Course Content

The following is an approximate indication of what will be covered in each part of the course. A final syllabus, and a list of readings, will be provided two months before the course begins.

1.  Course overview: a comparative perspective on Canadian labour and employment law

Bernie Adell, Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Law, Queen’s University
Monday, July 19 (morning)

2.  European Union labour and employment law

Manfred Weiss,Professor of Labour Law, Johann Wolfgang Goëthe University, Frankfurt
Monday, July 19 (afternoon) and Tuesday, July 20 (morning)

Is European Union law affecting the collective labour law of the EU member states, or only their individual employment law – or neither? Is the EU more akin to the central government in a federal system or to an international organization with little coercive authority? Does EU law favour a free market approach or a “social Europe” approach? Does it law protect the right to strike and picket? Will the new Lisbon Treaty and the Charter of Fundamental Rights bring significant change?

3.  German labour and employment law

Manfred Weiss, Professor of Labour Law, Johann Wolfgang Goëthe University, Frankfurt
Tuesday, July 20 (afternoon) and Wednesday, July 21

What has been the impact of the strong statutory protection that German employees (whether or not they are union members) enjoy against wrongful dismissal? How are collective bargaining relationships established in the absence of anything like the North American “certification” process? What is the relationship today between the three levels of collective employee representation in the German system: collective bargaining between unions and employer associations, employee membership on corporate boards, and compulsory works councils? Do these multiple forms of representation impair employer competitiveness? What has been the impact of the holding that the right to strike is guaranteed  by the constitutional “right to form associations to safeguard and improve working conditions?”  What effect is EU law having on German labour, employment and anti-discrimination law?

4.  German and British corporate governance law and its impact on employee rights and interests

Simon Deakin, Professor of Law and Robert Monks Professor of Corporate Governance, Cambridge University
Manfred Weiss, Professor of Labour Law, Johann Wolfgang Goëthe University, Frankfurt
Thursday, July 22

What are the basic differences between a “shareholder value” approach to corporate governance and a “multiple stakeholder” approach? What are the implications of each approach for employee rights and interests, and for employer competitiveness? Is it true that British law takes the former approach and German law the latter? Has the concept of “enlightened shareholder value” brought significant change in Britain? What effects are the European Union’s initiatives on corporate governance likely to have?

5.  Participation by students and instructors in symposium on corporate governance and employee rights, at 2010 annual meeting of International Association of Labour Law Journals

Friday, July 23

President of International Association of Labour Law Journals: Gian Guido Balandi, Professor, Faculty of Jurisprudence, University of Ferrera

6.  British collective labour law

Alan Neal, Professor of Law and Director, Employment Law Research Unit, University of Warwick
Monday, July 26 and Tuesday, July 27

What are the main areas of British labour and employment law, and the main tribunals and agencies which apply that law? Is Britain’s labour relations law still based on a “collective laissez-faire” approach? Does today’s statutory procedure for union recognition have much in common with the North American Wagner model? What is the relationship between collective bargaining and the individual employment contract, and between common law and statutory regulation of strikes and picketing? What impact are EU law and ILO standards having on collective labour law in Britain, and in particular on the right to strike?

7.  British employment law and human rights law

Catherine Barnard, Professor of European Union Law and Co-director, Centre for European Legal Studies, Cambridge University
Wednesday, July 28 and Thursday, July 29

To what extent is the common law of contract still relevant to individual employment law? What is the relationship between common law wrongful dismissal and statutory unfair dismissal? Does the unfair dismissal regime give effective protection to employees with respect to termination for cause and for redundancy? What are the parameters of statutory intervention with respect to workforce reductions, minimum standards and equality of treatment at work? What effect are EU law and ILO standards having in these areas? Does it matter that there is no constitutionally entrenched human rights legislation in Britain – or is there?

8. Visit to London labour law tribunals and chambers

Friday, July 30