The many ideas of labour law

Taking an overview of justifications for labour law, five themes are identified which increasingly displace the background private law rules that govern work. These themes are: (1) correction of market failure resulting from structural inequality of bargaining power between employers and workers by the special regulatory technique of collective bargaining; (2) protection of workers against abuse of the hierarchical relation of subordination by employers; (3) protection against or the mutualization of risks of employment insecurity for workers in a market economy; (4) to remedy social injustice by redistributing incomes and power within productive organizations; and (5) to help individuals to secure personal fulfilment through work by measures that improve the content of jobs and improve workers’ work/life balance. Concluding reflections examine likely trends in the market for labour in a knowledge and service economy and how the law of work may become ineffective if it does not become transnational regulation.