Comparative and International Employment and Labor Law

Catalog description

Survey of employment and labor laws around the world that shape the practice of international human resource management (IHRM). HRER 801 Comparative and International Employment and Labor Law (3) This course surveys how the employment and labor laws of countries around the world help to shape the practice of international human resource management (IHRM). It examines such laws and regulations as they affect a representative spectrum of HR concerns, ranging from hiring and contract formation, to anti-discrimination laws and union relations, to personal privacy. The course first examines the role of culture and employment and labor law in the field of international human resources management (IHRM). Students will be asked to address how different national legal regimes affect important HR policies and practices involving the formation of compensation, firing or layoff of employees, anti-discrimination measures, works councils, and mergers and acquisitions. In addition to comparative (national) law, a growing body of "supra-national" regulation - much of it issued and supervised by the International Labor Organization - sets the stage for the latter weeks of the course. These lessons examine how international labor standards are created and can then adopted as part of unilaterally issued corporate codes of conduct or incorporated into bargained-for international framework agreements (between multinational companies and global union federations). Upon completion of the course, students should have a solid foundation for navigating through national and international law in their formation and implementation of HR policies and practices.