Biography

Kevin Banks is Associate Professor of Law at Queen’s. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Labour and Employment Law Journal, and a co-ordinating editor of Labour and Employment Law, Cases, Materials and Commentary. His research publications address relationships between economic globalization, technological change and labour and employment law;; employee freedom of association at common law; the role, governance and potential influence of international and transnational labour labour law; efficiency and delay in Canadian labour arbitration; the influence of originating political struggles on definitions of indirect discrimination in North America and the European Union; the extent and causes of gaps in the workplace accommodation of persons with disability; the accessibility and effectiveness of employment standards compliance and enforcement, and the role of good faith in the contract of employment. He is a member of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations of the International Labour Organization, and a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators. .  He has been appointed to several dispute settlement rosters established pursuant to labour chapters of free trade agreements. He chaired the international arbitral panel that ruled on a dispute concerning the labour provisions of the US-Central America Tree Trade Agreement, the first such case decided anywhere in the world. Professor Banks previously served in a number of senior positions within the Public Service of Canada, including Director General, Labour Policy and Workplace Information, Director of Research with the Federal Labour Standards Review Commission, and Director, Inter-American Labour Co-operation. He holds an LL.B. (1989) and B.A. (1986) in economics from the University of Toronto, and an S.J.D. from Harvard Law School (2003).  .  

Recent Professional Achievements

  • Member of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations of the International Labour Organization. Editor-in-Chief, Canadian Labour and Employment Law Journal.
  • Member of Roster of Arbitrators, United Kingdom-Singapore Free Trade Agreement
  • Member, Roster of Panelists for Chapter 31 Dispute Settlement Panels, US-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement
  • Member, Chapter 23 Panel of Experts Roster, Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement
  • Member, National Academy of Arbitrators
  • Coordinating Editor, with Prof. Michael MacNeil, Labour and Employment Law: Cases, Materials and Commentary (10th edition) (forthcoming), Canada’s leading labour law casebook.
  • Chair of an arbitral panel appointed to hear and decide the first labour rights dispute under a free trade agreement to be arbitrated
  • Academic Advisor to Ontario’s Changing Workplaces Review (2015-2017) authoring a report on enforcement and compliance under the Employment Standards Act
  • Member, Advisory Committee on Private Commercial Disputes to the North American Free Trade Commission (2008 - 2020).
  • Book Review Editor, Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal

Current Research

  • Renewing the institutional foundations of Canadian labour and employment law in the face of technological and economic change
  • Rethinking the legal criteria for employment
  • Legal responsibility of third parties for wage and hours violations under employment statutes and contracts

Recent Publications

  • K. Banks, “Recognizing the Charter Value of Employee Freedom of Association at Common Law”, forthcoming in the Osgoode Hall Law Journal Vol 61:3, 2025 (49 pages)
  • Kevin Banks and Steven Wilborn, “Comparative Labor Law in the United States and Canada Today: Interpreting Different but Stable Equilibria”, 44 Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal 91 (2024)
  • K. Banks, “Good Faith in Employment Law”, in Guy Davidov, Gillian Lester and Brian Langille eds. The Oxford Handbook of the Law of Work (Oxford University Press, 2024)
  • K. Banks, “State and Private Accountability through the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism – Scope, Purposes, and Prospects for Effectiveness”, in The Sustainability Revolution in International Trade Agreements (Oxford University Press, 2024)
  • K. Banks, “Fit for Purpose? The Extent and Enforcement of Trade Agreement Labor Obligations After the Guatemala – Labor Obligations Decision”, forthcoming in the Georgetown Journal of International Law, spring 2021
  • K. Banks, R. Chaykowski and G. Slotsve, "Labour Rights Arbitration in Canada: An Empirical Investigation of Efficiency and Delay in a Changed Legal Environment", 22 Canadian Labour and Employment Law Journal 231 (2020)
  • Manoj Dias-Abey and Kevin Banks “Migrant Workers: Contesting Definitions, Institutional Responses, and Rights” 35 International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations 153 (2019)
  • K. Banks and M. MacNeil, coordinating editors, Labour and Employment Law: Cases, Materials and Commentary (9th edition) (2018)
  • K. Banks and G. Trudeau “Introduction” Chapter 1 of Labour and Employment Law: Cases, Materials and Commentary (9th edition) (2018)
  • K. Banks “Workplace Law without the State?”, in S. Archer, D. Drache, and P. Zumbansen eds. “The Daunting Enterprise of the Law: Essays in Honour of Harry W. Arthurs (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2017)
  • K. Banks, R. Chaykowski, G. Slotsve, “Did Weber Affect the Timeliness of Arbitration?” in E. Shilton and K. Schucher eds.  “One Law for All? Weber v. Ontario Hydro 20 Years On” (Irwin Law, 2017)
  • IN THE MATTER OF GUATEMALA – ISSUES RELATING TO THE OBLIGATIONS UNDER ARTICLE 16.2.1(a), Final Report, June 14, 2017. (299 pages)
  • K. Banks, “Employment Standards Complaint Resolution, Compliance and Enforcement: A Review of the Literature on Access and Effectiveness”, Prepared for the Ontario Ministry of Labour, to support the Changing Workplaces Review of 2015  (Queen’s Printer, 2016) (108 pages)
  • K. Banks, “Reasonable Accomodation as Equal Opportunity in Canadian Employment” 93 Bulletin of Comparative Labour Relations 47 (2016)
  • K. Banks R. Nunin and A.Topo “The Lasting Influence of Legal Origins: Workplace Discrimination and Social Inclusion in Canada, the United States and the European Union”, in M. Finkin and G. Mundlak eds. “Handbook of Comparative Labour and Employment Law” (Elgar, 2015)  
  • K. Banks and Elizabeth Shilton, “The Changing Role of Labour Relations Boards in Canada: Key Research Questions for the 21st Century”, March 2014 (30 pages).
  • K. Banks, R. Chaykowski, and G. Slotsve “Disability Accommodation in Employment: How Does an Aging Population Matter and What Does it Mean for Law and Policy?”  17 Canadian Labour and Employment Law Journal 295 (2013)
  • K. Banks, “Must Canada Change its Labour and Employment Laws to Compete with the United States?”, 38 Queen’s Law Journal 419-460 (2013)
  • K. Banks and Elizabeth Shilton, “Corporate Commitments to Freedom of Association: Is There a Role for Enforcement Under Canadian Law?” 33 Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal 495 (2012)
  • K. Banks, “The Role and Promise of International Law in Canada's New Labour Law Constitutionalism”, 16 Canadian Labour and Employment Law Journal 233 (2012)
  • K. Banks, “Trade, Labor and International Governance: An Inquiry into the Potential Effectiveness of the New International Labor Law” 32 Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law 45-144 (2011).
  • K. Banks,  “Progress and Paradox: The Remarkable Yet Limited Advance of Employer Good Faith Duties in Canadian Common Law”, 32 Comparative Labour Law and Policy Journal 547-592 (2011).