The role of (and expectation attached to) labour law and regulation in modern societies is contentious. From one perspective, labour law may be viewed as a crucial component of human rights, which, together with other basic rights, serve to correct imbalances in relationships at work and seek to ensure social justice for workers. From another perspective, labour (over-)regulation, it is sometimes argued, is one of the factors inhibiting economic growth and development and contributes towards high levels of unemployment and growth in non-standard work arrangements.
As the dangers of deregulating the labour environment have been exposed during the aftermath of the global economic crisis, there is renewed focus on the promotion and facilitation of appropriate labour regulatory regimes. Labour law remains concerned with addressing the challenges emerging from the rapidly changing world of work, including the regulation of non-standard work relationships, reduction of unemployment and underemployment, in particular amongst the youth, poverty alleviation, achievement of substantive equality and promotion of the decent work agenda.
- Against this backdrop, papers addressing the following sub-themes are welcomed:
- Labour law and its inter-relationship with human rights law and social justice, development and the decent work agenda
- Labour law protection in the context of non-standard work, high unemployment (including youth unemployment) and underemployment: Emerging trends
- The search for substantive equality at work
- Labour law and regulation in a globalised society: the future of labour law in the changing world of work
- Recent developments regarding freedom of association and the right to strike
- Labour dispute resolution and the enforcement of labour law