Philosophical Foundations of Labour Law


Book Description

The first book to explore the philosophical foundations of labour law in detail, including topics such as the meaning of work, the relationship between employee and employer, and the demands of justice in the workplace.




Labour Law and Sustainable Development


Book Description

Labour Law and Sustainable Development is a detailed reconstruction of the regulatory framework and jurisprudential findings of sustainable development at the international, European and national level. The global crisis of the past decade has underlined the social unsustainability of the ultra-liberalistic theories through which the labour law deregulation represents the precondition for social and economic development coherent with the globalization imperatives. It is no exaggeration to assert that the existing foundations of labour law have been irreversibly compromised. It is essential to find a way out of the crisis, at the same time defining the founding values of new sustainable labour law. In linking labour law with the sustainability paradigm, this provocative book promises to widen the scope and terms of the reconciliation of interests, taking into account the multiplicity of the stakeholders interested in economic, social and environmental issues and, in particular, to practise an approach that achieves intergenerational equity. What’s in this book: In an unprecedented comparative study, including case law, of the network of principles, agreements, practices and norms concerning sustainable development and its different economic and social implications, the author examines such facets as the following: sustaining solidarity and equality of opportunity in current and emerging work situations; enhancing individual autonomy in the current world of (subordinate but independent) labour; reconciling personal needs, flexible organization of companies and reduction of external and internal costs to companies; collective action for the regulation of labour relations allowing for the exercise of individual autonomy; involving entire populations that have been so far excluded in the world scene; developing a sustainable pension system to promote intergenerational solidarity; implementing flexicurity policies positively; social clauses of international trade treaties; undoing the profound contradiction of gender and wage inequalities; and promoting corporate social responsibility. The objective of this book is to provide the reader with a reasoning basis to assess whether the choice to elect sustainable development as a new paradigm of reference for labour law is feasible, and if, in particular, this choice can be useful in order to define the founding values of a new ‘sustainable’ labour law. How this will help you: Using an interdisciplinary approach, the author emphasizes the need to consider the various dimensions of sustainability together, not only the original environmental but also the economic and social dimensions. This book offers a real strategic leap for both legislators and social actors, in particular leading the way to avoiding a fracture of the generational pact that has held together modern societies. Although the book presents a profound academic contribution to the analysis of labour law realities and trends, it will also be welcomed by corporate lawyers, judges, human rights experts, trade unionists, business managers, entrepreneurs and consultants interested in the issues of labour, sustainable development and social rights.




Cox, Bok and Gorman's Labor Law


Book Description

The Seventeenth Edition makes a number of significant changes to its predecessor, reflecting the evolution of the law relating to employers, employees, and unions in a dynamic economy and polarized political environment. This edition includes new decisions of the National Labor Relations Board appointed by President Trump, which has departed in many, significant ways from the approach of the Board under the Obama Administration. The Trump Board's starkly different outlook on the role of labor law in the contemporary workplace is reflected in its overturning or reversing precedents on many key issues, such as protections for employee electronic communications, accountability for employers in "fissured" enterprises, and treatment of various other employer restrictions on collective employee activity. The book also contains judicial decisions addressing these developments, evincing the growing conflicts over the role of labor unions in society. This edition supplies a comprehensive revision in light of major legal shifts occurring from 2016 through 2020, notably Newly revised NLRB representation election rules SuperShuttle and more, addressing the distinction between employees and independent contractors The Boeing Company, adopting a new and markedly different framework for analyzing whether facial neutral workplace rules interfere with Section 7 rights, including rules addressing matters such as employee use of cameras in the workplace and workplace civility standards Caesars Entertainment, reverting to the Board's prior approach (under The Register Guard) to rules on employee use of employer email for concerted activity The NLRB General Counsel's advocacy of stricter limitations on neutrality agreements Newly enacted rules overturning Browning-Ferris and narrowing the scope of joint employer status Alstate Maintenance, seemingly narrowing the scope of concerted activity for mutual aid or protection Epic Systems, in which the Supreme Court rejected the Board's decision in Murphy Oil, thereby unwinding protection against contractual waivers of the capacity to participate in group arbitration or adjudication of employment-related claims General Motors, adopting a new approach to determining when allegedly abusive conduct loses protection under Section 7. MV Transportation, abandoning the "clear and unmistakable" standard for determining whether a CBA waives the duty to bargain and replacing it with a "contract coverage" standard. New discussion problems and exercises throughout the text offer students the opportunity to engage with this new material, illustrating how exciting and challenging the study of labor law is today.




The Evolving Project of Labour Law


Book Description

This collection draws together contributions from leading Australian and international labour law scholars, based on papers delivered at a conference to mark the 21st birthday of the Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law at the University of Melbourne. Collectively, the contributions provide an account and exploration of labour law scholarship's evolution over the last two decades, and its future trajectory. They explore a number of enduring and emerging themes in labour law, including:The Foundations of Labour Law ScholarshipFrom Labour Law to Labour Market RegulationLabour Law, Equality and Human RightsEffectiveness and Enforcement in Labour LawSidestepping the Law Through Legal StructuresInternational and Comparative Labour Law PerspectivesThe Future of Work and Labour LawThe book offers conclusions about the progress that labour law scholarship has made in facing fundamental changes in the organisation of capital, work and labour markets, as well as suggesting ideas for how labour law might continue to evolve to meet new challenges.




Democracy, Social Justice and the Role of Trade Unions


Book Description

Trade unions worldwide face a powerful paradox at this critical juncture: collective organisations for workers are urgently needed and yet there are serious pressures undercutting the legitimate role of trade unions. The aim of this book is to examine how trade unions can effectively navigate this deeply contradictory challenge. It is underpinned by the conviction that trade unions are – and should be – vital institutions for democracy and social justice. Written by leading scholars in industrial relations and labour law as well as those in political philosophy and political science, the collection tackles a range of pressing topics for trade unions including: the climate crisis; the COVID-19 pandemic; economic democracy; democracy within trade unions; precarious work; and election campaigns.




Work's Intimacy


Book Description

This book provides a long-overdue account of online technology and its impact on the work and lifestyles of professional employees. It moves between the offices and homes of workers in the knew "knowledge" economy to provide intimate insight into the personal, family, and wider social tensions emerging in today’s rapidly changing work environment. Drawing on her extensive research, Gregg shows that new media technologies encourage and exacerbate an older tendency among salaried professionals to put work at the heart of daily concerns, often at the expense of other sources of intimacy and fulfillment. New media technologies from mobile phones to laptops and tablet computers, have been marketed as devices that give us the freedom to work where we want, when we want, but little attention has been paid to the consequences of this shift, which has seen work move out of the office and into cafés, trains, living rooms, dining rooms, and bedrooms. This professional "presence bleed" leads to work concerns impinging on the personal lives of employees in new and unforseen ways. This groundbreaking book explores how aspiring and established professionals each try to cope with the unprecedented intimacy of technologically-mediated work, and how its seductions seem poised to triumph over the few remaining relationships that may stand in its way.




Public Diplomacy


Book Description

New technologies have opened up fresh possibilities for public diplomacy, but this has not erased the importance of history. On the contrary, the lessons of the past seem more relevant than ever, in an age in which communications play an unprecedented role. Whether communications are electronic or hand-delivered, the foundations remain as valid today as they ever have been. Blending history with insights from international relations, communication studies, psychology, and contemporary practice, Cull explores the five core areas of public diplomacy: listening, advocacy, cultural diplomacy, exchanges, and international broadcasting. He unpacks the approaches which have dominated in recent years – nation-branding and partnership – and sets out the foundations for successful global public engagement. Rich with case studies and examples drawn from ancient times through to our own digital age, the book shows the true capabilities and limits of emerging platforms and technologies, as well as drawing on lessons from the past which can empower us and help us to shape the future. This comprehensive and accessible introduction is essential reading for students, scholars, and practitioners, as well as anyone interested in understanding or mobilizing global public opinion.




Globalization and the Future of Labour Law


Book Description

How are national and international labour laws responding to the challenge of globalization as it re-shapes the workplaces of the world? This collection of essays by leading legal scholars and lawyers from Europe and the Americas was first published in 2006. It addresses the implications of globalization for the legal regulation of the workplace. It examines the role of international labour standards and the contribution of the International Labour Organization, and assesses the success of the European experiment with continental employment standards. It explores the prospects for hemispheric co-operation on labour standards in the Americas, and deals with the impact of international labour standards on the rights of women and migrant workers. As the nature and organization of work around the world is being decisively transformed, new regional and international institutions are emerging that may provide the platform for new labour standards, and for protecting existing ones.




Good Jobs, Bad Jobs


Book Description

The economic boom of the 1990s veiled a grim reality: in addition to the growing gap between rich and poor, the gap between good and bad quality jobs was also expanding. The postwar prosperity of the mid-twentieth century had enabled millions of American workers to join the middle class, but as author Arne L. Kalleberg shows, by the 1970s this upward movement had slowed, in part due to the steady disappearance of secure, well-paying industrial jobs. Ever since, precarious employment has been on the rise—paying low wages, offering few benefits, and with virtually no long-term security. Today, the polarization between workers with higher skill levels and those with low skills and low wages is more entrenched than ever. Good Jobs, Bad Jobs traces this trend to large-scale transformations in the American labor market and the changing demographics of low-wage workers. Kalleberg draws on nearly four decades of survey data, as well as his own research, to evaluate trends in U.S. job quality and suggest ways to improve American labor market practices and social policies. Good Jobs, Bad Jobs provides an insightful analysis of how and why precarious employment is gaining ground in the labor market and the role these developments have played in the decline of the middle class. Kalleberg shows that by the 1970s, government deregulation, global competition, and the rise of the service sector gained traction, while institutional protections for workers—such as unions and minimum-wage legislation—weakened. Together, these forces marked the end of postwar security for American workers. The composition of the labor force also changed significantly; the number of dual-earner families increased, as did the share of the workforce comprised of women, non-white, and immigrant workers. Of these groups, blacks, Latinos, and immigrants remain concentrated in the most precarious and low-quality jobs, with educational attainment being the leading indicator of who will earn the highest wages and experience the most job security and highest levels of autonomy and control over their jobs and schedules. Kalleberg demonstrates, however, that building a better safety net—increasing government responsibility for worker health care and retirement, as well as strengthening unions—can go a long way toward redressing the effects of today’s volatile labor market. There is every reason to expect that the growth of precarious jobs—which already make up a significant share of the American job market—will continue. Good Jobs, Bad Jobs deftly shows that the decline in U.S. job quality is not the result of fluctuations in the business cycle, but rather the result of economic restructuring and the disappearance of institutional protections for workers. Only government, employers and labor working together on long-term strategies—including an expanded safety net, strengthened legal protections, and better training opportunities—can help reverse this trend. A Volume in the American Sociological Association’s Rose Series in Sociology.




The Idea of Labour Law


Book Description

Labour law is widely considered to be in crisis by scholars of the field. This crisis has an obvious external dimension - labour law is attacked for impeding efficiency, flexibility, and development; vilified for reducing employment and for favouring already well placed employees over less fortunate ones; and discredited for failing to cover the most vulnerable workers and workers in the "informal sector". These are just some of the external challenges to labour law. There is also an internal challenge, as labour lawyers themselves increasingly question whether their discipline is conceptually coherent, relevant to the new empirical realities of the world of work, and normatively salient in the world as we now know it. This book responds to such fundamental challenges by asking the most fundamental questions: What is labour law for? How can it be justified? And what are the normative premises on which reforms should be based? There has been growing interest in such questions in recent years. In this volume the contributors seek to take this body of scholarship seriously and also to move it forward. Its aim is to provide, if not answers which satisfy everyone, intellectually nourishing food for thought for those interested in understanding, explaining and interpreting labour laws - whether they are scholars, practitioners, judges, policy-makers, or workers and employers.