LAW-30068 - Module Specification
School of Law
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

Students selecting this module should have previously successfully completed both core Contract modules at Level 2, namely: LAW-20031 Contract 1; and LAW-20032 Contract 2, when things go wrong.

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2024/25

We look at the legal aspects of the employment relationship. If you have, say, a temporary job do you have a contract of employment? If you do have a contract of employment what rights does it give you? Can you sue for wrongful dismissal? Can you bring a claim for unfair dismissal? What, in law, is unfair dismissal? To what are you entitled if you have been dismissed unfairly? Beyond these issues, what is the role of the Equality Act, 2010 in the employment relationship? Against what forms of discrimination are employees protected? Unfair dismissal and discrimination issues take up the greater part of the course but we will also briefly consider the current impact of employment law on the role of trade unions. Throughout we reflect on the role of employment law in current political debates.

To provide an overview of the law applying to contracts of employment.
To assess the extent to which the law is influenced by changing social and economic policies.
To develop an awareness of the interplay of common law, statute and policy in (and the impact of EU law on) employment law.

Intended Learning Outcomes

communicate an accurate knowledge of the law relating to the rights and duties of employers, employees and trades unions: 1,2
review domestic employment law in the wider context of EU work policies: 1,2
analyse the law and policy surrounding contractual employment relationships: 1,2
critically assess legislators' attempts to express social policy through statute: 1,2

Study hours

Lectures - 10 x 2 hour
Seminars - 6 x 1 hours
Seminar preparation 40 hours
Essay - 40 hours
Research Poster - 20 hours
Private study - 24 hours
Total = 150

School Rules

Students selecting this module should have previously successfully completed both core Contract modules at Level 2, namely: LAW-20031 Contract 1; and LAW-20032 Contract 2, when things go wrong.

Description of Module Assessment