Assessment of this module is as follows:
1. Mark for seminar preparation, participation, contribution (SPPC) informed by seminar journal entries assessing Learning Outcomes 1-5 (30%)
2. Research-Informed Coursework Assignment: Length 3500 words (based on workplace-related legal tasks) assessing Learning Outcomes 1-5 (70%)

This module provides participants with the opportunity to engage with a range of introductory issues at the interface of HR and law. After considering the priorities of HR practitioners, and the needs of the organisations they support, attention is given to the way that the employment relationship and workplace relations are influenced and regulated by the Employment Law regime. As will be considered, law influences, shapes, and intervenes in many of the key stages in the life cycle of individual and collective workplace relations, and in the way organisations are managed: a consideration influencing managers at every level, from board level and the top tier of organisations’ management structures down to the individual manager. A key consideration for HR professionals as for other actors and stakeholders is the avoidance or minimisation of risk, and the utilisation of range of approaches and mechanisms (including grievance management and dispute resolution options and procedures) to address risk as and when it arises.

Other discourses considered will be dignity at work and empowerment – now seen by some commentators, eg Bratton and Gold as ‘particularly influential’. In addressing the priorities set by the modern legal regime, consideration will be given to Common Law, UK, and EU statutory law, custom and practice, and the way this acts to both facilitate and constrain the employer’s right to manage and management prerogative.
Particular attention is given to:
• Employment status as a gateway to rights and duties
• Formation and operation of the employment contract, having regard to the modern and evolving typology of modern contracts (standard, on-call, zero hours, flexible working, and so forth) and the operation of the ERA 1996 s.1 statement of initial particulars, incorporation of the terms of collective bargains, and other modern contract of employment sources
• Regulation of the wage-work bargain and working time
• The impact of equalities and anti-discrimination measures, including the Equality Act 2010, and other measures aimed at promoting diversity and opportunities to take up and remain in employment for groups like older workers, women, carers, and those with disabilities, long-term incapacity, and special needs Note: This topic is dealt with at an introductory level, but will feature in more depth in the Year 2 core module ‘Equality, Diversity & Discrimination’
• Collective labour law, bargaining, and the legal framework
• The collective ‘voice’, works councils, and measures to support the provision of information and dialogue, eg the Information & Consultation of Employees Regulations 2005
• Industrial disputes, strikes, and industrial action short of a strike and legal regulatory framework, including ILO, ECHR and EU Charter aspects

Although the topics of workplace change, discipline, and dismissal, will feature at different points of this module’s programme, a more detailed and in-depth study features in the programme for the module ‘The Employment Relationship & Regulation of Workplace Change, Discipline and Dismissal’.

1. DEMONSTRATE KNOWLEDGE AND CRITICAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE INTER-ACTION BETWEEN HR PRACTICE AND THE LAW, AND APPRECIATE THE ROLE OF THE LEGAL SYSTEM IN SHAPING THE WORKPLACE ENVIRONMENT AT KEY STAGES OF THE FORMATION AND OPERATION OF THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP
Knowledge & Understanding
Learning

2. UNDERSTAND THE WAY THE LEGAL REGIME, INCLUDING INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE LABOUR LAW, ENABLES AND LIMITS THE RIGHT TO MANAGE AND THE ‘MANAGEMENT PREROGATIVE’
Knowledge & Understanding
Learning

3. APPRECIATE CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN THE SUBJECT AND THE INFLUENCES SHAPING EMPLOYMENT LAW AND MODERN HR PRACTICE
Enquiry
Analysis
Reflection

4. DEMONSTRATE ABILITY TO UNDERTAKE ENQUIRY AND DEPLOY ESTABLISHED TECHNIQUES OF RESEARCH, ANALYSIS, AND OTHER ENQUIRY-RELATED SKILLS USING A RANGE OF SOURCES AND SYSTEMS (INCLUDINGON-LINE AND IT ENABLED TOOLS)
Enquiry
Analysis

5. WORKING INDIVIDUALLY AND WITH OTHERS DEMONSTRATE ABILITY TO CRITICALLY EVALUATE ARGUMENTS AND ASSUMPTIONS, MAKE JUDGMENTS, AND COMMUNICATE THE RESULTS OF SUCH EVALUATIONS EFFECTIVELY0
Analysis
Reflection
Communication

The module is student-centred and is delivered through a series of 5 x 2 Hours seminars supported by preliminary research and independent study, as well as reflective work following seminars (10 Hours)

Students follow a pattern of study contained in the module handbook and seminar templates. Students benefit from general guidance in the module study guide, pre-task guidance, and feedback. Students will be encouraged to communicate with each other throughout the module programme, contribute to a pool of knowledge of topical issues and new developments in the discipline, and otherwise allow an academic community of practice to develop (10 Hours)

There is an additional 6 hours of student guidance, supervision, and support provided at key points in the module programme which may take various forms including group and/or one-to-one feedback

SMALL GROUP SESSIONS
Face to face seminars (5 x 2 Hours)
Students will be asked to prepare for the seminars which will be scheduled in condensed teaching sessions. These will be supported by a range of blended learning materials and online support through the VLE (10 Hours)

Total: 36 Hours

DIRECTED STUDY & INDEPENDENT LEARNING
Principally, this will consist of study in preparation for seminars, and then to consolidate and develop an understanding of the sources and material discussed in seminars.
Directed study will be focused on tasks, discussion points, and practice-based exercises drawn from scenarios commonly encountered in the workplace, and assisted by legal cases studies and ‘topical issues’. A significant proportion of participants’ study will be supported by IT enabled enquiry, with usage of on-line tools (OTLs) and systems like Lexis Library, Westlaw, PLC On-Line. As participants are part-time, due consideration is given to the likely need to balance work, family, and other commitments: so the scheme is designed to try to ensure task preparation and completion is at a user-friendly pace, and at times that are convenient (114 Hours)

Access to Blackboard VLE
Access to Internet
Access to University and Law Library's Online Electronic Resources, including general and specialist data bases, and on-line UK, EU, and ECHR sources

Essential Text
Deakin, S & Morris, G (2012), Labour Law, Hart Publishing (6th ed) or
Collins, P, Ewing, K, McColgan, A (2012), Labour Law, Cambridge University Press,

Additional (Not Essential)
Sargeant, M (2013) Discrimination and the Law, Routledge
Morris, G, and Archer, T (2008), Collective Labour Law, Hart Publishing