East Asian Labor and Employment Law: International and Comparative Context

by Ronald C. Brown

Overview

This book deals with international labor and employment law in the East Asia Region (EA), particularly dealing with China, South Korea, and Japan. It explores and explains the effects of globalization and discusses the role of international lawyers, business personnel, and human resource directors who are knowledgeable, culturally sensitive, and understand the issues that can arise when dealing in EA trade and investment. The text and readings (from area experts) are organized and written to provide the reader with, first, a broad understanding and insight into the global dimensions of the fast-emerging area of labor and employment issues (e.g., global legal standards and their interplay with domestic and foreign laws); and second, to show how these laws and approaches play out in specific EA countries (comparing global approaches with the specific laws of each country on four common agenda items: regulatory administration, workers' rights, trade unions, and dispute resolution). The book should be of interest not only to lawyers, students, human resource personnel, and government officials, but also to business investors, managers, and members of the public interested in the growing phenomenon of changing labor laws and societies in China, South Korea, and Japan.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781107667129
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	01/02/2014
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	572
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 1.14(d)

About the Author

Professor Brown currently serves as an active labor arbitrator. His teaching specialties include labor and employment law, employment discrimination law, arbitration, Chinese law, Asian international and comparative labor and employment law, and US-China labor and employment law. He has authored numerous articles and two books, Understanding Labor and Employment Law in China and Understanding Chinese Courts and Legal Process: Law with Chinese Characteristics.

Table of Contents

1. Perspective: globalism and its impacts; 2. Global legal standards; 3. Agenda items: criteria, alternatives, and evaluative standards; 4. East Asian labor law regimes; 5. Evaluating comparative and competitive advantages in East Asian HRM practices.

Editorial Reviews

"This is a welcome and important contribution to the literature on international and comparative labor and employment law. Not only does it offer an account of the developing labor and employment laws and practices in East Asian countries, and the relevant international standards, but it sets these in the wider framework of globalization. Among the many interesting topics covered are cross-cultural perspectives on labor rights as human rights, and the comparative advantages to business of various labor regimes. I highly commend this book to students, practitioners, and decision-makers in business, unions, and politics as a valuable and thought-provoking textbook and resource."
- Professor Sir Bob Hepple, QC FBA , University of Cambridge



"Whether you’re a mid-sized employer in Toledo, Ohio pondering the construction of a plant in Shenzhen, or an ardent NGO type seeking a way to make the living wage a reality in several of the world’s most dynamic economies, or an ambitious scholar attempting to get some perspective on one of the fastest growing areas of international and comparative law, this splendid book will be a goldmine of useful information and thought-provoking commentary. Brown has accomplished that rare feat – a true marriage of the theoretical and the practical."
- Theodore J. St. Antoine, Former Dean and Degan Professor Emeritus University of Michigan Law School



"This is the kind of book I have wanted to write but have not been able to write. This is a kind of course I have wanted to teach for a long time. This is a kind of comparative project I have wanted to organize and still want to organize. This book deals with practical questions for global firms that make foreign direct investment in Asia. Much more than that, the book gives a comprehensive grasp of and penetrating insights into the phenomena of globalization in business activities in Asia and provides thorough guidance on the various legal issues of international and domestic labor and employment laws on foreign direct investment in the global market of Asia. I envy and admire Professor Brown for the accomplishment of such a monumental work."
- Kazuo Sugeno, Professor Emeritus of Labor Law at the University of Tokyo, former Chair of Japan's Central Labor Relations Commission and President of the World Congress of International Society for Labor & Social Security Law



"Professor Brown's latest fine work is his most interesting yet, because he examines the labor law and practice of vital and dynamic Northeast Asia from global, international, regional and comparative perspectives. He shows us how the countries of the traditional Confucian culture area have imported, adapted and applied external norms to meet their distinctive economic, social and political needs while enhancing their capacities for foreign cooperation. The materials selected by Professor Brown are highlighted by his thoughtful introductions, questions, and comments that not only present increasingly complex issues in clear fashion but also make these important problems exciting and significant to a broad audience. Northeast Asian responses to these challenges have not been uniform despite the area's expanding economic integration, nor have they been uniformly successful. But they surely offer rich and stimulating experience for the rest of the world that must cope with the area's impressive productivity and the opportunities offered for beneficial interaction. Whether from the viewpoint of business, economic development, or human rights, this book should not be missed."
- Jerome A. Cohen, Of Counsel (Retired Partner) Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP



"Ron Brown has woven together a masterful mosaic of information on the global tectonics that in-house labor and employment lawyers must consider when advising their clients about the East Asian reaches of its employment and staffing structures. As multi-national enterprises expand their value chain in this region, issues of direct foreign investment, out-sourcing, supply chain management, and conflicting cultures and laws all bear upon deployment of human capital. Professor Brown thoughtfully addresses these issues and offers a rich discussion of the labor and employment laws of East Asia. His ability to place these laws in a global context of a transfiguring world economy is what makes this book especially important for in-house labor and employment counsel. His thorough analysis is both fascinating and informative. Professor Brown’s book allows employment professionals to understand the cultural and governmental context from which East Asian laws and regulations governing these employment practices have emerged – and to even sense their likely evolution."
- Mark Nordstrom, Senior Labor and Employment Law Counsel, General Electric Company

From the Publisher