Professor Hugh Collins studied law at Oxford University and Harvard Law School. He taught law at Brasenose College, Oxford, before moving in 1991 to the London School of Economics to the chair in English Law. He has previous books include the first edition of this title, Regulating Contracts (OUP, 1999), Labour Law: Texts and Materials 2nd edn ( with K.D. Ewing and A. McColgan, Hart Publishing, 2005), and A European Civil Code: The Way Forward (CUP, 2008).

This updated edition offers a fresh approach to the law governing employment relations, emphasising the contemporary policy themes of social inclusion, competitiveness, and the rights of citizenship in the workplace. It acts as a succinct and accessible overview for those new to the subject as well as an excellent summary for students.

Employment Law covers all the main areas of the subject including contracts of employment, anti-discrimination law, trade unions, industrial action, and human rights in the workplace. It also discusses how UK law, under the influence of EU law and international protection of human rights, has been transformed for the twenty-first century by pursuing new goals such as helping to achieve a better balance between work and life, to improve the competitiveness of business through partnership institutions, and to provide superior protection for the basic rights of employees in the workplace. Offering frequent comparisons with the law of other countries, including the United States, the book also discusses the effectiveness of employment regulation as well as examining the different national and transnational methods available.