LABOUR LAW AND ENTERPRISES IN THE INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT

The course provides the tools of knowledge, understanding and application of the labour law that the manager and the business consultant must approach to organize the company and the staff when the activity is carried out on a European and international dimension.
The class offers strategic and transversal skills for all the professional profiles of reference for the degree course; for this reason, it is proposed in all the curricula provided. These skills, actually, allow the graduate to work in public and private organizations dealing with international dynamics in the functions of the strategy, innovation, marketing, administration, corporate finance, performance audit and sustainability, with a specific focus on the management of the staff.
First of all, we will investigate the phenomena and institutions through which companies, in the global value chains, develop their legal relationships at a trans/international level in today's globalized context, highlighting the beneficial effects and negative consequences that strategic choices of multinational companies and the policies of public actors can produce in the workplace (opportunities for economic and professional development, social and normative dumping, etc.).
Furthermore, will be examined the legal instruments developed by international and regional institutions (ILO, EU etc.) or by the same companies (codes of conduct etc.) to promote the interests and rights of workers in the global context, as well as the problematic interactions between international trade and social rights.
To this end, we will look at both the company's legal structure considering the most widespread models (groups, networks, supply chains, etc.), and the contractual working relationships with elements of internationality that require knowing how to identify the applicable national law and the relevant international law standards. As for the dynamic profile, the models and institutes through which the enterprises realize outsourcing, re-internalization, relocations and backshoring etc. will be considered (eg tenders, transfers, postings etc.)

1. Knowledge and understanding
1.1 Knowing the dynamics inducing companies to internationalize their businesses and the impact of labour regulations on the processes of the mobility of the production
1.2 Knowing the structure and basic rules of the labour law profiles applied in the international context, the regulatory parties, the regulation tools and the related evolution.
1.3 Interpreting international labour legislation and its constitutive sources also in light of the dynamics of the international division of labour and production.

2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
2.1 Knowing how to identify the rules applicable to employment relationships with internationality elements and the regulatory standards that companies must adhere to in terms of fundamental and social rights.
2.2 Knowing how to identify the operating rules of multilevel regulatory sources.
2.3 Knowing how to identify jurisdictional and doctrinal interpretations and trends relating to the legislative provisions considered.

3. Ability to judge
3.1 To interpret the legislative texts autonomously.
3.2 To elaborate critical analyzes of regulatory sources with particular reference to the relationships between national and supranational dimensions and case-law.
3.3 To resolve recurring practical cases in labour law disputes.
3.4. Using the acquired skills in the context of the typical functions of the professional figures of reference (strategies of settlement in new markets, marketing etc.)

Pre-requirements are not requested.

The dynamic phenomena of internationalization with labour effects: outsourcing, internalization, delocalization;
The structure of the multinational enterprise and the impact on labour law: models and contractual relationships (networks, groups, contracts, etc.);
Essential notions of private/labour international law;
Labor contractual relationships: posting and transfer of the worker, etc.;
Sources and actors of international labour law;
International Labor Organization (ILO) and core labour standards;
The ILO and the enterprises;
Social rights and international trade;
Gatt-Wto and Multilateral Agreements;
Generalized preference systems;
Corporate social responsibility;
Codes of conduct and social labelling;
Focus on the key points of the course and preparation of team-works;
Presentation of team-work.

A. Perulli; V. Brino, Handbook of International Labour Law, Giappichelli, 2018.
Additional materials uploaded on Moodle.

The learning will be verified with an oral exam on the main topics. The assessment can take into account the active participation during the classes (weekly non-mandatory assignments are usually delivered) (1/3 of the final mark) and the teamwork (for attendance students) and/or the written paper assigned at the beginning of the course (1/3 of the final mark)

Teaching is organized in: a) lectures and discussions with active and critical participation of the attendances to develop interactive learning (materials will be available on the e-learning platform of moodle.unive.it before the classes); b) thematic insights to be presented and discussed individually or by small groups during the classes (for attending students) or during the final oral exam (for non-attending students - in case they ask for this option by e-mail during the first three weeks of the classes).

Open call for a master's degree thesis
in labour law and enterprises in the international context

The thesis project proposed, to be carried out individually or in collaboration with a colleague, concerns the impact of the covid-19 emergency on specific profiles of international labour law, trade unions and social security law, with particular but not exclusive attention to the topic of the relationship between work and technologies. The goal is to evaluate which novelties remain confined to the emergency period and which developments can also enrich the future.
Priority will be given to students attending the course of labour law and enterprises in the international context.
The proposal may be subject to slight revisions according to the candidate's personal interests (s). In the case of group work (maximum 2 people), the proposal's themes can be revised to work on two connected projects.

PROPOSAL N.1
"Workers’ health and safety: international standards and the challenge of the covid-19 pandemic"

It is proposed to examine how the covid-19 outbreak hit workers’ health and safety and the extent to which the international standards represent a point of reference to avoid a race to the bottom at national and/or local levels. The candidate will choose a specific industry and/or a particular area to study significant cases.

PROPOSAL N.2
"Remote working and new technologies at work: advantages and disadvantages for employers and workers"

It is proposed to analyse the impact of remote working and connected technologies during the pandemic of covid-19 to verify and discuss employers and workers' pros and cons. The candidate will choose a specific industry and/or a particular area to study significant cases and/or make a legal comparison.

PROPOSAL N.3
“Food delivery during the covid-19 health emergency: which rights and guarantees for riders and other workers involved”

It is proposed to study the rise of food delivery during the outbreak of covid-19 and analyse the characteristic of the working relationships involved in this industry (mostly, the so-called “riders”). The candidate will choose a method of study that can compare different countries or a focus on the role played by international organizations. The aim could be to distinguish between self-employed and dependant workers or compare the unions' role in the sector among different countries.

oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Circular economy, innovation, work" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development