The module is concerned with Employment and Equality Law, including UK and EU law, policy, and practice, case developments, codes of practice, ECHR/human rights law, and comparative law aspects.

A particular focus is on:

• Pre-employment and recruitment issues, including discriminatory adverts, rights and duties on the formation of the employment contract and employment status as a gateway to workplace rights

• Implied and express terms, the impact of collective bargaining, and ‘incorporation’ processes

• Common law and statutory rights and duties

• The operation of the employment contract and employment relationship, and the duties and responsibilities of employers, employees and third parties

• The key themes of workplace change, and change processes

• The right not to be subjected to discriminatory behaviour in the workplace, with reference to anti-discrimination and equalities law, including direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, victimisation, associative discrimination and the perception of protected characteristics including gender, pregnancy/maternity, race, religion, sexual orientation, transgender and marital status

• Redundancy, transfer of undertakings, insolvency and business reorganisation and the potential for discriminatory practice in selection and transfer processes

• Termination of the contract with specific consideration of wrongful and unfair dismissal, age and discrimination and pension rights and post-employment duties

MODULE LEARNING STRATEGY - this is based around students committing a total of 300 hours of activities towards achieving the learning outcomes. These are split between 72 hours of direct contact with a tutor and 228 hours of directed, guided and self-study, together with preparation for and completion of the assessment tasks. A blend of teaching methods will be used, facilitating different styles of learning: these will also be a platform for the development of essential skills including intellectual skills, communication, problem-solving, research, teamwork, negotiation, presentation, and the effective use of IT. Activities will be supported by guided learning and independent learning/enquiry.

WHOLE GROUP SESSIONS - these will be used to introduce new programme topics and to provide shared learning experiences for all participants. The sessions will establish an overview framework within which key module themes and topics can be developed, and will help participants verify and consolidate knowledge and understanding. Topics and themes introduced in these sessions will be developed further in the work undertaken in small-group/workshop sessions. A range of activities will be undertaken, including problem and practice based tasks. All students participate in a whole-group, end-of-programme employment tribunal moot, participating in in either the Claimant, Respondent, Tribunal, or Observer Group teams

SMALL GROUP SESSIONS- these comprise learning activities organised around programme topics and themes which will have been introduced in the whole-group/lecture sessions. Participants undertake preparatory directed study and independent research, assisted by on-line systems like Lexis Library, Practical Law, and Westlaw, and deep links to major sources like Harvey on Industrial Relations. Workshops will include exercises in which participants engage in drafting, ‘client’ advice work, and other problem-based exercises, including transactional work undertaken as part of a team (replicating their likely experience in employment). An emphasis in these sessions will be on student interaction and team-working, with opportunities provided for participants to demonstrate and apply knowledge and understanding, and to deploy skills. Participants will be expected to maintain a journal which records their preparation for, and contribution to, the workshops. This will help to inform a workshop mark based on evidence of Preparation, Attendance, and Contribution (PAC), awarded in the discretion of the workshop tutor

GUIDED LEARNING & INDEPENDENT STUDY/ENQUIRY - guided learning work will comprise a mix of activities, some of which will require group work, completion of pre-sessional tasks, and use of on-line systems and resources. Learning will be facilitated by use of the VLE platform and interactions between students and tutors. Besides guided learning tasks, other study will take the form of pre-sessional enquiry linked to specific tasks, post-sessional reflective work, and preparatory work linked to assessment tasks. Independent, self-managed enquiry is an important feature of the programme, including enquiry in pursuit of particular interests. It is expected that around 50 hours will be devoted to the completion of assessment tasks. Students are expected to be familiar with current issues, and to be actively engaged in debates on them. This is assisted by the facility of student contributions to the ‘Topical Issues & New Developments’ section of the module’s Blackboard site. (228 hours)

Total Learning - 300 Hours

1. Preparation, Attendance, Contribution (PAC) mark for semester 1 Employment Law workshops (weighted at 10%): Learning Outcomes 1, 3-5

2. End of Semester 1 2,500 word Employment Law assignment (weighted at 40%): Learning Outcomes 1, 3-5

3. End of Semester 2 pre-seen 2 hour Discrimination and Equality exam (weighted at 50%): Learning Outcomes 2-5

To pass this module, students must obtain an overall mark of at least 40%.


Formative Assessment. Students will be required to complete two activities during the module’s workshop programme (a presentation based on a contribution to the module’s Topical Issues & New Developments’ section of the module’s Blackboard site and a research task). These will be the subject of formative feedback.

Access to Law Library facilities, including hard copy materials: legislation, cases, monographs, relevant journals (Industrial Law Journal, Equal Opportunities Review, etc), and PC network.

Module study guide and materials on the module’s Blackboard site.

Computing facilities will be needed to access material available on the web and specialist on-line databases including On-line systems including Lexis Library, PLC Practical Law, Westlaw.

Basic Introductory text: S. Honeyball and J. Bowers Textbook on Employment Law (13th ed Oxford University Press 2014) or later editions when available

S. Deakin and G. Morris Labour Law (6th ed Hart Publishing 2012), or later editions when available

J. Wadham, A. Robinson, D. Ruebain, S. Uppal S Blackstones Guide to The Equality Act 2010 (2nd ed Oxford University Press 2012), or later editions when available

M. Connolly Discrimination Law (2nd ed Sweet & Maxwell 2011), or later editions if available

1. UNDERSTAND THE NATURE, FORMATION, OPERATION, AND TERMINATION OF THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP INCLUDING ISSUES RELATING TO STATUS, MANAGERIAL PREROGATIVE , AND WORKPLACE CHANGE
Knowledge and Understanding

2. APPRECIATE THE OPERATION OF STATUTORY AND COMMON-LAW PROTECTION AGAINST DISCRIMINATION IN THE WORKPLACE
Knowledge and Understanding
Learning

3. CRITICALLY ANALYSE THE LAW AND APPLY IT IN THE RESOLUTION OF WORKPLACE ISSUES/DISPUTES
Analysis
Application
Problem-solving

4. EVALUATE AND COMMENT ON PUBLISHED TEXTS, ARTICLES, AND SCHOLARSHIP, CRITICALLY ASSESS ARGUMENTS AND CONCEPTS, AND MAKE INFORMED JUDGMENTS ON CURRENT ISSUES & DEBATES
Analysis
Communication

5. CONDUCT INDEPENDENT RESEARCH, AND ABILITY TO DEPLOY ENQUIRY AND ENQUIRY-RELATED SKILLS AND UTILISE PAPER-BASED AND ON-LINE/ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS
Enquiry
Reflection

You will explore the individual contract of employment and participate in a mock employment tribunal case. You will examine the employee/self-employed distinction and debate the legal position of workers in the ‘gig’ economy. You will assess the impact on working life of a range of statutory minimum rights. You also learn about termination of employment, specifically wrongful and unfair dismissal, redundancy and transfers of undertakings. You will engage in problem-solving exercises to resolve legal issues arising in given scenarios concerning unlawful discrimination because of a protected characteristic, such as sex, race, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation.