Law Commons^™

Labour Law As A Subset Of Employment Law? Up-Dating Langille’S Insights With A Capabilities Approach, Bruce P. Archibald

Dalhousie Law Journal

Brian Langille’s influential 1981 article entitled “Labour Law is a Subset of Employment Law” is evaluated in the light of changes in the economic, social and political context since its publication and the shifts in the appropriate normative underpinnings for such an exercise. Langille’s conceptually radical original version of a unified field for legal governance of the workplace, rooted in liberal constitutional principles, has been accepted in the interim by many. However, four decades later, this schema is no longer an adequate basis for responding to challenges for achieving fairness and justice in a world of precarious employment, globally organized …

Foreword & Table Of Contents

Dalhousie Law Journal

Labour Law versus Employment Law in the UK and Canada: A Brian Langille Legacy

The special segment in this Volume 43, which is devoted to an exercise in comparative labour, is the brain-child of Alan Bogg and Mark Freedland. Both were at Oxford University in 2016, thinking about the up-coming third conference of the Labour Law Research Network (LLRN) in Toronto, which was scheduled for summer of 2017. (Alan is now at Bristol.) They thought it would be interesting to explore distinctions between labour law and employment law in both Canada and the United Kingdom, where the notions have different …

Unifying The Field: Mapping The Relationship Between Work Law Regimes In Ontario, Then And Now, Claire Mumme

Dalhousie Law Journal

Since the mid-20th century in Canada, labour and employment law have been treated as two separate but related fields. In 1981 Brian Langille argued in “Labour Law is a Subset of Employment Law” for the unification of the fields, so that all forms of waged work were understood as matters of public policy, rather than leaving some types of work to private law regulation. Taking up Langille’s argument, this paper argues that employment contracts, individual and collective, are structured through the overlap, interaction and gaps between work law regimes. The creation of a unified field moves from studying the regimes …

If Labour Law Is A Subset Of Employment Law, What Is Employment Law A Subset Of?, Brian A. Langille

Dalhousie Law Journal

An academic life lived over decades can provide real rewards. One is thinking about a subject, such as labour law, over a significant period. Such longer-term speculation can lead to interesting questions—such as, what makes labour law a subject anyway? A second advantage of academic seniority is the opportunity to sustain longer-term relationships with other scholars. Both the temporal and personal advantages are joined here because four leading labour law scholars whom I have known for a (sometimes very long) while, have written about an essay that I wrote forty years ago. This essay is my effort to join them …

Employment Law Revisited, Mark Freedland

Dalhousie Law Journal

This critique of Brian Langille’s famous “Subset” article considers the historical and current meaning of “employment law” in Canada and in the UK. In Canada, “employment law” was fashioned by Innis Christie in the 1980s as the law of personal work relations for the non-unionized sector, with “labour law” applying to the unionized sector of the economy. In the UK, “individual employment law” appeared in the 1970s to be a distinct discipline; but since that time it has largely re-merged with labour law, with the terms “employment law” and “labour law” becoming virtually synonymous. An enlarged scope is proposed for …

“Labour Law Is A Subset Of Employment Law” Revisited, Alan Bogg

Dalhousie Law Journal

This article revisits the arguments in Brian Langille’s seminal law review article, “Labour Law is a Subset of Employment Law.” Langille’s article was based upon two main claims: (a) that (individual) employment law should be understood as the “set” and (collective) labour law the “subset” of employment law (the primacy of employment law); (b) that “public values” have priority over “private values” in the regulation of work (the primacy of public values). These two claims were presented as mutually reinforcing in “Subset.” Drawing on specific examples from UK and Canadian law, this article endorses the first claim but rejects the …

Analysis Of The Charter And Its Application To Labour Law, Joel Fichaud

Dalhousie Law Journal

Analysis of the Charter and Its Application to Labour Law This paper: (1) lists the provisions of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms1 which may have relevance to labour law; (2) suggests a possible framework for analysis of the provisions, and; (3) applies the provisions and analysis to aspects of labour law.

Recent Developments In Labour Law In Nova Scotia, Brian G. Hansen, John Macpherson, Larry Steinberg

Dalhousie Law Journal

The past two years have been a fruitful time for those in Nova Scotia interested in labour law. During this period, the Supreme Court of Canada has handed down several decisions of relevance in this province, while the Nova Scotia Supreme Court itself has had cause to decide issues of considerable significance. Even more important, the number of written decisions published by the Nova Scotia Labour Relations Board has increased somewhat, with the result that some detail as to the day to day practice of the Board and its interpretation of the Act is now available. This comment will review …