Workplace Law - LAWS8239

Description

LLM Specialisations

Recommended Prior Knowledge

Course Objectives

• an appreciation of the social, political and economic context of workplace relations laws;
• an international and comparative perspective for evaluating the centrepiece Australian statute governing workplace relations, the Fair Work Act 2009;
• a conceptual framework for understanding the Act;
• a working knowledge of the key dynamics of workplace rights and especially workplace bargaining as regulated by the Act;
• a good grasp of the developing case law on the new legislation.

Main Topics

• International and comparative labour law perspectives as a prelude to any consideration of the Fair Work Act and its sponsored bargaining process
• The claims of the statute as expressed in its objects (“to provide a balanced framework for cooperative and productive relations”) measured against the machinery it creates
• The base of statutory rights represented by National Employment Standards, Modern Awards and “general protections”
• The minimum wage regime
• The dynamics of a unique formula on workplace bargaining, characterised by, amongst other things, an enterprise level focus, collective rights for employees, an agency role for unions, limited right of entry provisions, good faith bargaining obligations, a limited right to take industrial action, mediation and limited arbitration
• The supervisory roles of Fair Work Australia and the Fair Work Ombudsman
• Transfers of business
• The developing jurisprudence

Assessment

Class attendance and participation:	20%
Class presentation:	20%
Essay:	60%