| Unit name | Employment Law |
|---|---|
| Unit code | LAWD30113 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Novitz |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
LAWD10008 Law of Contract OR LAWD10007 Foundations of Business Law. |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | University of Bristol Law School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
This unit seeks to develop an understanding of the world of work and its legal regulation. Topics to be covered in this unit include: the contract of employment; fidelity and confidentiality; statutory regulation of wages and working time; regulation of dismissals; worker participation and collective bargaining; industrial action; and equality law. A variety of theoretical perspectives (economic, sociological and rights-based) will be used to underpin the material studied.
By the end of this unit, students should be able to identify key tests for identification of an 'employee' at common law and a 'worker' under statute. They should also have gained a critical perspective on the legal definition of an employment relationship and have considered the extent to which it can be set within a conventional contractual model. They are expected to explore the ways in which collective bargaining and other forms of worker participation can affect the creation and implementation of norms in the workplace. In addition, the students investigate critically statutory interventions in this field, alongside EU and international law attempts at regulation, considering how to resolve conflicts between different legal sources. They will be able to display this knowledge by answering essay-style and problem questions.
20 one hour lectures, one hour-long feedback session on formative work and 8 one hour tutorials.
Students have the opportunity to submit formative practice coursework in the first term and to bring an answer to a problem question to a tutorial in the second term which is jointly marked in class. Summative assessment consists of one three-hour closed book examination in May/June, in which students answer 4 questions from a choice of 8 questions.
The most recent editions of:
Deakin and Morris, Labour Law (Hart Publishing) or Collins, Ewing and McColgan, Labour Law (Cambridge University Press).
And
Blackstones Statutes on Employment Law or Butterworths Employment Law Handbook
