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Labour Law

Key information

  • Module code:

    6FFLK009

  • Level:

    6

  • Semester:

      Full Year

  • Credit value:

    30

Module description

What rights do you have when you get a job? Why has income inequality been increasing? Why is there a gender pay gap between men and women, and what can the law do about it? Why do people join unions and collectively bargain? Why do unions take collective action, including strikes? Is the real world like ‘reality TV’, where employers can shout ‘you’re fired!’ and workers are dismissed at will? Is there a solution to unemployment, to ensure economic prosperity and social justice? Labour Law is a rapidly developing and highly topical branch of the law. It deals with:

  • The relationship between workers and employing entities (usually in corporate form), and
  • The relationship between trade unions, their members and employing entities.

Labour Law will affect most students at some stage of their working lives. It is an increasingly important part of many legal practices. It has also probably been the most politically significant and contentious legal subject worldwide since the Industrial Revolution. It rests at the foundation of modern social democracy. As well as seminars on history and theory, four main sections of the course are: 

  • The contract of employment and rights at work
  • Equality and anti-discrimination law in the workplace
  • Collective bargaining and collective action
  • Job security  

Assessment details

Exam (100%)

Educational aims & objectives

This course will ask:

  • what justifies labour law, socially and economically, and how does it combat unequal bargaining power?
  • to what extent is there a minimum floor of rights in contracts, wages, working time and child care?
  • do the Equality Act 2010 and part-time, fixed-term or agency laws, promote social inclusion?
  • how do we participate in workplace governance, unions, collective bargaining, and by collective action?
  • to what extent do we have a right to work, and job security through unjust dismissal laws?

Teaching pattern

Seminar (1 x 2 hours per week)

Indicative schedule (2022/23, so subject to change):

  1. History
  2. Scope of labour law
  3. Contract of employment
  4. Implied terms and variation
  5. Wage and pension rights

Reading week

  1. Working time and child care
  2. Atypical work
  3. Discrimination and detriment
  4. Disadvantage and positive action
  5. Votes at work

New Year break

  1. The right to organise
  2. Union governance and free association
  3. Collective bargaining
  4. Collective action: the right to strike
  5. Collective action: liability and immunity

Reading week

  1. Full employment and the right to work
  2. Dismissal concept and process
  3. Fair reasons for dismissal
  4. Redundancy and transfers
  5. Theory

Suggested reading list

  • H Collins, K Ewing and A McColgan, Labour Law (Cambridge 2012)
  • E McGaughey, A Casebook on Labour Law (Hart 2018)

Subject areas

Department

Module description disclaimer

King’s College London reviews the modules offered on a regular basis to provide up-to-date, innovative and relevant programmes of study. Therefore, modules offered may change. We suggest you keep an eye on the course finder on our website for updates.

Please note that modules with a practical component will be capped due to educational requirements, which may mean that we cannot guarantee a place to all students who elect to study this module.

Please note that the module descriptions above are related to the current academic year and are subject to change.