Category Archives: Employment and Labour Law
Grace Quigley, ‘Comparison Kills Creativity? Beyond Borders in Contemporary Labor Law’
ABSTRACT The domain of workplace law has expanded in the United States, from traditional labor and employment law to contracts, to consumer protection and even family law. Even so, American labor lawyers maintain that the statutes protecting workers are crumbling after almost a century without supportive reform. This Essay proposes that labor law practitioners and […]
‘Covid-19: Causation in the Spotlight’
In the recent Judgment of Edwards and others v 2 Sisters Food Group Limited [2025] EWHC 1312 (KB), Sir Peter Lane considered causation in work-related COVID-19 claims and the courts’ approach to a summary judgment application where further evidence may yet be adduced by the respondent. This Judgment is of significance for anyone dealing with […]
‘UK tort law on human rights abuses in supply chains: The Dyson Litigation’
This blog considers the extent to which UK courts are willing to adjudicate upon harms committed overseas in connection with UK company supply chains … Recent years have seen a steady stream of litigation brought against UK parent companies for the environmental harm and human rights abuses caused by their overseas subsidiaries. This blog considers […]
‘Lawyers Can Build Worker Power’
Elizabeth Ford, ‘Alt-Legal Services: Re-Visioning Lawyers’ Role In The Fight For Worker Power’, 46 Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law 1 (2025). Elizabeth Ford’s ‘Alt-Legal Services’ offers a bold and refreshing take on the role of lawyers in worker movements. Can lawyers empower workers – or do they undermine organizing efforts? Ford tackles this […]
Pascal Lokiec, ‘Regulating the Employer’s Power: from the Law of Contract to the Law of Power’
ABSTRACT Labour law places power at its core, not only as a factual relationship that disrupts the balance between the parties to the employment contract but also as a legal prerogative granted and regulated by law. Traditional private law mechanisms, particularly contract law, fail to fully capture this dual dimension of power and to establish […]
Langille and Mayer-Goodman, ‘Don’t Mess with Mr In-Between’
ABSTRACT In a separate, related paper, we reveal and criticize an important ‘methodical error’ which is commonly made in labour law jurisprudence. In this paper, we undertake a review of the attempts by Canadian and UK legislators and decision makers to overcome some of the problems of applying labour law’s traditional orthodoxy in the face […]
Peter Haas, ‘Privacy Protection Through Publicity: Licensing Ones Likeness To Employers Via Biometrics’
ABSTRACT Privacy, an essential human right, is increasingly compromised in the digital age – often traded for security and convenience. This erosion is exacerbated by the pervasive use of digital technology, which introduces new methods of identification and surveillance. Historical implicit privacy is no longer sufficient; explicit rules are required to balance security needs with […]
Kim and Leavitt, ‘Data Rights for Workers’
ABSTRACT Workers are subject to immense amounts of data collection on the job, and the algorithmic management tools built with that data can produce negative effects, including deskilling jobs, unstable work hours, reduced wages, and dangerous and degrading working conditions. Workers thus have significant interests how their data are collected and used, and yet they […]
Veena Dubal, ‘Data Laws at Work’
ABSTRACT In recognition of the material, physical, and psychological harms arising from the growing use of automated monitoring and decision-making systems for labor control, jurisdictions around the world are considering new digital-rights protections for workers. Unsurprisingly, legislatures frequently turn to the European Union (EU) for inspiration. The EU, through the passage of the General Data […]
Ferreira and Gromova, ‘The Bossware Era and the e-Panopticon: Current Technologies and Legal Challenges’
ABSTRACT This article comprehensively examines technologies used to monitor employees, highlighting their potential impact and the need for clear boundaries in all work formats. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s concepts of power, technology, and labour relations, the authors introduce the e-panopticon to analyse prevalent bossware solutions, scrutinizing their terms of use and monitoring functionalities. The paper […]