A glance at any newspaper or online news feed soon highlights great strength of feeling surrounding employment law. Pay equality, minimum wage, unfair dismissal, contract and agency workers, zero hours contracts and workers' rights are regular flashpoints, especially in the political sphere. Government and non-government organisations, as well as private businesses, need skilled individuals who show a deep understanding of employment law and the complex issues it raises. The programme enables students to specialise in subjects related to employment law, equipping them with comprehensive knowledge of the legal processes governing employment relationships and statutory rights in the UK, through the systematic and critical understanding of legal frameworks regulating employment contracts, recruitment, dismissal and discrimination in the work place. You will deepen and broaden your knowledge of law as an academic subject; acquiring a systematic understanding of legal processes, methods and concepts, of the social and political context in which legal processes take place and of appropriate theoretical conceptions of law. By maximising your academic potential and refining your problem-solving skills in a transnational context through the acquisition of systematic and critical understanding of complex legal, economic, cultural, ethical and political issues informing employment relationships and anti-discrimination regulations in the United Kingdom and Europe you will enhance your professional development and horizons. The research and writing skills you gain will be transferable to a variety of professional sectors, including the legal profession, policymaking, corporate sector, governmental bodies or academia.

This course is designed to enable lawyers, corporate professionals and others to enter or advance their career in human resource management, in both the public and private sectors. It will also be of value to those seeking more general work in national and local government, law firms, trade unions, advice agencies and private organisations requiring specialist knowledge of employment law.The programme will explain and analyse in-depth a wide range of issues, including UK and EU legislation on recruitment, wages, holidays, parental rights, termination of employment and discrimination. Many have also continue their higher education studies via a PhD. Students have access to the University's Employability Service and are offered guidance by the Programme Leader and other contributors to the programme, including guidance on how to enter and pass recruitment processes for national and international organisations. Students are invited to employability talks organised as part of the Clinical Legal Education programme by the Law and Politics Department as well as talks and events organised by the School of Law. Staff members teaching on the LLM programme include world-renowned scholars who combine instruction in core topics with the fruits of their current and previous research. Students will benefit from their networks of contacts, notably as regards internship opportunities in national and international organisations such as the United Nations or in our on-campus litigation centre, the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre, and in the form of placements in a range of specialist employment law firms, private companies and welfare rights organisations.