module specification

This module will focus on the legal relationship between employers and workers as well as the law relating to the prohibition of discrimination both within and outside the employment context. The module examines the diverse nature of individual employment relationships, the content of the contract of employment and the remedies available to the parties on its termination.

The module aims to:

• outline the EU laws and the domestic statutory and common law provisions which govern the employment relationship between employers and employees and employers and workers;

• give opportunities for critical examination of domestic and EU statute and case law related to the prohibition of discrimination because of sex, race, disability and other protected characteristics;

• facilitate the development of students’ practical knowledge of employment and equality law through independent research and application to hypothetical problem questions;

• enable students to develop a critical understanding of employment and equality law through analysis of the social and economic context in which the law has developed;
• enable students to develop their oral presentation skills in a supportive atmosphere in seminars;

• enable students to develop their professional skills through observation of tribunal proceedings.

Contract Law; Legal System

1. Introduction to the Employment Relationship         LO 1 and 2
The distinction between the contract of employment and the contract for services
2. Implied and Express Terms     LO 1 and 2
The rules which govern variation of terms in the contract of employment.
3. Termination of Employment   LO 1 and 2
Redundancy
Unfair and wrongful dismissal
4. Equality Law     LO 1 and 2
The history and theoretical basis of equality law (including the relationship between English and European equality law and the genesis of the current protections afforded by the Equality Act 2010).

EU and English statute and case law on Sex, Race, Disability, Sexual Orientation, Religion and Belief Discrimination
Enforcement of Equality Law including exceptions and defences.

5. Employment Litigation      LO 1

Completion and submission of claims to the employment tribunal; Observation and written report of a tribunal hearing;

Learning & Teaching Strategy
Weekly two-hour lecture and one-hour seminar. 

The lecture will be used for:
Dissemination of knowledge through an overview of each topic with detailed guidance on appropriate aspects;
An introduction to relevant academic literature;
Guidance on learning strategies;
Use of blackboard and IT resources;
Whole group questions and discussion.
The seminar will be used for:

Development of skills necessary to attain the module learning outcomes through:
Written and oral questions/answers designed to reinforce fundamental rules/principles/cases;
A range of step by step writing exercises;
IT tasks such as research of cases and statutes
Problem-solving
Critical analysis
Legal writing

Blended Learning

All learning materials, previous examination questions and sample Q/A’s will be on blackboard for use in directed private study.

Student engagement will be encouraged in both lectures and seminars through weekly use of Weblearn for access to all of the above materials.

There will be required use of the professional legal databases, especially Westlaw and Lexis Library, for legal research

Opportunities for reflective learning/pdp

Each weekly seminar will contain space for students to reflect on what they have learnt in relation to the overall syllabus. There will be frequent feedback opportunities structured into the timetable and a range of sample answers posted onto Weblearn.

On successful completion of this module, the students will be able to:

1. Make astute observations and appraisals in the social context of a real-life employment dispute setting; and to explain and analyse the procedures and outcomes in a cogent written format.

2. Give lucid, reasoned advice in response to problem-based employment law case- studies, using skills of focused research, critical analysis and practical appraisal.

There will be two units of assessment.

1. At the end of the first semester students will be required to observe a case at the employment tribunal and submit an interpretive written report of 2,000 words.

2. At the end of the second semester students will be required to complete a piece of coursework of 2,000 – 2,500 words. This will require them to give lucid, reasoned advice in response to problem-based employment law case- studies, using skills of focused research, critical analysis and practical appraisal.

Core Text:

Honeyball & Bowers' Employment Law 15th ed 2018 OUP

Other Texts:

Blackstone’s Statutes on Employment Law (latest edition)
Astra E, Selwyn's Law of Employment, 19th ed, Oxford University Press, 2016
Bowers, J, A Practical Approach to Employment Law, 9th ed, Oxford University Press, 2016

Journals:

IDS Brief

Websites:

ACAS http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1363
The Chartered Institute of Personnel Directors www.cipd.co.uk
The Confederation of British Industry www.cbi.org.uk
Daniel Barnett's Employment Law Bulletin http://danielbarnett.co.uk/
Disability Rights UK https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/
Equality and Human Rights Commission https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en
Fawcett Society  http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/
The Government Equalities Office  http://www.equalities.gov.uk/Default.aspx
Joseph Rowntree Foundation http://www.jrf.org.uk/
Runnymede Trust http://www.runnymedetrust.org/
Stammering Law http://stammeringlaw.org.uk/index.htm
The Trade Union Congress www.tuc.org.uk

Electronic Databases:

Westlaw
Lexis Library