Impact and knowledge exchange
Our research in labour law seeks to have an impact on law-making, implementation and enforcement and on the wider administration of justice within national and international contexts.
Several of us participate in Government bodies and think tanks active in the fields of employment and equality law. Ruth Dukes is a member of the Executive Committee of the Institute of Employment Rights and also sits on the Project Board of the Jimmy Reid Foundation, a left-leaning think tank for Scotland. Nicole Busby is a member of the First Minister’s Advisory Group on Human Rights Leadership; the academic advisory panel to the National Taskforce on Human Rights Leadership; and the Scotland Committee of the EHRC. The remit of the Advisory Group is to advise Scottish Government on how to incorporate international human rights treaties into Scots law so as to make their provisions directly effective and enforceable for individuals. This includes economic, social, cultural and environmental rights, all of which can potentially be used in work context.
Under the auspices of the Institute of Employment Rights and in collaboration with the main trade unions in Scotland, Ruth Dukes, Nicole Busby and Eleanor Kirk are currently working on a Scottish Charter of Workers' Rights, conceived as a critical response or alternative to the Scottish Government's Fair Work Agenda.