Agenda

Prof. Guy Mundlak

Tel Aviv University - Visiting Scholar

Abstract: 

This lecture examines how labour law, domestic and transnational, mandates and encourages a large group of professionals whose mission is to avoid – adapt – improve – perform beyond compliance with legal norms. No longer just HR teams, there are now DPOs, CSR professionals, diversity specialists, well-being managers, health and safety officers, sexual harassment ombudswomen and more. Is the growth of process-based laws and cadre of professionals the new virtuous track of labour protection, which resonates with the business case for caring management? Or perhaps a method to drown business responsibility in protocols, data and ‘soft law’ commitments with a tenuous impact on work and workers? Not only is the answer not clear cut, but it is also shaped within organizations through ongoing negotiations between managers, professionals and frontline workers, who hold different understandings of labour law, its dictates, its purpose, as well as the risk of resistance and the benefits of compliance.