from the Algerian self-employed
contractor law align with freelance and self-employed work activities in Algeria's
informal labor market. The paper reserved judgment on and discussed several
important points regarding this law, particularly the exclusion of certain activities
such as liberal professions and traditional crafts, as well as the issue of prohibiting
dual employment under Algerian labor law.

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