Labour Law And Working Conditions

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.

A stimulating, authoritative account of international employment law written by a leading figure who for many years has shaped global policy, striving to implement fairer working conditions worldwide. We are expertly guided though the context and development of labour law, making this book ideal for study or research.

This book describes the labour and employment law governing employees of Parliament, employees of government agencies, members of the RCMP, and most direct employees of the government (excluding members of the Canadian armed forces, judges, and employees of Crown corporations).

"For employees, collective protection has never been more urgent. Everywhere, pressures resulting from worldwide competition and technical innovation are downgrading and relocating jobs, closing companies, and fuelling workers' fears of less-than-secure working conditions, de-qualification, and job loss. More and more, trade unions confront the challenge of asserting their rights across borders. However, in order to establish the necessary preconditions for any transnational solidarity, it is necessary to define and clarify both what is distinctive and what is fundamental in the different legal frameworks affecting trade union activity. That is what this book sets out to do. The essays presented here are an outcome of an international and comparative conference, organised and sponsored by the newly established Hugo Sinzheimer Institute of Labour Law (HSI), Frankfurt am Main, which took place in Frankfurt in January 2011 at the premises of IG Metall, the world's largest trade union. The book offers an overview of trade union rights in each of seven industrial countries: Belgium, Hungary, England, Germany, France, the Netherlands and the United States. A concluding chapter by Manfred Weiss notes the futility of a 'harmonization' approach, stressing rather a strategy of accepting variety which nevertheless embraces close cooperation. Issues covered include the following: direct and indirect recognition of the rights of the unions at the workplace; the right of access of trade union representatives not employed in the establishment; competition from non-unionized firms and low labour cost operations; new styles of management hostile to trade unions; employers' use of the courts to prevent industrial action illegalized by new legislation; relations among trade unions, works councils, workers' representatives, and employers' organizations; the role of the union at a time of change of company ownership; and effects of public resistance to cuts in public services and to job losses. At a time when the protection of the global 'voice' of workers is of the utmost importance, sensitivity to existing cultural differences is crucial to effective international engagement and cooperation among trade unions. As an important contribution in this respect, this book will be of great value to labour and employment lawyers and other professionals involved in law and policy affecting labour and industrial relations."--Publisher's website.

This important study shifts the focus of scholarly and policy debates around the role of labour law away from the North to those of the global South.