Hybrid: Book Launch - Human Rights at Work

About the event

Can workers ever be fairly dismissed because of their political views or their controversial posts on social media? Should employees be entitled to refuse to conform to an employer’s dress code or perform part of their job on the ground that it would be contrary to their religious or moral beliefs?  Can it ever be right for an employer to dismiss someone for personal activities undertaken in their leisure time? What restrictions, if any, should be placed on the right to strike?  Is there a fundamental right to fair pay and what does it require?
 
A new book tackles these and many other questions that concern the application of human rights to the issues that arise in disputes between employers and employees.  This event marks the publication of a new book Human Rights at Work: Re-imagining Employment Law (Hart Publishing (Bloomsbury) 2024), co-authored by Professors Alan Bogg (University of Bristol), Hugh Collins (LSE), ACL Davies (University of Oxford) and Virginia Mantouvalou (UCL).  The book provides the most comprehensive and topical account of the application of human rights to employment.   After introductory material, fifteen chapters examine whether UK employment law is compatible with particular human rights drawn from the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Social Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. As well as assessing the existence and scope of these human rights, each chapter discusses all the key cases drawn from both the United Kingdom and relevant international jurisdictions including the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights.   

The book presents an original perspective on the traditional topics of employment law by suggesting that the whole field of labour law can be understood not as based on considerations of general welfare or market failure but as grounded in the vindication of human rights in the special context of work.  

A distinguished panel will discuss the new book and provide critical insights.

Speakers

• Dr Joe Atkinson (University of Southampton)
• Professor Keith Ewing (King’s College London)
• Professor Kate O’Regan (Director of the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, University of Oxford)

Chair

Hon Mrs Justice Jennifer Eady DBE, High Court Judge (President of the Employment Appeal Tribunal)

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