Law 796: Comparative and European Employment and Labor Law

This course introduces students to labor and employment law from a comparative perspective, with particular attention to the European Union and selected European national systems.

The European Union offers a distinctive setting for comparative legal study. EU labor law applies across 27 Member States with a combined population of approximately 450 million people. It establishes common principles and minimum standards in important areas of employment regulation, while leaving significant room for national legal traditions and institutions. Studying EU labor law therefore provides access not only to a supranational legal system, but also to the different ways in which its rules are implemented in national systems such as France, Germany, Italy, and other Member States.

The course is organized around legal questions that arise in most employment systems: Who qualifies as an employee? What rights and duties arise from the employment relationship? Under which conditions can an employer dismiss an employee? How are working time, discrimination, privacy, collective representation, and business restructuring regulated?

For each topic, students will examine the European framework and selected national approaches, using central features of United States labor and employment law as points of comparison. Particular attention will be given to the different assumptions underlying the European and American systems, including the contrast between employment at will and protection against unjustified dismissal, the respective roles of legislation and contract, and different models of employee representation.

The course does not seek to present any one system as preferable. Its purpose is to help students understand how different legal systems identify and address similar problems arising from work, employment, and the organization of business.

No previous knowledge of EU law, comparative law, or labor and employment law is required.

Sequence and Prerequisites: None.

Evaluation: Final evaluation will be paper-based.