Law 51.345A: Labour Law
Fall 1998: Syllabus

Instructor: Michael Mac Neil

A. OBJECTIVES:

This course explores the role of law in ordering industrial relations in Canadian society. The form and structure of legal regulation of employer-employee relations is influenced by historical, economic and political factors. A particular concern of the course is the forms of legal regulation of collective worker activity. Another major focus is the range of values that inform the decision-making processes. These decision-making processes result in legislative, judicial, administrative, arbitral, contractual and informal rules and norms that structure the industrial relations system. You will be expected to gain an understanding of the various actors in the industrial relations system, the institutional relationships among the actors, and some of the norms and rules that are developed within the labour law system.

 The course concentrates on the labour law applicable to the private sector. The Ontario Labour Relations Act will be used as the reference point against which other legislative provisions will be compared. You will be expected to apply your knowledge to concrete problems and to assess policy implications of various rules and proposals. It will be important to gain an understanding of the relationship between labour law and the economic, political, and social conditions within which this legal system operates.

B. Methods:

You are required to read assigned material, most of which is found in Labour Law: Cases, Material and Commentary (6th ed., 1998) published by the Industrial Relations Centre, Queen's University. It is available in the Carleton University Bookstore. Additional material may be made available from time to time through the course newsgroup or through the course web page.  Details of how to obtain access to that material will be reviewed in class.

 You will also be expected to read the Ontario Labour Relations Act, 1995. Details will be given in class concerning which sections you should be reading, as well as where you can obtain copies of the statute.

 Analysis of the assigned material will take the form of classroom discussion in which everyone is expected to participate, supplemented by lecturing. Problems may be assigned from time to time for review in class, and all students are expected to prepare answers in advance. Only by participation in class discussions combined with advanced preparation can you expect to obtain maximum benefits from the course.

C. Office Hours and Contact:

D. Evaluation

ii) Assignments

You will be required to submit four written assignments during the term:

1.)  An "editorial" commenting on some issue arising from the materials or class discussion.  The editorial must be posted to the course newsgroup on the date for which you sign up. Expected length: 500 words. (10%)

2) A "letter to the editor" commenting on an editorial that has been submitted to the course news group.  This response letter must also be posted to the course newsgroup. You will sign up to write the letter during a particular week, and the letter must respond to an editorial that has been posted during that week, or the preceding week. Expected length: 400 words (10%)

3) A case analysis will be distributed in class on October 5 and is due in class on October 19. You will be given a factual scenario, and asked to write a memorandum in which you analyze the applicable law. This will require that you do some research that goes beyond the assigned readings. Expected length: 1500 words (20%)

4) You will be required to submit one short position paper, in which you take on the role of an advocate for either a union or employer organization.  The position paper will be directed to a legislative committee examining the need to reform the Ontario Labour Relations Act.  In the position paper, you will clearly identify the reform that you believe to be necessary and the reasons why it is necessary. Expected length: 1500 words (25%)

All these assignments must be submitted on the date stipulated, or by the date for which you have signed up. Failure to do so will result in the imposition of a penalty of one letter grade for each day the assignment is late.

 iii) Final Exam

The final exam will be a take home exam, which will be handed out at the last class, and which must be returned in the Law Department Essay Chute outside C473 Loeb by 4:00 P.M on the last day of the exam period, December 22. The exam will contain a mix of case analyses and essay questions.

F. Registration in the Course

Students are permitted to change their full and first-term courses using the touch-tone system until September 25. After that date, formal permission from the Registrarial Services Office is needed for all course changes except withdrawal, which must be done by Touch Tone.

 Students must confirm their registration in this course by using the Touch Tone system. If you are not formally registered in this class by September 25, you will not be able to do so later, except with special permission through the Registrarial Services Office, which is not normally granted. No work will be accepted from, let alone graded or returned, from students who have failed to register in this class.

G. Accommodating Disability

Students with a disability who require academic accommodations, please feel free to come and discuss this with me. Students must also contact the Paul Menton Centre to complete the required forms at least two weeks prior to the first in-class test or ITV test, and no later than November 6 for December exams and March 12 for April exams.

H. The CHAT Computer System

All students are strongly encouraged to obtain a CHAT account and to make use of CHAT facilities including two newsgroups which have been set up for this course:

 carleton.courses.51345

 The former will contain material posted by me relevant to the course, such as assignments, additional readings, commentary, practice exams (?) etc. It is a means by which I can efficiently provide you with textual material. The latter group is designed as a forum where you can discuss issues related to the course, pose questions, make suggestions, etc. I encourage everybody to check out the newsgroups on a regular basis, at least once or twice a week. As well, a home page has been set up for the this course to which I will also post relevant material. It is located at the following URL:

  http://www.carleton.ca/~mmacneil/345

I. Quicklaw:

Students registered in the third or fourth year of a Law major program are entitled to free access to many of the computer databases available through Quicklaw Inc. These databases are an invaluable resource for research, allowing you to quickly obtain material that is much more time-consuming to find in the library, or which is not available in the library at all. In particular, most recent Canadian court decisions, and the decisions of many Canadian labour relations boards are available. You are strongly encouraged to activate a Quicklaw account (instructions will be given separately) and to use it for your research.

J. Supplementary and Grade Raising Exams:

Supplementary and grade raising exams are no longer available at Carleton University. Students who are unable to complete assignments or the take home exam on the due date, because of illness or other circumstances justifying an extension should contact me immediately. Work load and travel arrangements will not constitute acceptable justifications for an extension.

K. Departmental and Faculty Policies

Please read carefully the Law Department'sCourse-related Policy and Procedures.

L. Proposed Class Schedule

(Pages refer to the required text for the course.

Go to Law 51.345A Home Page

  Go to the Law Department's Home Page

  Email: Michael Mac Neil

 Last Modified: August 31, 1998