Admission requirements
Background in law and sufficient command of English. Preferably students are familiar with the basics of international and European law.
Description
The International Labor Organization (ILO) is one of the oldest international organizations in the world. It is even older than the United Nations of which it is a special agency. The main aim of the ILO is the creation of social justice. Thereto the ILO promotes rights at work, encourages decent employment opportunities and strengthens social dialogue on work-related issues. It does so through setting standards by Conventions and Recommendations and through various programmes featuring decent work or promoting better work, as well as corporate social responsibility (CSR). Within the context of (economic) globalization these standards and programmes have gained importance and became leading in terms of expectations of the national labour laws of its Member States and the behaviour of multinational enterprises (MNEs). Having an even stronger economic interdependence within the European Union (EU), the EU has created an additional set of labour law rules. Moreover, the EU is more than just an international organization, it is a supranational organization that has created its own legal order. This means that for EU Member States labour law is no longer a mainly national issue. It is strongly influenced by the standards and programmes of the ILO and the social policy directives of the EU, including the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Course Objectives
During this course, a general introduction into and an overview of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and European Union (EU) Labour Law will be provided.
We will study the basic institutional settings of the ILO and the EU, as well as their enforcement and monitoring mechanisms.
We will discuss the historical background of both organizations and the implications thereof for the standards and instruments they have developed over the course of time.
We will discuss the labour standards of the ILO, its governance Conventions and the decent work programmes.
In addition to the standards of the ILO, we study various rule frames in the field of corporate social responsibility that incorporate the fundamental labour rights of the ILO.
We address enforcement and compliance for both the ILO and the other rule frames.
We will study some issue of the EU’s social policy, among which the European social dialogue, employee involvement at the workplace in general and with regard to specific situations and the EU’s approach to equal treatment.
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
Demonstrate knowledge of the historical background of global and European labour law, especially of the ILO and the EU;
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the basic institutional settings of the ILO and the EU and their enforcement and dispute settlement mechanisms;
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the ILO's core labour standards, its governance conventions and its decent and better work programmes;
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the most important material aspects of EU Labour Law;
Application of EU labour law to practical cases;
Analyse and evaluate developments of labour law within the ILO and the EU.
Timetable
Check MyTimetable.
Mode of instruction
Lectures
Number of (2 hour) lectures: 10 (1 per week for a duration of 10 weeks)
Names of lecturers: Prof. dr G.J.J. Heerma van Voss, dr. M.Y.H.G. Erkens
Required preparation by students: Required reading for every lecture
Assessment method
Examination form
- Written assignment 100%.
The exam consists of an assignment, in which students must respond to an outlined problem. They may use the prescribed literature, but must also look up and process at least three scholarly articles. The paper addresses both issues of European and international labour law. A non-passing grade qualifies the student to retake the written assignment.
Depending on the number of students who will take the resit, the resit might take form of an oral exam.
Areas to be tested within the exam
Compulsory reading materials and any other topics discussed in class.
Reading list
Obligatory course materials
Literature:
The course information guide and assignments will be made available on Brightspace.
Literature and reading materials will be published on Brightspace.
Registration
Registration for courses and exams takes place via MyStudymap. If you do not have access to MyStudymap (guest students), look here (under the Law-tab) for more information on the registration procedure in your situation.
Exchange students have priority and will be registered for the course first. Any remaining seats will be available for students from Leiden University and other Dutch Universities.
Contact
Coordinator: Dr. M.Y.H.G. Erkens
Work address: Steenschuur 25 (KOG)
E-mail: [m.y.h.g.erkens@law.leidenuniv.nl]
Institution/division
Institution: Public Law
Division: Labour Law
Room number secretariat: B1.11
Opening hours: Monday-Friday 9.00-17.00 hrs
Telephone number secretariat: +31 (0)71 527 7723/7713
E-mail: sociaalrecht@law.leidenuniv.nl