「ワーク・ライフ・バランス」とは言えど、多くの時間とエネルギーを仕事に費やす私たち。歴史的に見ても労働時間は長くなっており、職場では能力が花開いたり友情が築かれることもあります。しかし公正な賃金・給与制度、差別、解雇や余剰人員などの問題も絶えず、雇用関係法の知識に対するニーズは高まるばかりです。多くの国で規定されている雇用に関わる権利と労働法を概観し、思い込みや誤解を解きほぐし、雇用権利法と雇用法の経済的、政治的、社会的正当性を考察します。
 

　　　
In today's society, work takes up a vast proportion of the time and energy of ordinary people. Although use of the phrase 'work-life balance' is now commonplace in the media and ordinary conversation, people work longer hours than ever before. However, rather than purely a means to an end in terms of supporting oneself financially, the workplace is a place to develop skills and talents and build lasting friendships. For these reasons, people want to know about their rights in the workplace. Issues of equal pay, discrimination, discharge/dismissal, and redundancy are prevalent within the media, and there is a growing public appetite for knowledge of the law governing the employment relationship.
　　　　
This Very Short Introduction provides an overview of the main kinds of employment rights and labour laws found in many countries. It unpicks and evaluates some of the assumptions underpinning contemporary attitudes to such rights and laws in order to measure whether they are warranted. Throughout it also considers the economic, political, sociological, and social justifications for employment rights and laws.