Introduction

• Author: Geoffrey England
• Pages: 1-10

CHAPTER

1

INTRODUCTION

Employment

law is

concerned with rules that govern

the

relations

between employers

and

employees:

Who

creates

the

rules that govern

the

job?

How are

such rules administered

and

enforced?

And

what

is

the

content

of the

rules? Clearly, this definition

is

extremely broad.

A

worker's terms

and

conditions

of

employment

are

determined

by a

combination

of

processes:

negotiations with

the

employer that

are

incorporated

as

express

terms

of the

contract

of

employment;

unilateral decisions

by the

employer that

are

given

effect

through

the

express

or

implied terms

of the

employment contract;

customs

and

practices

in the

firm

or

industry that

are

given

effect

through

the

implied terms

of the

employment contract;

court precedents

on the

meaning

of

standardized terms

in the

employment contract such

as

"reasonable" notice

of

termination

and

"just cause"

for

summary dismissal;

and

legislation that

fixes

minimum labour standards. These standards include

-

substantive terms

and

conditions

of

employment (e.g., minimum

wages,

maximum hours

of

work,

and

minimum leaves

of

absence

for

designated purposes such

as

childbirth

or

bereavement);

-

safeguards against arbitrary abuse

by the

employer

of its

mana-

gerial

prerogatives (e.g., banning discrimination

in

hiring, promo-

tion,

and

firing

on

proscribed grounds such

as

sex, race,

and

disability,

and

requiring discharge

to be for

just cause);

1