Unit information: Employment Law in 2016/17

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. Ford
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

Description including Unit Aims

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; agency workers and zero-hours contracts; human rights at work, including forced labour; regulation of wages and working time; regulation of dismissals; worker participation and collective bargaining; access to employment tribunals; industrial action; and anti-discrimination and equality law. A variety of theoretical perspectives (economic, sociological and rights-based) will be used to underpin the material studied.

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit a successful student will be able to:

• Identify key tests for identification of an 'employee' at common law and a 'worker' under statute.
• Demonstrate a critical perspective on the legal definition of an employment relationship and how it relates to other categories of work, such as agency workers and those on zero-hour contracts.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the legal protection of domestic workers and those in conditions of modern slavery.
• Critically analyse and apply the law on dismissal, both statutory and contractual.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the ways in which collective bargaining and other forms of worker participation can affect the creation and implementation of norms in the workplace.
• Demonstrate a critical perspective on how rights are upheld, including how recent reforms have affected access to employment tribunals.
• Critically analyse the law on strikes, both domestic and by reference to international legal norms, including the ECHR.
• Understand, analyse and apply equality law as it relates to work.

Teaching Information

23 one-hour lectures and 7 one-hour tutorials.

Assessment Information

Students will be required to submit formative practice coursework in the first term, and submit a second formative in the second term. The first formative assessment is mandatory; the second is optional.

Summative assessment consists of one three-hour closed book examination.

The assessment will assess all of the intended learning outcomes for this unit through essay-style and problem questions.

Reading and References

The most recent editions of:

ACL Davies, Employment Law

And

Blackstones Statutes on Employment Law or Butterworths Employment Law Handbook