Regulating the employment relation for competitiveness

Abstract

It is suggested that the dominant theme of labour law policy has become the enhancement of the competitiveness of business, which, at its core, requires the facilitation and stabilisation of flexible employment relations. Neither deregulation nor mandatory labour standards adequately achieve this goal. It requires instead different techniques of regulation of the employment relation, including a revision of the implied terms of contracts of employment, the creation of new legal institutions of workplace governance, and the enhancement of the ability of employers to make credible commitments in return for functional flexibility on the part of employees