Labor & Employment Law

This research guide provides a brief overview of the most useful secondary resources (many of which also include primary materials) covering U.S. labor and employment law. For more information about locating cases, regulations, and statutes please see the relevant research guides on these subjects. Most primary material will be available from administrative law sources, available on individual agency websites and legal information databases (e.g. Westlaw, Lexis, Bloomberg Law).

For newer researchers, note that "labor law" and "employment law" are common distinctions between the two principal fields addressing law in the workplace. Labor law typically refers to issues involving collective action and bargaining, union governance and representation, and dispute resolution in the organized workplace.  It is also important to remember that governing labor law varies between the private or public sector, and in special employment categories (e.g. Transportation).  

Employment Law commonly includes issues related to discrimination in employment on the basis of certain characteristics (e.g. race, sex), rights of  "at will" employees, employee health and safety, and employee benefits.