Labour laws (also known as labor laws or employment laws) are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities,
trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, employer, and union.
Individual labour law concerns employees' rights at work also through the contract for work. are social norms (in some cases also technical standards) for the minimum socially acceptable conditions under which employees or contractors are allowed to work.
Government agencies (such as the former US Employment Standards Administration) enforc
labour law(legislature, regulatory, or judicial).
History
Following the unification of the
city-states in
Assyria and
Sumer
Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of c ...
by
Sargon of Akkad
Sargon of Akkad (; akk, ''Šarrugi''), also known as Sargon the Great, was the first ruler of the Akkadian Empire, known for his conquests of the Sumerian city-states in the 24th to 23rd centuries BC.The date of the reign of Sargon is highl ...
into a
single empire
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
ruled from his
home city circa 2334 BC,
common Mesopotamian standards for
length
Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Interna ...
,
area,
volume,
weight, and
time used by
artisan guilds in each city was promulgated by
Naram-Sin of Akkad (c. 2254–2218 BC), Sargon's grandson, including for
shekels.
Code of Hammurabi Law 234 (c. 1755–1750 BC) stipulated a 2-shekel
prevailing wage for each 60-
gur (300-
bushel)
vessel constructed in an
employment contract
An employment contract or contract of employment is a kind of contract used in labour law to attribute rights and responsibilities between parties to a bargain.
The contract is between an "employee" and an "employer". It has arisen out of the old ...
between a
shipbuilder and a
ship-owner.
Law 275 stipulated a
ferry
A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...
rate
Rate or rates may refer to:
Finance
* Rates (tax), a type of taxation system in the United Kingdom used to fund local government
* Exchange rate, rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another
Mathematics and science
* Rate (mathema ...
of 3-
gerah
A gerah () is an ancient Hebrew unit of weight and currency, which, according to the Torah (''Exodus'' 30:13, ''Leviticus'' 27:25, ''Numbers'' 3:47, 18:16), was equivalent to of a standard "sacred" shekel.
A gerah is known in Aramaic, and usually ...
per day on a
charterparty between a
ship charterer and a
shipmaster. Law 276 stipulated a 2-gerah per day
freight rate on a
contract of affreightment
Affreightment (from freight) is a legal term relating to shipping.
A ''contract of affreightment'' is a contract between a ''ship-owner'' and a charterer, in which the ship-owner agrees to carry goods for the charterer in the ship, ''or'' to giv ...
between a charterer and shipmaster, while Law 277 stipulated a -shekel per day freight rate for a 60-gur vessel.
In 1816, an archeological excavation in
Minya, Egypt
MinyaAlso spelled '' el...'' or ''al...'' ''...Menia, ...Minia'' or ''...Menya'' ( ar, المنيا ; ) is the capital of the Minya Governorate in Upper Egypt. It is located approximately south of Cairo on the western bank of the Nile River ...
(under an
Eyalet
Eyalets ( Ottoman Turkish: ایالت, , English: State), also known as beylerbeyliks or pashaliks, were a primary administrative division of the Ottoman Empire.
From 1453 to the beginning of the nineteenth century the Ottoman local government ...
of the
Ottoman Empire) produced a
Nerva–Antonine dynasty
The Nerva–Antonine dynasty comprised 7 Roman emperors who ruled from 96 to 192 AD: Nerva (96–98), Trajan (98–117), Hadrian (117–138), Antoninus Pius (138–161), Marcus Aurelius (161–180), Lucius Verus (161–169), and Commodus (180� ...
-era
tablet
Tablet may refer to:
Medicine
* Tablet (pharmacy), a mixture of pharmacological substances pressed into a small cake or bar, colloquially called a "pill"
Computing
* Tablet computer, a mobile computer that is primarily operated by touching the s ...
from the ruins of the
Temple of Antinous in
Antinoöpolis
Antinoöpolis (also Antinoopolis, Antinoë, Antinopolis; grc, Ἀντινόου πόλις; cop, ⲁⲛⲧⲓⲛⲱⲟⲩ ''Antinow''; ar, الشيخ عبادة, modern ''Sheikh 'Ibada'' or ''Sheik Abāda'') was a city founded at an older Egyp ...
,
Aegyptus
In Greek mythology, Aegyptus or Ægyptus (; grc, Αἴγυπτος) was a legendary king of ancient Egypt. He was a descendant of the princess Io through his father Belus, and of the river-god Nilus as both the father of Achiroe, his mother ...
that
prescribed the rules and
membership dues of a
burial society ''
collegium'' established in
Lanuvium,
Italia in approximately 133 AD during the reign of
Hadrian
Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...
(117–138) of the
Roman Empire.
A ''collegium'' was any association in
ancient Rome that
acted
Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development, commonly known as ACTED, is a French humanitarian non-governmental organisation. It is a non-governmental, non-political and non-profit organisatio. ACTED works in 37 countries responding to eme ...
as a
legal entity. Following the passage of the ''
Lex Julia'' during the reign of
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
as
Consul and
Dictator of the
Roman Republic (49–44 BC), and their reaffirmation during the reign of
Caesar Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
as ''
Princeps senatus
The ''princeps senatus'' ( ''principes senatus'') was the first member by precedence on the membership rolls of the Roman Senate. Although officially out of the ''cursus honorum'' and possessing no ''imperium'', this office conferred prestige on t ...
'' and
Imperator
The Latin word ''imperator'' derives from the stem of the verb la, imperare, label=none, meaning 'to order, to command'. It was originally employed as a title roughly equivalent to ''commander'' under the Roman Republic. Later it became a part o ...
of the
Roman Army
The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval continu ...
(27 BC–14 AD), ''collegia'' required the approval of the
Roman Senate or the
Emperor in order to be
authorized as legal bodies.
Ruins at
Lambaesis date the formation of burial societies among Roman Army soldiers and
Roman Navy
The naval forces of the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman state ( la, Classis, lit=fleet) were instrumental in the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean Basin, but it never enjoyed the prestige of the Roman legions. Throughout their history, the Romans re ...
mariners to the reign of
Septimius Severus (193–211) in 198 AD. In September 2011, archeological investigations done at the site of the
artificial harbour
A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...
Portus
Portus was a large artificial harbour of Ancient Rome. Sited on the north bank of the north mouth of the Tiber, on the Tyrrhenian coast, it was established by Claudius and enlarged by Trajan to supplement the nearby port of Ostia.
The archae ...
in
Rome revealed inscriptions in a
shipyard
A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...
constructed during the reign of
Trajan (98–117) indicating the existence of a shipbuilders guild. Rome's
La Ostia port was home to a
guildhall for a ''corpus naviculariorum'', a ''collegium'' of
merchant mariners
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as industry ...
. ''Collegium'' also included
fraternities of
Roman priests overseeing
ritual sacrifices, practicing
augury
Augury is the practice from ancient Roman religion of interpreting omens from the observed behavior of birds. When the individual, known as the augur, interpreted these signs, it is referred to as "taking the auspices". "Auspices" (Latin ''aus ...
, keeping
scriptures, arranging
festivals, and maintaining specific
religious cults.
Labour law arose in parallel with the
Industrial Revolution as the relationship between worker and employer changed from small-scale production studios to large-scale factories. Workers sought better conditions and the right to join a
labour union, while employers sought a more predictable, flexible and less costly workforce. The state of labour law at any one time is therefore both the product of and a component of struggles between various social forces.
As England was the first country to industrialize, it was also the first to face the often appalling consequences of the industrial revolution in a less regulated economic framework. Over the course of the late 18th and early to the mid-19th century the foundation for modern labour law was slowly laid, as some of the more egregious aspects of working conditions were steadily ameliorated through legislation. This was largely achieved through the concerted pressure from
social reformers, notably
Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, and others.
Child labour
A serious outbreak of fever in 1784 in
cotton mills near
Manchester drew widespread public opinion against the use of children in dangerous conditions. A local inquiry presided over by Dr
Thomas Percival
Thomas Percival (29 September 1740 – 30 August 1804) was an English physician, health reformer, ethicist and author who wrote an early code of medical ethics. He drew up a pamphlet with the code in 1794 and wrote an expanded version in 18 ...
, was instituted by the
justices of the peace for
Lancashire, and the resulting report recommended the limitation of children's working hours. In 1802, the first major piece of labour legislation was passed − the
Health and Morals of Apprentices Act. This was the first, albeit modest, step towards the protection of labour. The act limited working hours to twelve a day and abolished night work. It required the provision of a basic level of education for all apprentices, as well as adequate sleeping accommodation and clothing.
The rapid industrialisation of manufacturing at the turn of the 19th century led to a rapid increase in child employment, and public opinion was steadily made aware of the terrible conditions these children were forced to endure. The
Cotton Mills and Factories Act 1819 was the outcome of the efforts of the industrialist
Robert Owen
Robert Owen (; 14 May 1771 – 17 November 1858) was a Welsh textile manufacturer, philanthropist and social reformer, and a founder of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement. He strove to improve factory working conditions, promoted e ...
and prohibited
child labour
Child labour refers to the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such e ...
under nine years of age and limited the working hours to twelve. A great milestone in labour law was reached with the
Factories Act 1833
The Factory Acts were a series of acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom to regulate the conditions of industrial employment.
The early Acts concentrated on regulating the hours of work and moral welfare of young children employed ...
, which limited the employment of children under eighteen years of age, prohibited all night work, and, crucially, provided for inspectors to enforce the law. Pivotal in the campaigning for and the securing of this legislation were
Michael Sadler and the
Earl of Shaftesbury. This act was an important step forward, in that it mandated skilled inspection of workplaces and rigorous enforcement of the law by an independent governmental body.
A lengthy campaign to limit the working day to ten hours was led by Shaftesbury and included support from the
Anglican Church. Many committees were formed in support of the cause and some previously established groups lent their support as well. The campaign finally led to the passage of the
Factory Act 1847
The Factories Act 1847, also known as the Ten Hours Act was a United Kingdom Act of Parliament which restricted the working hours of women and young persons (13-18) in textile mills to 10 hours per day. The practicalities of running a textile mi ...
, which restricted the working hours of women and children in British factories to effectively 10 hours per day.
Working conditions
These early efforts were principally aimed at limiting child labour. From the mid-19th century, attention was first paid to the plight of
working conditions for the workforce in general. In 1850, systematic reporting of fatal accidents was made compulsory, and basic safeguards for health, life and limb in the mines were put in place from 1855. Further regulations, relating to ventilation, fencing of disused shafts, signalling standards, and proper gauges and valves for steam-boilers and related machinery were also set down.
A series of further Acts, in 1860 and 1872 extended the legal provisions and strengthened safety provisions. The steady development of the coal industry, an increasing association among miners, and increased scientific knowledge paved the way for the Coal Mines Act of 1872, which extended the legislation to similar industries. The same Act included the first comprehensive code of regulation to govern legal safeguards for health, life and limb. The presence of more certified and competent management and increased levels of inspection were also provided for.
By the end of the century, a comprehensive set of regulations was in place in England that affected all industries. A similar system (with certain national differences) was implemented in other industrializing countries in the latter part of the 19th century and the early 20th century..
Individual labour law
Employment terms
The basic feature of labour law in almost every country is that the rights and obligations of the worker and the employer are mediated through a
contract of employment between the two. This has been the case since the collapse of
feudalism. Many contract terms and conditions are covered by
legislation or
common law. In the US for example, the majority of
state laws allow for
employment to be "at-will", meaning the employer can terminate an employee from a position for any reason so long as the reason is not explicitly prohibited, and, conversely, an employee may quit at any time, for any reason (or for no reason), and is not required to give notice.
A major issue for any business is to understand the relationship between the worker and the master. There are two types of workers, independent contractors and employees. They are differentiated based on the level of control the master has on them. Workers provided tools and resources, closely supervised, paid regularly, etc., are considered employees of the company. Employees must act in the best interest of the employer.
One example of employment terms in many countries is the duty to provide written particulars of employment with the ''
essentialia negotii
''Essentialia negotii'' ( en, essential aspects or basic terms) is a Latin legal term used in contract law. It denotes the minimum contents of a contract in order for it to be held effective and legally binding.
General contracts
However, the co ...
'' (
Latin for "essential terms") to an employee. This aims to allow the employee to know concretely what to expect and what is expected. It covers items including
compensation,
holiday
A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...
and
illness rights, notice in the
event of dismissal and
job description.
The contract is subject to various legal provisions. An employer may not legally offer a contract that pays the worker less than a minimum wage. An employee may not agree to a contract that allows an employer to
dismiss them for illegal reasons.
Intellectual property is the vital asset of the business, employees add value to the company by creating Intellectual Property. As per Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), Intellectual Property is personal property. Intellectual property is used as competitive advantage by big companies to protect themselves from rivalry. Given the conditions, if the worker is in the agent-principal relationship, he is the employee of the company, and if the employee's invention is in the scope of employment i.e. if the employee creates a new product or process to increase the productivity and create organizations' wealth by utilizing the resources of the company, then the Intellectual property solely belongs to the company. New business products or processes are protected under Patents.
There are differing opinions on what constitutes a patentable invention. One area of disagreement is with respect to software inventions, but there have been court cases that have established some precedents. For example, in the case ''
Diamond v. Diehr
''Diamond v. Diehr'', 450 U.S. 175 (1981), was a United States Supreme Court decision which held that controlling the execution of a physical process, by running a computer program did not preclude patentability of the invention as a whole. The hi ...
'' the United States Supreme Court decided that Diehr is patent- eligible because they improved the existing technological process, not because they were implemented on a computer.
Minimum wage
Many jurisdictions define the minimum amount that a worker can be paid per hour. Algeria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Japan, South Korea, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Paraguay, Portugal, Poland, Romania, Spain, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Vietnam, Germany (in 2015) and others have laws of this kind. The minimum wage is set usually higher than the lowest wage as determined by the forces of
supply and demand
In microeconomics, supply and demand is an economic model of price determination in a Market (economics), market. It postulates that, Ceteris paribus, holding all else equal, in a perfect competition, competitive market, the unit price for a ...
in a
free market and therefore acts as a
price floor. Each country sets its own
minimum wage laws and regulations, and while a majority of industrialized countries has a minimum wage, many developing countries do not.
Minimum wages are regulated and stipulated in some countries that lack explicit laws. The United States of America is regulated by the Fair Labor Standars Act and has explicit laws, whereas other countries such as Sweden might lack explicit laws. In Sweden minimum wages are negotiated between the
labour market parties (unions and employer organizations) through
collective agreements
A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...
that also cover non-union workers at workplaces with collective agreements. At workplaces without collective agreements there exist no minimum wages. Non-organized employers can sign substitute agreements directly with trade unions but far from all do. The Swedish case illustrates that in countries without statutory regulation part of the labour market may not have regulated minimum wages, as self-regulation only applies to workplaces and employees covered by collective agreements (in Sweden about 90 per cent of employees).
[Anders Kjellberg (2017]
”Self-regulation versus State Regulation in Swedish Industrial Relations”
In Mia Rönnmar and Jenny Julén Votinius (eds.) ''Festskrift till Ann Numhauser-Henning''. Lund: Juristförlaget I Lund 2017, pp. 357–383
National minimum wage laws were first introduced in the
United States in 1938,
Brazil in 1940 India in 1948, France in 1950
and in the
United Kingdom in 1998.
In the
European Union, 18 out of 28 member states have national minimum wages as of 2011.
Living wage
The living wage is higher than the minimum wage and is designed so that a full-time worker should be able to support themselves and a small family at that wage.
Hours
The maximum number of hours worked per day or other time intervals are set by law in many countries. Such laws also control whether workers who work longer hours must be paid additional compensation.
Before the Industrial Revolution, the workday varied between 11 and 14 hours. With the growth of
industrialism and the introduction of machinery, longer hours became far more common, reaching as high as 16 hours per day.
The
eight-hour movement led to the first law on the length of a working day, passed in 1833 in England. It limited miners to 12 hours and children to 8 hours. The 10-hour day was established in 1848, and shorter hours with the same pay were gradually accepted thereafter. The 1802
Factory Act
The Factory Acts were a series of acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom to regulate the conditions of industrial employment.
The early Acts concentrated on regulating the hours of work and moral welfare of young children employed ...
was the first labour law in the UK.
Germany was the next European country to pass labour laws; Chancellor
Otto von Bismarck
Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...
's main goal was to undermine the
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been the ...
. In 1878, Bismarck instituted a variety of anti-socialist measures, but despite this, socialists continued gaining seats in the
Reichstag. To appease the working class, he enacted a variety of
paternalistic social reforms, which became the first type of
social security. In 1883 the Health Insurance Act was passed, which entitled workers to health insurance; the worker paid two-thirds and the employer one-third of the premiums. Accident insurance was provided in 1884, while old-age pensions and disability insurance followed in 1889. Other laws restricted the employment of women and children. These efforts, however, were not entirely successful; the working class largely remained unreconciled with Bismarck's conservative government.
In France, the first labour law was voted in 1841. It limited under-age miners' hours. In the
Third Republic labour law was first effectively enforced, in particular after
Waldeck-Rousseau 1884 law legalising
trade unions. With the
Matignon Accords, the
Popular Front (1936–38) enacted the laws mandating 12 days each year of
paid vacations
Annual leave is a period of paid time off work granted by employers to employees to be used for whatever the employee wishes. Depending on the employer's policies, differing number of days may be offered, and the employee may be required to giv ...
for workers and the law limiting the standard workweek to 40 hours.
Health and safety
Other labour laws involve safety concerning workers. The earliest English
factory law was passed in 1802 and dealt with the safety and health of
child labour
Child labour refers to the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such e ...
ers in
textile mills.
Discrimination
Such laws prohibit
discrimination
Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...
against employees, in particular
racial discrimination or
gender discrimination.
Dismissal
Convention no. 158 of the
International Labour Organization states that an employee "can't be fired without any legitimate motive" and "before offering him the possibility to defend himself". Thus, on April 28, 2006, after the unofficial repeal of the French
First Employment Contract, the
Longjumeau (
Essonne) ''conseil des prud'hommes'' (labour law court) judged the
New Employment Contract contrary to
international law and therefore "illegitimate" and "without any juridical value". The court considered that the two-years period of "fire at will" (without any legal motive) was "unreasonable", and contrary to convention.
Child labour

Child labour was not seen as a problem throughout most of history, only disputed with the beginning of universal
schooling
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...
and the concepts of
labourers' and
children's rights. Use of
child labour
Child labour refers to the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such e ...
was commonplace, often in factories. In England and Scotland in 1788, about two-thirds of persons working in water-powered
textile factories were children. Child labour can be factory work, mining or quarrying, agriculture, helping in the parents' business, operating a
small business
Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have fewer employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being able to ap ...
(such as selling food), or doing odd jobs. Children work as guides for
tourists, sometimes combined with bringing in business for shops and
restaurant
A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...
s (where they may also work). Other children do jobs such as assembling boxes or polishing shoes. However, rather than in factories and
sweatshops, most child labour in the twenty-first century occurs in the informal sector, "selling on the street, at work in
agriculture or
hidden away in houses — far from the reach of official inspectors and from media scrutiny."
Collective labour law
Collective labour law concerns the relationship between employer, employee and
trade unions. Trade unions (also "labour unions" in the US) are organizations which generally aim to promote the interests of their members. This law regulates the wages, benefits, and duties of the employees, and the dispute management between the company and the trade union. Such matters are often described in a collective labour agreement (CLA).
Trade unions
Trade unions are organized groups of workers who engage in
collective bargaining with employers. Some countries require unions and/or employers to follow particular procedures in pursuit of their goals. For example, some countries require that unions poll the membership to approve a strike or to approve using members' dues for political projects. Laws may govern the circumstances and procedures under which unions are formed. They may guarantee the right to join a union (banning employer discrimination), or remain silent in this respect. Some legal codes allow unions to obligate their members, such as the requirement to comply with a majority decision in a strike vote. Some restrict this, such as "
right to work" legislation in parts of the United States.
In the different organization in the different countries trade union discuses with the employee on behalf of employer. At that time trade union discussed or talk with the manpower of the organization. At that time trade union perform his roles like a bridge between the employee and employer.
Workplace participation
A legally binding right for workers as a group to participate in workplace management is acknowledged in some form in most developed countries. In a majority of EU member states (for example, Germany, Sweden, and France), the workforce has a right to elect directors on the board of large corporations. This is usually called "codetermination" and currently most countries allow for the election of one-third of the board, though the workforce can have the right to elect anywhere from a single director, to just under a half in Germany.
However,
German company law uses a split board system, in which a "supervisory board" appoints an "executive board". Under the
Mitbestimmunggesetz 1976, shareholders and employees elect the supervisory board in equal numbers, but the head of the supervisory board with a casting vote is a shareholder representative. The first statutes to introduce board-level codetermination were in Britain, however, most of these measures, except in universities, were removed in 1948 and 1979. The oldest surviving statute is found in the United States, in the Massachusetts Laws on manufacturing corporations, introduced in 1919, however, this was always voluntary.
In the United Kingdom, similar proposals were drawn up, and a command paper produced named the
Bullock Report (Industrial Democracy) was released in 1977 by the
James Callaghan
Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...
Labour Party government. Unions would have directly elected half of the board. An "independent" element would also be added. However, the proposal was not enacted. The
European Commission offered proposals for worker participation in the "fifth company law directive", which was also not implemented.
In Sweden, participation is regulated through the "Law on board representation". The law covers all private companies with 25 or more employees. In these companies, workers (usually through unions) have a right to appoint two board members and two substitutes. If the company has more than 1,000 employees, this rises to three members and three substitutes. It is common practice to allocate them among the major union coalitions.
Information and consultation
Workplace statutes in many countries require that employers consult their workers on various issues.
Collective bargaining
Collective action
Strike action
Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Labor (economics), work. A strike usually takes place in response to grievance (labour), employee grievance ...
is the worker tactic most associated with industrial disputes. In most countries, strikes are legal under a circumscribed set of conditions. Among them may be that:
* The strike is decided on by a prescribed democratic process (
wildcat strikes
A wildcat strike action, often referred to as a wildcat strike, is a strike action undertaken by unionised workers without union leadership's authorisation, support, or approval; this is sometimes termed an unofficial industrial action. The legalit ...
are illegal).
*
Sympathy strikes, against a company by which workers are not directly employed, may be prohibited.
*
General strike
A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large co ...
s may be forbidden for example, among public safety workers, to maintain
public order.
A
boycott
A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...
is a refusal to buy, sell, or otherwise trade with an individual or business. Other tactics include
go-slow,
sabotage,
work-to-rule,
sit-in
A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. The protestors gather conspicuously in a space or building, refusing to mo ...
or en-masse not reporting to work. Some labour law explicitly bans such activity, none explicitly allows it.
Picketing
Picketing is a form of protest in which people (called pickets or picketers) congregate outside a place of work or location where an event is taking place. Often, this is done in an attempt to dissuade others from going in (" crossing the pick ...
is often used by workers during strikes. They may congregate near the business they are striking against to make their presence felt, increase worker participation and dissuade (or prevent)
strike breakers from entering the workplace. In many countries, this activity is restricted by law, by more general law restricting demonstrations, or by injunctions on particular pickets. For example, labour law may restrict
secondary picketing
Picketing is a form of protest in which people (called pickets or picketers) congregate outside a place of work or location where an event is taking place. Often, this is done in an attempt to dissuade others from going in (" crossing the pick ...
(picketing a business connected with the company not directly with the dispute, such as a supplier), or
flying pickets (mobile strikers who travel to join a picket). Laws may prohibit obstructing others from conducting lawful business; outlaw obstructive pickets allow court orders to restrict picketing locations or behaving in particular ways (shouting abuse, for example).
International labour law
The labour movement has long been concerned that economic
globalization would weaken worker bargaining power, as their employers could hire workers abroad to avoid domestic labour standards.
Karl Marx said:
The International Labour Organization and the World Trade Organization have been a primary focus among international bodies for regulating labour markets. Conflicts arise when people work in more than one country. EU law has a growing body of workplace rules.
International Labour Organization
Following
World War I, the
Treaty of Versailles contained the first constitution of a new
International Labour Organization (ILO) founded on the principle that "labour is not a commodity", and for the reason that "peace can be established only if it is based upon social justice". ILO's primary role has been to coordinate international labour law by issuing Conventions. ILO members can voluntarily adopt and ratify the Conventions. For instance, the first
Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 required a maximum of a 48-hour week, and has been ratified by 52 out of 185 member states. The UK ultimately refused to ratify the Convention, as did many current EU members, although the
Working Time Directive adopts its principles, subject to individual opt-out. ILO's constitution comes from the 1944
Declaration of Philadelphia and under the 1998
Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work classified eight conventions as core.
These require freedom to join a union, bargain collectively and take action (Conventions No.
87 and
98), abolition of forced labour (
29 and
105 105 may refer to:
*105 (number), the number
*AD 105, a year in the 2nd century AD
*105 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC
* 105 (telephone number)
* 105 (MBTA bus)
* 105 (Northumberland) Construction Regiment, Royal Engineers, an English military unit ...
), abolition of labour by children before the end of compulsory school (
138 138 may refer to:
*138 (number)
*138 BC
*AD 138
Year 138 ( CXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Niger and Camer ...
and
182
Year 182 ( CLXXXII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sura and Rufus (or, less frequently, year 935 ''Ab urbe condita'') ...
), and no discrimination at work (No.
100
100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...
and
111 111 may refer to:
*111 (number)
*111 BC
*AD 111
*111 (emergency telephone number)
*111 (Australian TV channel)
* Swissair Flight 111
* ''111'' (Her Majesty & the Wolves album)
* ''111'' (Željko Joksimović album)
* NHS 111
*(111) a Miller index fo ...
). Member compliance with the core Conventions is obligatory, even if the country has not ratified the Convention in question. To ensure compliance, the ILO is limited to gathering evidence and reporting on member states' progress, relying on publicity to create pressure to reform. Global reports on core standards are produced yearly, while individual reports on countries who have ratified other Conventions are compiled on a bi-annual or less frequent basis.

Because the ILO's enforcement mechanisms are weak, incorporating
labour standards in the World Trade Organization Labour standards in the World Trade Organization are binding rules, which form a part of the jurisprudence and principles applied within the rule making institutions of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Labour standards play an implicit, but not a ...
's (WTO) operation has been proposed. WTO oversees, primarily, the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a legal agreement between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers such as tariffs or quotas. According to its pre ...
treaty aimed at reducing
customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...
,
tariffs and other barriers to import and export of goods, services and capital between its 157 member countries. Unlike for the ILO, contravening WTO rules as recognized by the
dispute settlement procedures opens a country to retaliation through
trade sanctions. This could include reinstatement of targeted tariffs against the offender.
Proponents have called for a "
social clause Within the context of international trade, a social clause is the integration of sustainability standards, such as the core ILO labour rights conventions into trade agreements.
During the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 1996, i ...
" to be inserted into the GATT agreements, for example, by amending Article XX, which provides an exception that allows imposition of sanctions for breaches of
human rights. An explicit reference to core labour standards could allow comparable action where a WTO member state breaches ILO standards. Opponents argue that such an approach could undermine labour rights, because industries, and therefore workforces could be harmed with no guarantee of reform. Furthermore, it was argued in the 1996 Singapore Ministerial Declaration 1996 that "the
comparative advantage of countries, particularly low-age developing countries, must in no way be put into question." Some countries want to take advantage of low wages and fewer rules as a comparative advantage to boost their economies. Another contested point is whether business moves production from high wage to low wage countries, given potential differences in worker productivity. Since GATT, most trade agreements have been bilateral. Some of these protect core labour standards. Moreover, in domestic tariff regulations, some countries give preference to countries that respect core labour rights, for example under the EC Tariff Preference Regulation, articles 7 and 8.
Work in multiple countries
Conflicts of laws
Conflict of laws (also called private international law) is the set of rules or laws a jurisdiction applies to a case, transaction, or other occurrence that has connections to more than one jurisdiction. This body of law deals with three broad t ...
(or
private international law) issues arise where workers work in multiple jurisdictions. If a US worker performs part of her job in Brazil, China and Denmark (a "peripatetic" worker) an employer may seek to characterize the employment contract as governed by the law of the country where labour rights are least favourable to the worker, or seek to argue that the most favourable system of labour rights does not apply. For example, in a
UK labour law case, ''
Ravat v Halliburton Manufacturing and Services Ltd'' Ravat was from the UK but was employed in Libya by a German company that was part of
Halliburton. He was dismissed by a supervisor based in
Egypt. He was told he would be hired under UK law terms and conditions, and this was arranged by a staffing department in Aberdeen. Under the UK
Employment Rights Act 1996 he would have a right to claim unfair dismissal, but the Act left open the question of the statute's territorial scope. The UK Supreme Court held that the principle would be that an expatriate worker, would be subject to UK rules if the worker could show a "close connection" to the UK, which was found in Rabat's case.
This fits within the general framework in the EU. Under EU
Rome I Regulation article 8, workers have employment rights of the country where they habitually work. They may have a claim in another country if they can establish a close connection to it. The Regulation emphasises that the rules should be applied with the purpose of protecting the worker.
It is also necessary that a court has jurisdiction to hear a claim. Under the
Brussels I Regulation article 19, this requires the worker habitually works in the place where the claim is brought or is engaged there.
EU law
The European Union has extensive labour laws that officially exclude (according to the
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) matters around direct wage regulation (e.g. setting a minimum wage), the fairness of dismissals and collective bargaining. A series of Directives regulate almost all other issues, for instance the
Working Time Directive guarantees 28 days of paid holiday, the
Equality Framework Directive
The Equality Framework Directive''2000/78/ECis an EU Directive, and a major part of EU labour law which aims to combat discrimination on grounds of disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief and age in the workplace. It accompanies the ...
prohibits all forms of discrimination and the
Collective Redundancies Directive The Collective Redundancies Directive''98/59/ECis an EU Directive concerning the procedures and warnings that any employer is under a duty to its workforce to follow if it finds it necessary to make more than 20 employees redundant over 90 days (or ...
requires that proper notice is given and consultation takes place on decisions about economic dismissals.
However, the
European Court of Justice
The European Court of Justice (ECJ, french: Cour de Justice européenne), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Un ...
has recently extended the Treaties provisions via
case law
Case law, also used interchangeably with common law, is law that is based on precedents, that is the judicial decisions from previous cases, rather than law based on constitutions, statutes, or regulations. Case law uses the detailed facts of a l ...
. Trade unions have sought to organize across borders in the same way that
multinational corporations have organized production globally. Unions have sought to take collective action and strikes internationally. However, this coordination was challenged in the
European Union in two controversial decisions. In ''
Laval Ltd v Swedish Builders Union'' a group of Latvian workers were sent to a construction site in Sweden. The local union took industrial action to make Laval Ltd sign up to the local collective bargaining agreement. Under the
Posted Workers Directive
The Posted Workers Directive''96/71/ECis an EU directive concerned with the free movement of workers within the European Union. It makes an exception to the Convention on the Law Applicable to Contractual Obligations 1980, which ordinarily requir ...
, article 3 lays down minimum standards for foreign workers so that workers receive at least the minimum rights that they would have in their home country in case their place of work has lower minimum rights. Article 3(7) says that this "shall not prevent application of terms and conditions of employment which are more favourable to workers". Most people thought this meant that more favourable conditions could be given than the minimum (e.g., in Latvian law) by the host state's legislation or a collective agreement. However the
European Court of Justice
The European Court of Justice (ECJ, french: Cour de Justice européenne), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Un ...
(ECJ) said that only the local state could raise standards beyond its minimum for foreign workers. Any attempt by the host state, or a collective agreement (unless the collective agreement is declared universal under article 3(8)) would infringe the business' freedom under
TFEU article 56. This decision was implicitly reversed by the European Union legislature in the
Rome I Regulation, which makes clear in recital 34 that the host state may allow more favourable standards. However, in ''
The Rosella'', the ECJ held that a blockade by the
International Transport Workers Federation against a business that was using an
Estonian
flag of convenience (i.e., saying it was operating under Estonian law to avoid labour standards of Finland) infringed the business' right of free establishment under
TFEU article 49. The ECJ said that it recognized the workers' "right to strike" in accordance with ILO Convention 87, but said that its use must be proportionately to the right of the business' establishment.
National labour laws
Australia
The
Fair Work Act of 2009 provides the regulations governing Australian workplaces and employers. Australia has a minimum wage and workplace conditions overseen by the
Fair Work Commission.
Canada

In Canadian law, "labour law" refers to matters connected with unionized workplaces, while "employment law" deals with non-unionized employees.
In 2017, Premier
Brad Wall announced that Saskatchewan's government is to cut 3.5 per cent from its workers and officers' wages in 2018. This salary cut includes
MLA ministers and the Premier's office staff along with all people employed by the government. Unpaid days off will also be implemented as well as limiting overtime to assist the wage cut.
China
In
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
the basic labour laws are the ''
Labour Law of People's Republic of China
The ''Labour Contract Law of the People's Republic of China'' (《中华人民共和国劳动合同法》) is the primary source of labour law in China and went into effect on January 1, 2008, following a series of staff- sacking scandals in many ...
'' (promulgated on 5 July 1994) and the ''
Labour Contract Law of the People's Republic of China'' (adopted at the 28th Session of the Standing Committee of the 10th
National People's Congress on June 29, 2007, effective from January 1, 2008). The administrative regulations enacted by the State Council, the ministerial rules and the judicial explanations of the
Supreme People's Court stipulate detailed rules concerning various aspects of employment. The government-controlled
All China Federation of Trade Unions
The All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) is the national trade union center of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the largest trade union in the world with 302 million members in 1,713,000 primary trade union organizations. Th ...
is the sole legal labour union. Strikes are formally legal, but in practice are discouraged.
France
In France, the first labour laws were
Waldeck Rousseau
Pierre Marie René Ernest Waldeck-Rousseau (; 2 December 184610 August 1904) was a French Republican politician who served as the Prime Minister of France.
Early life
Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau was born in Nantes, Brittany. His father, René Wal ...
's laws passed in 1884. Between 1936 and 1938 the
Popular Front enacted a law mandating 12 days (2 weeks) each year of paid
vacation for workers, and a
law limited the work week to 40 hours, excluding overtime. The
Grenelle accords negotiated on May 25 and 26th in the middle of the May 1968 crisis, reduced the working week to 44 hours and created trade union sections in each enterprise. The minimum wage was increased by 25%. In 2000,
Lionel Jospin's government enacted the
35-hour workweek
The 35-hour working week is a part of a labour law reform adopted in France in February 2000, under Prime Minister Lionel Jospin's Plural Left government. Pushed by Minister of Labour Martine Aubry, it was adopted in two phases: the "Aubry 1" law ...
, reduced from 39 hours. Five years later, conservative prime minister
Dominique de Villepin enacted the
New Employment Contract (CNE). Addressing the demands of employers asking for more
flexibility in French labour laws, the CNE sparked criticism from trade unions and opponents claiming it favoured
contingent work. In 2006, he then attempted to pass the
First Employment Contract (CPE) through a vote by emergency procedure, but that was met by
students and unions' protests. President
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...
finally had no choice but to repeal it.
Poland
In Poland, the main act on the Labour Law is the Polish Labour Code from the year 1974. Since its introduction into the legal system the act is constantly being adapted and updated to current reality on a labour market in Poland. The basic form of employment in Poland is an employment contract, which can be concluded for a probation period, definite period of time or an indefinite period of time. The Polish Labour Code provides also regulations on employee benefits, annual leaves, termination of the employment contract, discrimination in the workplace, disciplinary liability and many other employment-related issues. Polish employment contracts can be terminated in many ways, e.g. in a disciplinary mode, by a termination with a notice period or by a mutual agreement of both parts.
India
Over fifty national and many more state-level laws govern work in India. So for instance, a permanent worker can be terminated only for proven misconduct or habitual absence.
In the
Uttam Nakate case, the
Bombay High Court
The High Court of Bombay is the high court of the states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily at Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), and is one of the ol ...
held that dismissing an employee for repeated sleeping on the factory floor was illegal – the decision was overturned by the
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...
two decades later. In 2008, the
World Bank criticized the complexity, lack of modernization and flexibility in Indian regulations. In the Constitution of India from 1950, articles 14–16, 19(1)(c), 23–24, 38, and 41-43A directly concern labour rights. Article 14 states everyone should be equal before the law, article 15 specifically says the state should not discriminate against citizens, and article 16 extends a right of "equality of opportunity" for employment or appointment under the state. Article 19(1)(c) gives everyone a specific right "to form associations or unions". Article 23 prohibits all trafficking and forced labour, while article 24 prohibits child labour under 14 years old in a factory, mine or "any other hazardous employment".
Articles 38–39, and 41-43A, however, like all rights listed in Part IV of the Constitution are not enforceable by courts, rather than creating an aspirational "duty of the State to apply these principles in making laws".
The original justification for leaving such principles unenforceable by the courts was that democratically accountable institutions ought to be left with discretion, given the demands they could create on the state for funding from general taxation, although such views have since become controversial. Article 38(1) says that in general the state should "strive to promote the welfare of the people" with a "social order in which justice, social, economic and political, shall inform all the institutions of national life. In article 38(2) it goes on to say the state should "minimise the inequalities in income" and based on all other statuses. Article 41 creates a "right to work", which the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 attempts to put into practice. Article 42 requires the state to "make provision for securing just and human conditions of work and for maternity relief". Article 43 says workers should have the right to a living wage and "conditions of work ensuring a decent standard of life". Article 43A, inserted by the Forty-second Amendment of the Constitution of India in 1976,
creates a constitutional right to codetermination by requiring the state to legislate to "secure the participation of workers in the management of undertakings".
The recently released New Labour Codes 2022 mentions that organizations can convert 9-hour shifts to 12-hour shifts and provide three days of leave every week. The 4-day workweek policy will be effective from 1st July 2022.
Also read: Labour Reforms by Government of India Ministry of Labour & Employment (https://labour.gov.in/labour-reforms)
Indonesia
Indonesia essentially rebuilt its labour law system in the early 2000s following regime change and with support of the ILO. These three statutes also constituted a new legislative framework for industrial relations:
1. Law No. 21 of 2000 on Trade Unions, which allowed free unionization; and
2. Law No. 13 of 2003 on Manpower, which legislated other minimum labour rights; and
3. Law No. 2 of 2004 on Industrial Relations Disputes Settlement, established a new industrial relations dispute resolution system.
Iran
Iran has not ratified the two basic Conventions of the
International Labour Organization on
freedom of association and
collective bargaining and one abolishing child labour.
Israel
Japan
Mexico
Mexican labour law reflects the historic interrelation between the state and the
Confederation of Mexican Workers. The confederation is officially aligned with the
Institutional Revolutionary Party (the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI). While the law promises workers the right to strike and to organize, in practice it is difficult or impossible for independent unions to organize.
Singapore
Singapore has a "minimum legal obligation" rule which applies to employment contracts and in other fields of contracting, and limits damages payments for breach of contract. The rule applies in wrongful dismissal cases: generally, its effect would be to limit an employee's damages to the minimum
notice period under which the employer could properly have dismissed the employee.
South Africa
South African labour law is regulated by the
Department of Employment and Labour and is based on the Labour Relations Act (LRA) 66 of 1995, which regulates the relationship between and rights of employers, employees and trade unions. The LRA also gives effect to Section 23 of the
Constitution. The LRA lays out the procedures for dispute resolution via the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and establishes the
Labour Court and
Labour Appeal Court as superior courts with exclusive jurisdiction to decide matters arising from the Act.
The Labour Relations Act also regulates the issue of fairness, not only in termination but during employment. In 1998, however, most of the laws on unfair labour practices were removed from the Labour Relations Act and placed into the newly formed Employment Equity Act (EEA). The EEA also deals with issues such as fairness regarding a worker's human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status or disability, as well as the issue of affirmative action. Prior to 1995, an employee could be dismissed in terms of the contract of employment, which could permit any reason for dismissal. Since 1995 however, an employee may be dismissed only for misconduct, operational reasons and incapacity, given that procedural fairness is maintained. The Labour Relations Act 1995 is a pivotal piece of legislation, as it recognises the need for fast and easy access to justice in labour disputes. The Industrial Court had the status of a High Court, and therefore was not accessible to all labourers.
The Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), the Health and Safety Act and the
Skills Development Act, must be read with the EEA. The Skills Development Act provides that a small percentage of a labourer's salary must be contributed to the Department of Labour, enabling certain workshops to be run which are designed to develop skills.
Sweden
In Sweden many workplace issues such as working hours, minimum wage and right to overtime compensation are regulated through collective bargaining agreements in accordance with the Swedish model of ''self-regulation'', i.e. regulation by the labour market parties themselves in contrast to ''state regulation'' (labour laws).
A notable exception is the
Employment Protection act which regulates employment contracts and extensive employees' rights to employment under certain conditions.
Switzerland
The labour law of
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
covers all standards governing the
employment
Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...
of some kind. The regulation of the employment by private employers is largely harmonized at the
federal level, while public-sector employment still prevails a variety of
cantonal
The 26 cantons of Switzerland (german: Kanton; french: canton ; it, cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: ; Vallader and Puter: ; Sutsilvan: ; Rumantsch Grischun: ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confe ...
laws. In particular, the civil standardization is distributed to a variety of laws. Of greater importance, particularly the new
Federal Constitution of 1999, the
Code of Obligations
The law of obligations is one branch of private law under the civil law legal system and so-called "mixed" legal systems. It is the body of rules that organizes and regulates the rights and duties arising between individuals. The specific rights a ...
, the
Labour Code as well as in the public sector, the
Federal Personnel Act
Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to:
Politics
General
*Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies
*Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
.
United Kingdom
The
Factory Act
The Factory Acts were a series of acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom to regulate the conditions of industrial employment.
The early Acts concentrated on regulating the hours of work and moral welfare of young children employed ...
s (first one in 1802, then 1833) and the 1823
Master and Servant Act were the first laws regulating labour relations in the United Kingdom. Most employment law before 1960 was based upon contract law. Since then there has been a significant expansion primarily due to movements for equality and the legal requirements imposed by the UK's former membership of the European Union.
UK employment law comes from Acts of Parliament, secondary legislation (made by a Secretary of State under an Act of Parliament), case law (developed by various courts), and retained Community law following the UK's departure from the EU.
The first significant expansion was the
Equal Pay Act 1970, brought into to try to ensure pay equality for women in the workplace. Since 1997, changes in UK employment law include enhanced maternity and paternity rights, the introduction of a National Minimum Wage and the Working Time Regulations, which covers working time, rest breaks and the right to paid annual leave. Discrimination law has been tightened, with protection from discrimination now available on the grounds of age, religion or belief and sexual orientation as well as gender, race and disability.
United States

The
Fair Labor Standards Act
The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) is a United States labor law that creates the right to a minimum wage, and "time-and-a-half" overtime pay when people work over forty hours a week. It also prohibits employment of minors in "oppres ...
of 1938 set the maximum standard work week to 44 hours. In 1950 this was reduced to 40 hours. A
green card entitles immigrants to work, without requirement a separate
work permit. Despite the 40-hour standard maximum work week, some lines of work require more than 40 hours. For example, farm workers may work over 72 hours a week, followed by at least 24 hours off. Exceptions to the break period exist for certain harvesting employees, such as those involved in harvesting grapes, tree fruits and cotton.
Professionals, clerical (administrative assistants), technical, and mechanical employees cannot be terminated for refusing to work more than 72 hours in a work week.
These ceilings, combined with a competitive job market, often motivate American workers to work more hours. American workers on average take the fewest days off of any developed country.
The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...
limit the power of the
federal and
state governments to
discriminate. The private sector is not directly constrained by the Constitution, but several laws, particularly the
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...
, limit the private sector discrimination against certain groups. The
Fifth Amendment has an explicit requirement that the Federal Government not deprive individuals of "life, liberty, or property", without due process of law and an implicit guarantee that each person receive equal protection of the law. The
Fourteenth Amendment explicitly prohibits states from violating an individual's rights of
due process
Due process of law is application by state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to the case so all legal rights that are owed to the person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual pers ...
and
equal protection. Equal protection limits the State and Federal governments' power to
discriminate in their employment practices by treating employees, former employees, or job applicants unequally because of membership in a group, like a race, religion or sex.
Due process
Due process of law is application by state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to the case so all legal rights that are owed to the person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual pers ...
protection requires that employees have a fair procedural process before they are terminated if the termination is related to a "liberty", like the right to
free speech, or a property interest.
The
National Labor Relations Act
The National Labor Relations Act of 1935, also known as the Wagner Act, is a foundational statute of United States labor law that guarantees the right of private sector employees to organize into trade unions, engage in collective bargaining, and ...
, enacted in 1935 as part of the
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
legislation, guarantees workers the right to form unions and engage in collective bargaining.
The
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA; to ) is a United States labor law that forbids employment discrimination against anyone, at least 40 years of age, in the United States (see ). In 1967, the bill was signed into law by Pr ...
prohibits employment discrimination based on age with respect to employees 40 years of age or older.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act is the principal federal statute with regard to
employment discrimination
Employment discrimination is a form of illegal discrimination in the workplace based on legally protected characteristics. In the U.S., federal anti-discrimination law prohibits discrimination by employers against employees based on age, race, g ...
, prohibiting unlawful employment discrimination by public and private employers,
labour organizations, training programmes and employment agencies based on race or colour, religion, sex and national origin. Retaliation is also prohibited by Title VII against any person for opposing any practice forbidden by statute, or for making a charge, testifying, assisting, or participating in a proceeding under the statute. The
Civil Rights Act of 1991
The Civil Rights Act of 1991 is a United States labor law, passed in response to United States Supreme Court decisions that limited the rights of employees who had sued their employers for discrimination. The Act represented the first effort since ...
expanded the damages available to Title VII cases and granted Title VII plaintiffs the right to jury trial.
Halakhah (Jewish religious law)
The beginnings of halakhic labour law are in the Bible, in which two commandments refer to this subject: The law against delayed wages (Lev. 19:13; Deut. 24:14–15) and the worker's right to eat the employer's crops (Deut. 23:25–26). The Talmudic law—in which labour law is called "laws of worker hiring"—elaborates on many more aspects of employment relations, mainly in Tractate Baba Metzi'a. In some issues the Talamud, following the Tosefta, refers the parties to the customary law: "All is as the custom of the region
ostulates.
Modern halakhic labour law developed very slowly. Rabbi Israel Meir Hacohen (the Hafetz Hayim) interprets the worker's right for timely payment in a tendency that clearly favours the employee over the employer, but does not refer to new questions of employment relations. Only in the 1920s we find the first halakhic authority to tackle the questions of trade unions (that could easily be anchored in Talmudic law) and the right of strike (which is quite problematic in terms of Talmudic law). Rabbis
A.I Kook and
B.M.H. Uziel tend to
corporatist settling of labour
conflicts, while Rabbi
Moshe Feinstein clearly adopts the liberal democratic
collective bargaining model. Since the 1940s the halakhic literature on labour law was enriched by books and articles that referred to growing range of questions and basically adopted the liberal democratic approach.
See also
*
Employee benefits
Employee benefits and (especially in British English) benefits in kind (also called fringe benefits, perquisites, or perks) include various types of non-wage compensation provided to employees in addition to their normal wages or salaries. Inst ...
*
Profit sharing
Profit sharing is various incentive plans introduced by businesses that provide direct or indirect payments to employees that depend on company's profitability in addition to employees' regular salary and bonuses. In publicly traded companies thes ...
*
Family economics
*
Family wage
*
Living wage
*
Distributism
*
Labor market
*
Maximum wage
*
Positive rights
*
Precarious work
*
Trade Boards Act 1909
*
Working poor
*
Employment contract
An employment contract or contract of employment is a kind of contract used in labour law to attribute rights and responsibilities between parties to a bargain.
The contract is between an "employee" and an "employer". It has arisen out of the old ...
*
Industrial relations
* ''
Journal of Individual Employment Rights
The ''Journal of Workplace Rights'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering labor-management relations, employment discrimination, and employment law. It covers the theoretical and practical sides of employment issues such as record keeping, ...
''
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Labour market flexibility
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Labour movement
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Labour inspectorate
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Legal working age
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Occupational licensing
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Protective laws
Protective laws were enacted to protect women from certain hazards or difficulties of paid work. These laws had the effect of reducing the employment available to women, saving it for men. These were enacted in many jurisdictions in the United S ...
(on gender)
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Right-to-work law
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Union organizer
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Vicarious liability
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Weekends
The weekdays and weekend are the complementary parts of the week devoted to labour and rest, respectively. The legal weekdays (British English), or workweek (American English), is the part of the seven-day week devoted to working. In most of th ...
*
WorkChoices
*
Workplace Fairness Workplace Fairness is a 501(c)(3) public education and advocacy organization, founded in 1994 as the National Employee Rights Institute. According to its mission statement, the organization "believes that fair treatment of workers is sound public po ...
Notes
References
Further reading
*Stephen F. Befort and John W. Budd, ''Invisible Hands, Invisible Objectives: Bringing Workplace Law and Public Policy Into Focus'' (2009) Stanford University Press
*
*E McGaughey, ''A Casebook on Labour Law''
Hart 2019)
*E McGaughey, 'Behavioural Economics and Labour Law' (2014
LSE Legal Studies Working Paper No. 20/2014
*Keith Ewing, Aileen McColgan and Hugh Collins, ''Labour Law, Cases, Texts and Materials'' (2005) Hart Publishing
*S Deakin, C Barnard, Z Adams and S Fraser-Butlin, ''Labour Law'' (2021) Hart Publishing
*Keshawn Walker and Arn Morell, "''Labor and Employment: Workplace Warzone''", Georgetown University Thesis (2005)
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Labour Law
Labor relations
Social programs
Employment compensation
Working conditions
Working time
Industrial and organizational psychology