LHR 201Employment Relationship: Law and Policy

3 credits · Labor and Human Resources · Penn State

LHR 201 surveys U.S. employment law. It begins with an overview of general legal concepts necessary to understanding the US legal system. It next examines the employment relationship and the employment contract, cornerstones in the field of employment law. In the main body of the course, students examine major state and federal labor and employment statutes, regulations, and cases that create employer and employee rights and obligations beyond those the parties have negotiated for themselves. This part of the course covers such topics as anti-discrimination law, wage and hour regulation, benefit and leave requirements, safety and health enforcement, workers' compensation systems, and the growing use of employer-mandated arbitration of statutory employment rights. Overall, the course analyzes workplace law problems from the different policy perspectives of employees, unions, employers, and the public. As appropriate, it introduces students to the economic, political, and social forces (both historical and contemporary) that influence the content of workplace law.