RT Article T1 Working for free illegal employment practices, ‘off the books’ work and the continuum of legality within the service economy JF Trends in organized crime VO 23 IS 1 SP 77 OP 93 A1 Lloyd, Anthony LA English UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1820207285 AB Much of the literature on illegal labour focuses on the exploitation of illegal migrants and, by extension, the trafficking and smuggling networks that transport them to destination countries. Using evidence from two projects that investigated working conditions in the formal service economy, the paper presents evidence of ‘off the books’ work, illegal employment practices such as denial of benefits and the minimum wage, as well as work trials where labour is exploited for free. By considering political economic imperatives, this paper argues that employees in both the formal and informal economy are dispossessed of rights, pay, benefits and security in order for employers to profit by surplus value and the circulation of capital. The real ‘organised crime’ of illegal labour is neoliberal political economy and its decimation of employment protection. NO Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 92-93 K1 Illegal labour K1 Political Economy K1 Social Harm K1 Illegal employment practices K1 Exploitation K1 Neoliberalism DO 10.1007/s12117-018-9351-x