Emerging Trends In Employment And Labor Law

"Emerging trends in employment and labor law : labor-management relations in a global economy" : hearing before the Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, House of Representatives, One Hundred Seventh Congress, second session, hearing held in Washington, DC, October 8, 2002.

While legislation protecting employees exists in most advanced countries, the notion of who actually is an employee has become unstable. Moreover, the decentralization of traditional collective bargaining is clearly under way everywhere, and the all-important balance between workers' security and employers' flexibility continues to change radically, either retreating toward individual statutory rights or seeking new forms of employee representation. Labour Law in Motion reprints sixteen reports originally submitted to the seventh Comparative Labor Law Seminar (Tokyo Seminar) sponsored by the Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training in March 2004. Eleven expert authors describe the situation in their respective countries with regard to issues such as the following:criteria used to determine whether a person is an employee;what categories of non-employee exist, and what measure of statutory protection is afforded to such persons;variations in the concept of employee among labour law, tax law, and social security law;regulation of terms and conditions of employment; the forms and legal nature of employee representation;current trends in deregulation or `re-regulation' of labour laws;mechanisms permitting deviation from legal norms; and,the manner and extent of labour law intervention in the labour market. All eleven authors emphasize recent and ongoing changes in their countries' labour laws and evaluate the factors that have contributed to such changes. Each author concludes that reform of traditional labour laws is indeed necessary. However, the book as a whole clearly demonstrates that the content of such reform differs from country to country, particularly in the extent to which labour law entrusts the regulation of working conditions to the market. Offering as it does a clear and concise summary of the recent and current experience of labour relations in eight major industrialized countries, Labour Law in Motion is an essential resource for professionals and officials engaged in any aspect of labour law or regulation in any country.

Witnesses: Eugene Rugala, Sup'y. Special Agent, FBI Acad.; Rebecca Speer, Principal, Speer Assoc., on behalf of the Soc. for Human Resource Mgmt.; Carl Donaway, CEO, Airborne Express; Lewis Maltby, Pres., Nat. Workrights Inst.; Paul Whitehead, Gen. Counsel, United Steelworkers of Amer.; & David Horn, Gen. Counsel, AK Steel Corp. Also: Videotapes: (1) USWA Union Members, Picket Line Racial Harassment, Mansfield, OH; & (2) Violent, Vulgar, Racist & Sexist Conduct, United Steel Workers of Amer. Members, Warning: This Material Not Suitable for Children. Statements for the Record: Rep. Joe Wilson & Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Comm. on Educ. & the Workforce; Assoc. Builders & Contractors, Rosslyn, VA; & LPA, Wash., DC.