The course aims to provide students with the knowledge necessary to understand the basic features of the subject, as far as its individual (individual employment relationship) and collective (trade union law) aspects are concerned, copying with both the theoretical and operational levels. 

Firstly, students will increase their awareness of labour law as a special legal system with regard to private law and corporate law. Secondly, they will understand the legal framework, characterised by a specific intertwining of law, collective agreements and individual agreements. Finally, they will examine the rules governing the establishment, the management and the extinction of the employment relationship. International and European labour law will be analysed in the general frame of the legal sources with particular reference to the supranational level that is becoming more and more influencial vis à vis the national level.

In general, the aim is to encourage students to take an open approach to the subject in order to understand the core of a changing law due to technological developments of the global production system.  

In particular, according to the peculiarities of this course, an effort will be made in order to achieve a satisfying knowledge about the following topics:

-  the role of trade unions and industrial relations from a legal and economic perspective;

-  the labour market institutions, the employment support and workers’ income;

-  the employment contract between dependent employment, self-employment, work and non-work, performance based on rewarded or a free of charge job ;

-  the staff management, the managerial powers, the productivity and the work environment;

-  the contractual relations between enterprises and employment relationships: direct, indirect and flexible labour.

This course will deal with the following topics:
-  The history, the fundamental principles and several aspects of the labour law.
-  Supranational and national sources of labour law.

a)  Trade union law
Historical introduction – the relations between trade union law and employment relationship – the freedom of association – the freedom of association as freedom of organization: the structure and the nature of the trade union – the freedom of association as freedom of action: the collective conflict – the trade union representation, the representativeness and the trade union activity in workplaces – trade union’s participation, the bargaining and the collective agreement in the private and public administrations.   

b)  Labour law
The individual employment relationship: from the origins to the so-called Jobs Act - The employment contract: its classification and contractual matrix - Employment, labour market, income support – employer’s and employee’s obligations and employer’s powers – the individual and collective dismissals -  the relocation of the company and employment relationships – the indirect and flexible labour.

- Private Law. 

- Knowledge and understanding skills: at the end of the course, students are expected to acquire the tools for understanding the rules governing employment relationships in their individual and collective aspects and to gain a comprehensive knowledge of labour law, with particular reference to some aspects of policy of law, and to gain an advanced knowledge of the main topics.   

- Practise knowledge and understanding skills: at the end of the course, students are expected to be able to use the knowledge gained to analyse legal documents (laws, collective agreements, sentences) and, therefore, to handle case studies regarding the staff management and industrial relations. To this end, exercises concerning case laws and/or business cases and work groups on topical issues will be performed in class. 

- Making judgments: at the end of the course, students are expected to read and interpret critically the topics dealt with, combining both the knowledge gained and their own point of view. This means that they will be able to manage different aspects of the subject autonomously and critically. To this end, face to face lessons, group works and workshops and writing will be performed in class.

- Comunication skills: at the end of the course, students are expected to express themselves clearly and properly and to use the technical-legal language of the subjects. To this end, debates, summaries of subjects examined in previous lectures and writing will be performed.

- Learning skills: at the end of the course, students are expected to develop their understanding skills and to acquire, autonomously, professional skills necessary to enter the labour market. To this end, face to face lessons, workshops, writing, group works, debates in class, and conversation with the professor will be performed in order to take an open-to-doubt approach and to promote durable learning skills in extremely dynamic contexts such as the modern workng organizations. 

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

In order to support ongoing learning, students will be allowed to participate in self-assessment tests organized by the teacher during the lessons.

Teaching

This course is based on lectures and active learning practices.

Lectures aim to provide students with theoretical basic knowledge through lectures supported by the professor with slides and internet. Internet shows the main websites about labour law (the legislation, public authorities, “social partners”) and allows to find documents such as newspaper articles about topical issues, judgments and collective agreements at both national and company levels. These agreements are analysed in order to know their structure and also as a common intersection for trade union law and individual employment relationship. More in general, web browsing will be an innovative tool to encourage students to debate with an interaction between lecture and active learning.

Active learning practices are aimed at developing skills for understanding and managing specific "critical situations" through the application of basic theoretical knowledge - concerning institutions of importance for professional purposes - to practical cases. Space will be given, in particular, to the discussion of jurisprudential cases, to the collective reflection on highly topical issues, taken from the media, including those related to the change in labor law in the digital age. Still in the context of the active learning practices, students will be urged to present to the class topics already covered in previous lessons or to anticipate topics to be covered in subsequent lessons, so as to be able to test their communication, synthesis and correct use skills of legal language. There will also be opportunities for in-depth study through group work on particularly current topics.

Innovative teaching methods

Lectures will be integrated and contaminated by moments of active involvement of the students, with use, in presence and/or online, (also) of innovative teaching methods: debate (debate); problem-based learning (learning by problem solving); flippedclassroom (flipped class).

Attendance

For a better understanding, students are strongly encouraged to refresh their basic notions of Private Law and Corporate Law (consistently with their own study path) regarding: sources of law; associations; society; company; bonds; contract.

Attending students should show up in class with a laptop or tablet for an easy consultation of the Normattiva web site as well as with their course books.

Course books

W. CHIAROMONTE, M.P. MONACO, M.L. VALLAURI (a cura di), Elementi di diritto del lavoro, Third edition, Giappichelli, Torino, 2023 [Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 (only § 1), 14, 15, 16, 18 (only § 10)].

For general consultation of legal and contractual rules, however, the use of an updated Labour Code is strongly recommended (Giuffrè, Milan's latest minor editorial, edited by CARINCI M.T., is recommended).

For OPTIONAL English documents, please see Blended Platform, where you can find some documents on one or more current labour law topics. The students CAN CHOOSE ONE OR MORE of these cases and discuss them in the oral examination.

Assessment

The expected learning outcomes are assessed through an oral examination concerning topics discussed in the lessons and in the above-mentioned course books. The oral examination allows a comprehensive assessment of each student, in terms of his/her knowledge and, mainly, his/her practical, argument and critical thinking skills as well as his/her communication skills.

The examination consists of an oral discussion about 1-4 general and related to the main topics issues. This approach should show the student's level of knowledge. It will be assessed according to the following criteria: 1. Comprehensive knowledge of the contents; 2. Confidence in the subject and in its main concepts; 3. Reasoning and coordination skills of the different aspects of the labour law; 4. Ability to use knowledge in a critical and autonomous way; 5. Communication skills in terms of linguistic ability and the technical-legal vocabulary.

The score will be expressed in thirtieths according to the following value system:

·  Below 18/30 – insufficient level: the student does not achieve any of the learning outcomes included in the "Knowledge and understanding skills" paragraph;

·  18-20/30 – sufficient level: the student achieves the learning outcomes included in the "Knowledge and understanding skills" paragraph;

·  21-20/30 – fully sufficient level: the student achieves the learning outcomes included in the "Knowledge and understanding skills" paragraph and "Practise knowledge and understanding skills" paragraph;

·  24-26/30 – good level: the student achieves the learning outcomes included in the "Knowledge and understanding skills" paragraph, "Practise knowledge and understanding skills" paragraph and “Self-assessment” paragraph;

·  27-29/30 – very good level: the student achieves the learning outcomes included in the "Knowledge and understanding skills" paragraph, "Practise knowledge and understanding skills" paragraph, “Self-assessment” paragraph and “Communication skills” paragraph;

·  30/30 cum laude: excellent level: the student achieves the learning outcomes included in the "Knowledge and understanding skills" paragraph, "Practise knowledge and understanding skills" paragraph, “Self-assessment” paragraph, “Communication skills” paragraph and “Understanding skills” paragraph.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

The lecturer is available, by appointment, to agree on methods of coaching and ongoing (online) support for students, such as special on-line meetings, in view of preparing for the final exam.

Course books

Individual study of the course books above mentioned and the material uploaded on the Moodle platform

Assessment

The final examination consists of an oral exam concerning the issues addressed in the two above-mentioned course books.

The assessment criteria of the examination are the same as those already mentioned for attending students.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.