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The proposal of a single contract often stems from the fact that labor-market duality is observed, with, on the one hand, highly protected employees (i.e., those with permanent contracts, civil servants) and, on the other, those alternating between poorly protected insecure jobs and periods of unemployment. However, the concept of a “single contract” is often poorly defined. Its three stated objectives are to: (i) Reduce status inequalities arising from the coexistence of permanent contracts and “insecure” contracts (fixed-term and temporary). (ii) Reduce the costly uncertainty and complexity of dismissal laws. (iii) Partly internalize the social costs of dismissals. Our analysis shows that a single contract cannot truly meet these objectives, which could be better addressed in other ways, and that it would entail considerable legal risks. Codes JEL: J41; J52; J53; K31