School of Law

The LLM in Labour Studies programme offers specialised knowledge in both individual and collective labour law, employment discrimination law and dispute resolution in the labour law field. It is offered part-time over two years across four semesters. The programme offers a coursework masters which includes four compulsory modules with each module worth 24 credit points. Students registered for the programme are also required to complete a 15,000-word dissertation. The programme also offers a full research master’s.

The LLM in Labour Studies is relevant and beneficial as it explores the impact of law, regulation, policy, and practice on the workplace. Post the advent of democracy, there is nationally a need within the legal profession for specialised legal research into all aspects of the ever-changing labour law environment – especially in light of the influence of the constitutional principles on existing legal principles. This need is evident in all spheres of the profession: private and public practice, the judiciary and the court system, government and the legislature. Continued legal research is relevant not only locally and nationally, but also within the broader Southern African, African and global contexts, given the rapid pace of globalisation and concomitant regional integration.

This qualification is designed to provide a bridge between the generalised primary disciplines into in-depth specialised legal research. The students will thus have a platform to become effective and skilled legal researchers, equipped to become research-oriented in their ongoing professional development. The programme also serves as a means of articulation to the PhD qualification in Law and postgraduate studies in related legal fields.