The first semester of Labor Relations Law, usually offered in the Fall and often referred to as "Labor and Employment Law" is the basic introductory labor course. It examines the various mechanisms for regulating the workplace relationship--market regulation (including collective bargaining and other forms of bilateral determination of workplace rules) and statutory regulation--and provides an in-depth look at the methods of implementing each of these mechanisms (court action, administrative enforcement, administrative regulation and/or arbitration). The course examines the scope of the employment relationship, issues of federalism and preemption, and constitutional issues raised by workplace regulation. The course provides a brief introduction to the National Labor Relations Act and its promotion of collective bargaining; it examines the conflict between collective rights and individual rights and looks at the regulation of economic weapons.

In addition, the course introduces the student to anti-discrimination law, wage laws, safety and health laws, worker compensation law, and the regulation of pension and health benefits. The course contains some comparative law material and looks very briefly at some of the recent efforts to provide international labor standards in an increasingly global economy. The materials include a brief survey of emerging common law doctrine prohibiting wrongful discharge, and prohibiting invasions of privacy, fraudulent inducements and failures to disclose.

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
• Describe the default rule that forms the basis of employment relationships in the United States and identify various exceptions to the rule;
• Operate with an awareness of the various types of state and federal statutory, administrative-rule-based, and private, contract- or policy-based sources governing the American workplace and employment relationship.
• Appreciate competing priorities that drive the development of labor and employment regulations and systems establishing the conditions of the American workplace.