The Sources Of Labour Law

Labour law has traditionally aimed to protect the employee under a hierarchy built on constitutional provisions, statutory law, collective agreements at various levels, and the employment contract, in that order. However, in employment regulation in recent years, ‘flexibility’ has come to dominate the world of work – a set of policies that reshuffle the relationship among the fundamental pillars of labour law and inevitably lead to degrading the protection of employees. This book, the first-ever to consider the sources of labour law from a comparative perspective, details the ways in which the traditional hierarchy of sources has been altered, presenting an international view on major cross-cutting issues followed by fifteen country reports. The authors’ analysis of the changing hierarchy of labour law sources in the light of recent trends includes such elements as the following: the constitutional dimension of labour rights; the normative intervention by the State; the regulatory function of collective bargaining and agreements; the hierarchical organization of labour law sources and the ‘principle of favour’; the role played by case law in both common law and civil law countries; the impact of the European Economic Governance; decentralization of collective bargaining; employment conditions as key components of global competitive strategies; statutory schemes that allow employees to sign away their rights. National reports – Australia, Brazil, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States – describe the structure of labour law regulations in each legal system with emphasis on the current state of affairs. The authors, all distinguished labour law scholars in their countries, thus collectively provide a thorough and comprehensive commentary on labour law regulation and recent tendencies in national labour laws in various corners of the globe. With its definitive analysis of such crucial matters as the decentralization of collective bargaining and how individual employment contracts can deviate from collective agreements and statutory law, and its comparison of representative national labour law systems, this highly informative book will prove of inestimable value to all professionals concerned with employment relations, labour disputes, or labour market policy, especially in the context of multinational workforces.

Labour Law and Industrial Relations in Germany gives the reader a broad understanding of German labour law covering all important aspects. The book deals with the sources of labour law, individual employment relationships, collective bargaining, remuneration, working conditions, and dispute settlement.

This publication gives an overview of all key aspects of German labour and employment law as well as adjoining fields. Legal professionals with expert knowledge and many years of experience explain the legal basis of these aspects of German law, point out typical practical problems and suggest solutions to those problems. In addition, examples are given on how to best manage legal pitfalls to minimize risks. This book translates employment and labour law for foreign in-house counsels and human resources managers at international companies and provides a clear understanding of the complex legal regulations in Germany. All three editors of the book, Dr. Jens Kirchner, Pascal R. Kremp and Michael Magotsch, are key legal professionals working at the Frankfurt office of DLA Piper, one of the largest legal services providers in the world (www.dlapiper.com), with national and multinational clients. Their experience includes the management of cross-border restructurings, outsourcing and transfer of undertaking measures, as well as the management of national and multi-jurisdictional merger and acquisitions projects, including post-merger integration processes.

"This book was originally published as a monograph in the International encyclopaedia of laws/Labour law and industrial relations."

Topics covered include special definitions, Canadian Labour Movement, sources of labour law, employment relationship, duty to provide work and safe environment, termination of employment, remedies for breach of contract, collective labour relations, trade unions and right to organize, bargaining process, collective agreements.

Written by prominent UK labour lawyers, this textbook is comprehensive and engaging, with detailed commentary and integrated materials.