The Employment Contract and the Changed World of Work

The world of work has undergone major changes in the last two decades. This book examines these changes in their international context. It is argued that collective bargaining should no longer be viewed as the most important means of regulating the employment relationship. In the changed world of work such an approach is becoming less relevant. Instead, other means of protecting legitimate worker interests are explored. These include: an adaptation and extension of the general principles of the law of contract; a constitutional right to fair labour practices; and the pursuit of good corporate governance and corporate social responsibility. The conclusion is that these alternative means of addressing legitimate worker interests can play a valuable role in filling the vacuum left by the worldwide decline of trade unions.

“In this skillfully crafted and beautifully written book, Pamela Gossin bridges the two cultures" of science and the humanities by analyzing Thomas Hardy's astronomical allusions and placing them in the context of nineteenth-century ideas. Thomas Hardy's Novel Universe provides a new approach to interpreting Hardy's fiction against the background of what Hardy may have understood about the Victorian cosmos. This work will appeal not only to scholars in the history of science and literature, but will attract the general reader as well." Marilyn Ogilvie, Curator, History of Science Collections, and Professor of the History of Science, University of Oklahoma”

'How is the contract of employment to remain relevant in the changed world of work? Stella Vettori brilliantly shows that the implied duty of good faith is the ideal vehicle for adapting the contract to changing conditions.' Mr Justice A A Landman, High Court of South Africa

Stella Vettori is Associate Professor at the Department of Mercantile Law, University of Pretoria, South Africa.

The world of work has experienced major changes in the last two decades on a worldwide basis. This book examines these changes in their international context. South Africa's highly praised collective labour relations system is used as an example of how labour law attempts to regulate the employment relationship. The conclusion is reached that collective bargaining should not be perceived as the most important means of regulating the employment relationship and that in today's changed world of work it is often inappropriate and implausible. In the light of the inability of trade unions to redress the imbalance of power inherent in the relationship between employer and worker, other means of protecting legitimate worker interests are explored. These include: (i) The socialisation of the law of contract; (ii) the constitutional right to fair labour practices; and (iii) the role of good corporate governance and corporate social responsibility. The conclusion arrived at is that these alternative means of addressing legitimate worker interests could play a valuable role in filling the vacuum left by the worldwide decline of trade unions.

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