A Purposive Approach to Labour Law

by Guy Davidov

Overview

The mismatch between goals and means is a major cause of crisis in labour law. The regulations that we use - the legal instruments and techniques - are no longer in sync with the goals they are supposed to advance. This mismatch leads to a problem of coverage, where many workers who need the protection of labour law are not covered by it, as well as a problem of obsoleteness, as labour laws are not sufficiently updated in light of dramatic changes in the labour market.

Adopting a purposive approach to interpretation and legislative reform, this volume addresses this crisis of mismatch. It first articulates the goals of labour law, both general and specific, through an in-depth normative discussion and a consideration of critiques. The book then proceeds to reconsider our means, asking what we need to change or improve in the laws themselves in order to better advance the goals. Some of the proposed solutions are at the level of judicial interpretation, others at the legislative level. The book offers several examples for the way a purposive analysis should be performed in concrete cases. It also recommends institutional structures that are suited to ongoing adaptation of the law to ensure that our goals are advanced even when circumstances frequently change. Finally, in response to the crisis of enforcement in this field, which frustrates the achievement of labour law's goals, several proposals to improve compliance and enforcement are considered.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198759034
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	07/05/2016
Series:	Oxford Labour Law
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Guy Davidov, Elias Lieberman Chair in Labour Law, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Guy Davidov, LL.B (Tel-Aviv, 1996), LL.M. (Toronto, 1998), SJD (Toronto, 2002), is the Elias Lieberman Chair in Labour Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Law, where he previously served as Vice-Dean as well as Chair of Graduate Studies. He was the founding Chair of the Labour Law Research Network and now serves on its Steering Committee.

Table of Contents

1. IntroductionPart I - Goals2. Articulating Labour Law Goals: Why and How3. The Idea of Labour Law as Addressing Vulnerabilities or Labour Market 'Problems'4. The Values and Interests Advanced by Labour Law5. The Goals of Specific Labour Regulations: Some ExamplesPart II - Means6. The Building Blocks of Labour Law: Employer and Employee7. Using Open-Ended Standards to Advance Labour Law's Goals8. Purposive Interpretation of Concrete Rules: Some Examples9. The Enforcement Problem: Old and New Solutions

Editorial Reviews

"An indispensable read for anyone who is involved with labour law and even more so for those who believe labour law is superfluous, outdated or unnecessary. Guy Davidov's book is an excellent way to understand [the topic] in its entirety, its fundamentals, goals, and purpose, its potential and limits, as well as the need to develop a purposive approach to labour law." — Barbara Kresal, Delavci in Delodajalci (Employees & Employers)

"The book is nothing less than the most comprehensive and judicious mapping of attempts at problem-solving in contemporary labour law scholarship and practice (with a tilt toward the Anglophone world) that could have been imagined ... This, then, is labour law for pragmatists - that is, for practitioners and scholars in search of concrete solutions to labour law's enduring dilemmas ... This pragmatist's guide will inform policy makers and researchers already in the field, while educating a new generation of labour lawyers, who on coming to the subject, will find that solutions are after all available to some perennial problems." — Simon Deakin, Jerusalem Review of Legal Studies

"The book is a passionate, thoughtful, and comprehensive [treatment] of the praxis of labour law. It spans over many countries in its examples, but crystalizes some basic truths about labour and the law." — Guy Mundlak, Jerusalem Review of Legal Studies

"Davidov demonstrates how the gap between theory and practice can be bridged ... This incredibly readable and thought-provoking book deserves to be widely read ... and raises many fascinating issues which merit further research." — Joe Atkinson, Industrial Law Journal

"This book provides a welcome reappraisal of labour law as a discipline. Davidov's approach reminds labour lawyers that 'laws are meant for a reason' and that only by understanding the historic role that labour law has played can we understand its place and purpose today. A Purposive Approach to Labour Law is a book about what law should and could be." — Zoe Adams, The Cambridge Law Journal

From the Publisher