LAU34111 Employment Law

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this module, students should be able to:

• Identify and analyse the relationship between the different sources of Irish employment law and the various fora in which employment disputes are litigated;
• Appraise and evaluate the substantive legal principles in a number of distinct areas of employment law;
• Locate employment law within current societal developments, particularly having regard to COVID-19, remote working, social media and work-life balance considerations;
• Analyse and explain specific statutory regimes and their application in practice;
• Identify and evaluate the range of remedies available in employment litigation;
• Apply critical analysis skills and techniques to different essay and response-based employment law questions.

Module Content

This module offers an introduction to employment law in Ireland in 2023, introducing students both to the variety of overlapping sources of employment law and to the multiplicity of different ways in which employment disputes may be litigated.  It analyses the nature of the employment relationship, the contract of employment, the gig economy and the impact of COVID-19 on the employment relationship.

 A thorough analysis is undertaken of employers’ statutory and common law obligations to their employees, including the study of the liability of employers for workplace harassment, bullying and stress, and the potential for vicarious liability being imposed upon employers in this context. Employment equality law also receives detailed treatment in this module, as does the termination of employment under both common law and statute. The module concludes with a detailed analysis of remedies in employment law, with special emphasis on the distinctive body of law that continues to grow in the context of employment injunctions.