LLM Employment Law
Factfile
| Typical Entry Requirements | Applicants should normally possess a first degree (First or Second class or equivalent) awarded by a UK university or recognised overseas institution. Exceptionally, equivalent professional experience may be accepted. Students whose first language is not English will be expected to have achieved a minimum of 6.5 IELTS. |
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| Programme length | 24 months by part-time distance learning, with three residential sessions in Level 1 and two in Level 2 of the programme |
| Planned intake | 30 |
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| Start date | September |
| Programme director | |
| Fees | Fees for this programme can be found on our fee rates 2010/2011 page. |
| Professional recognition | Continuing professional development (CPD) accreditation of 16 CPD points per year for each year of the programme |
| Download course brochure |
| Contact details |
For general enquiriesT: 0800 980 3200 or +44 (0)1483 681681 For admissions enquiries
T: 01483 686300 |
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| Apply online now |
With the increasing influence of European law in this area, employment law has become more complex and has had to respond to rapid social and political change.
The LLM Employment Law is a two-year, part-time taught Master of Laws programme offering a quality learning and teaching experience that will allow you to develop, update and deepen your understanding of these trends.
The programme is delivered through a blend of online distance learning and five weekend face-toface residential sessions held in the Guildford area near the University campus.
During these residential weekends, tuition is provided by academics and practitioners offering a practical, hands-on approach to the subject. You will also have an opportunity to meet and engage with teaching staff and fellow students on some of the key issues of each module.
We provide an academically rigorous taught programme leading to a prestigious postgraduate qualification in employment law. The programme offers in-depth study of individual and collective employment law, together with discrimination law, enabling critical analysis of key principles, policies, concepts and doctrines in employment law.
This programme will be attractive to employment lawyers, HR professionals, academics and others working in cognate areas. We offer a delivery mode suitable to the needs of those in full-time employment. The LLM builds upon existing teaching and research expertise in the School of Law.
Module Overview
Introduction to Employment Law and the Contract of Employment
This module provides an introduction to the sources and institutions of employment law, a critical understanding of the rules and principles relating to the contract of employment and statutory constraints upon it. It also considers the range and implications of the implied terms of the contract of employment.
The Termination of Employment
This module introduces a critical analysis of the principles, policies and rules governing the termination of employment. It covers unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal and redundancy law, together with remedies for these forms of termination. It also considers the continuation of the contract of employment where the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 are applicable.
Discrimination Law
Considering discrimination law from a national and European law perspective, this module covers the rules and principles regulating unlawful discrimination on a variety of grounds in the employment context. Currently, the prohibited grounds of discrimination in this jurisdiction relate to: sex, marital status, transsexualism and sexual orientation; race; disability; religion or belief; and age. The module critically considers the legislation and case-law across these areas.
Collective Employment Law
This module addresses the law relating to industrial action, the relationship between trade unions and their members, and trade unions and employers. It adopts a critical evaluation of the entire field of collective employment law.
Dissertation
A dissertation is presented on an approved topic within the field of employment law. It is supervised by academic staff in the School of Law and is undertaken between May and September of the final year.
Residential Weekends
The residential dates for 2009 entry are shown below:
These residential weekends are an essential part of the programme during which important tuition takes place and they are compulsory. They run from Friday evening until Sunday lunchtime. There are three in the first year and two in the second year of the programme. The first residential weekend involves an induction to law programme for non-lawyers, which starts at 9am on the Thursday. Law graduates commence at 3pm on the Friday of the first residential weekend.
During the weekends, as well as receiving tuition on the substantive content of the module, students will be given guidance on how they should approach the topics covered, together with general and specific guidance on various aspects of the syllabus.
Such study weekends are an integral part of this blended learning programme; both online and hard-copy materials are delivered or accessible, supplemented by face-to-face tuition. These faceto- face sessions are crucial in terms of explaining topics, drawing out themes, evaluating materials, providing orientation (both general and specific) and generally supplementing the online and hardcopy materials.
Apart from the pedagogic reasons, it is hoped that the study weekends will foster a spirit of collegiality, which is a considerable advantage to students on a blended learning programme of this nature, as it enhances the teaching and learning experience.
High-quality Teaching and Learning
At programme level, the Programme Director of the LLM has overall responsibility for ensuring that appropriate academic standards are in place and that the quality of the programme is high.
The Programme Boards of Studies and Boards of Examiners also ensure that standards are appropriate on the programme.
The University requires external examiners to sit on Boards of Examiners, to provide an outside check on the academic standards in place, including the fairness and consistency of marking.
The Annual Programme Review and the Periodic Review of Programmes (the latter taking place generally every five years) provide further checks on academic standards and appropriateness of provision.
At University level, the Quality Assurance and Enhancement Office (QAEO) of the University Registry is charged with ensuring high academic standards across all programmes offered by the University.
Tutor Support
For each of the four taught modules, an academic tutor will be assigned to you who will provide guidance and support for the module. This tutor will be available at specified times and days.
In addition, the LLM Programme Director will also be available to deal with any queries or problems concerning the programme. The tutors will be contactable by email, telephone and post outside the residential sessions. When you join the programme, the days and times when tutors will be available on the telephone will be indicated to you.
Online Materials
A very wide range of online materials on employment law will be accessible. These include the module materials and a wealth of other information accessible from various electronic databases (you may print these out). Some hardcopy materials will also be provided free of charge.
These will comprise a substantial selection of the relevant legislation (Butterworths Employment Law Handbook) and a standard textbook on employment law. The electronic databases relevant to this field of law which are available include:
- Harvey on Industrial Relations and Employment Law (includes the Industrial Relations Law Reports – one of the leading specialist series of law reports)
- Lexis/Nexis (includes Halsbury’s Laws and All ER Direct)
- WestLaw
- Justis.com (includes the Industrial Cases Reports, the Law Reports and the Weekly Law Reports)
- Lawtel
In addition, the University has subscriptions to the electronic versions of a diverse range of other legal databases, including general law journals such as the Modern Law Review, Law Quarterly Review, the Cambridge Law Journal, as well as specialist journals such as the Industrial Law Journal. All students registered on the programme will have access to these databases.
There is also a range of hard-copy materials (law reports, journals, textbooks, and so on) available in the University Library, accessible by personal callers or by postal request (and despatch).
Text Books
Our advice is that students may find it useful to supplement the materials provided or accessible online with textbooks and other hard-copy materials. For general guidance, it may be helpful to have two additional books for each taught module on the LLM.
Law books at this level tend to be priced at between £25 and £40 each (approximately), so you should budget for this when calculating overall costs. The tutors on each module will indicate to you which supplementary hard-copy texts are recommended for purchase.
The University Library is open to personal callers at the times stated on the Library web pages:
You may borrow materials in person, in the normal way, just as a full-time student would. However, the Library also operates a system whereby requests can be made and the materials despatched by post. This is a very useful service for those students not within reasonable travelling distance of the campus.
Requirements
There are a number of technical requirements you should check if you are thinking of applying for the programme, concerning your PC and your Internet link. The LLM programme is delivered online via the University’s own system, which is called ULearn.
Before commencing the programme you should consult the relevant pages of the University’s website to check whether your equipment meets the required technical specifications. The University has provided a specific ULearn User Support set of web pages indicating the technical requirements for this mode of delivery, available at:
http://portal.surrey.ac.uk/ulearn
Study Time
In addition to the study time spent at the residential weekends, it is estimated that students should be spending between ten and fifteen hours per week (approximately) in private study while following the four taught modules.
The exact amount of time spent in private study each week will vary, depending upon how much study material is set for that week and allowing for personal factors, such as the differences in reading speeds and study methods between individuals.
It should be noted that the dissertation, which is undertaken between May and September of the second year, may involve more time than the average indicated above, particularly in the weeks leading up to submission.
Induction Programme for Non-lawyers
Students without a law degree (or one where law comprises a substantial element of the degree) will be required to take the induction programme. This takes place on the Thursday and Friday immediately preceding the start of tuition on the first residential week-end, which commences on Friday evening.
The induction provides essential orientation for the study of law on an LLM of this nature. It comprises, amongst other things: an introduction to the English and European Union legal systems; sources of law; precedent; how to read a case; statutory interpretation; the English legal method; an introduction to the law of contract and the law of tort.
