| Unit name | Individual Employment Rights |
|---|---|
| Unit code | LAWDM0021 |
| Credit points | 30 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Collins |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | University of Bristol Law School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Why is this unit important?
The unit on ‘Individual Employment Rights’ will enable students to examine the foundational aspects of individual employment law, its justificatory underpinnings as a form of contract, and the main regulatory challenges in contemporary labour markets. The focus will be on UK law, with additional reference to international and European human rights standards where appropriate. Students will address the identity and nature of the contract of employment, the role of the extended intermediate category of worker, regulation of wages and working time. The course will also consider the contemporary role of human rights arguments in common law development and statutory interpretation.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study
This is one of two mandatory units for the LLM in Employment, Work and Equality (the other is Workers, Unions and Collective Labour Rights). It is optional for other pathways. These units ensure that, in an era of rapidly changing employment practices, students graduate with our degree having gained a solid grounding both in the field of individual employment law and collective labour law. They reflect our orientation towards understanding labour law regulation not only in instrumental but also human rights terms, as well as a broader social, economic and political context. The other optional units specific to the programme and in related LLM programmes will complement this foundational knowledge. This will provide you with a rounded and holistic understanding of this field.
An overview of content
This unit examines various aspects of the legal regulation of the individual employment relationship. The foundational category of individual employment law is the contract of employment. The course will examine controversies in identifying employment contracts, particularly in the context of contemporary labour market challenges such as substitution clauses and precarious employment. It will also examine the role of implied terms in regulating and restraining abuse of power in the employment contract. We will also discuss other forms of personal employment contract, such as the ‘worker’ contract, as an alternative basis for individual regulation. The course will then consider the main regulatory challenges of individual employment law, with a particular focus on wages, working time, and dismissal (unfair and wrongful dismissal). Throughout the topics, it will reflect on the potential role of human rights arguments as they interact with common law and statutory regulation.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
We will consider how established approaches to individual employment law are currently applied to contemporary developments in labour markets, such as the ‘gig economy’, false self-employment, and ‘zero hours’ contracts. You will develop a firm grasp of the basic principles and structure of UK employment law. This will include the interaction between contract and statute, private and public law, and the relevance of international and European instruments. You will identify and explore a selection of contemporary legal and policy-related issues, derived from the academic literature, providing your own evaluation of the ways in which they should be addressed by courts and legislators.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this unit, students will be able to
Teaching will include learning activities including lectures, small group work, discussions, individual tasks, and in-seminar presentations. These learning sessions can be on campus or online, and both synchronous or asynchronous.
The unit will also require directed and self-directed learning, which will include activities such as reading materials included in the unit’s reading list, accessing web-based supplementary materials, critical analysis, completion of tasks for in-seminar presentation, and completion of assessments.
You will be given a unit guide at the beginning of the unit, which will set out the particular topics and reading expected for the teaching block. This will explain the content of each lecture and seminar, the topic on which we will be focusing and the types of issues and questions which will be discussed.
You will be expected to have completed the required reading set for each seminar, which will involve interactive learning. In doing so, you should give thought to how you might use the reading material to answer any questions set in advance. Seminars will give you the opportunity to discuss the issues and questions set for each topic in small and large groups. Exercises will be set either prior to or in the seminar, which may involve ‘problem question’ scenarios or other group work designed to generate class debate. The aim of the tutor will be to provide structure for discussion and to highlight the various concerns and difficulties arising in relation to various aspects of law and policy. Further reading will be provided which is designed to enable you to build upon the reading given in seminars.
In this way, you will learn more about the kinds of issues that you might discuss in response to the topics set for formative assessment and the related essay questions you will answer in the summative assessment. You will gain confidence addressing and assessing differences of opinion between various policy actors, practitioners and scholars, as reflected in legislation, international instruments, cases, policy documents and academic comment.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
Formative assessments will come in many forms such as informal questioning, group exercises and asynchronous activities on Blackboard (our virtual learning platform). These will contribute to your learning and will not count towards your final mark.
Additionally, four topics (which will be relevant for the summative assessment coursework) will be released early in the teaching block. You will then be required to submit in the middle of the teaching block an essay plan and 500 words of the introduction relating to one of topics set. Feedback will be returned to you later in the term to assist you with the completion of the summative assessment.
Tasks which count towards your assessment:
You will be required to submit a 4,000-word essay in response to one of four essay-style questions relating to four topics set (all seminars being of relevance to these topics). In preparation for your coursework, you will be expected to carry out research beyond the unit reading list and to build on the formative assessment rather than repeat its content. This assessment covers all Intended Learning Outcomes for this unit.
When assessment does not go to plan:
When a student fails the unit and is eligible to resubmit, the unit will be reassessed on a like-for-like basis with new assessment questions.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. LAWDM0021).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
