Faculty
Susanne Borch

Course Coordinator
Lynn Roseberry

Open to all undergraduates

The purpose of this course is to develop a basic under­standing of labour regulation in the European Union. It will cover EU legislation and the case law of the European Court of Justice concerning relations between employers and employees, collective agreements and the case law of the Court of Justice, as well as the structure and strategies of the social actors. The course will examine EU law regulating individual employment relationships as well as collective labour relations.

The course’s point of departure will be a description of the central features of the industrial relations system, i.e.,:

- collective bargaining systems: Central principles for wage formation and negotiations on other aspects of working life (working hours, rules concerning overtime etc.), individual vs. collective determination of wages;

- the organizations of the labour market: The external and internal struc­tures of labour unions and employers' federations, union density, the influence of these organi­zations;

- industrial conflict: The frequency of industrial conflict, the rules connec­ted with such conflict, the handling of industrial conflict;

-the individual employment contract: formation of the contract,employees' and employers-duties under the contract, termination of the employment relationship;

- protection of employees against unfair dismissal and discrimination, generally and in cases of bankruptcy and transfers of undertakings.

Teaching will be conducted using a combination of lectures, exercises, discussions.

The course contributes to the development of the ability to reason with abstract concepts, apply theory to facts, and to communicate abstract and complex concepts effectively.

At the end of the course the student should be able to:

· Identify the fundamental rights of workers that are recognised in the EU

· Explain what fundamental rights are and how they influence the way labour relations are regulated in the EU.

· Identify the competences of the EU with regards to the regulation of labour relations and describe how labour relations have been regulated at EU level by providing examples of legislation and case law on selected topics.

· Analyse a case raising labour law issues by identifying what the legal problems are, what legal rules may be applied to resolve the problems, and providing a reasoned conclusion with regards to the likely outcome of the case.

4 hours written exam