Social law [DROIB317]

4 credits
45h+8h
2^nd quarter
Language of instruction: French / Français
Teacher: Flohimont Valérie

Learning outcomes

The social law course covers labour law and social security law. At the end of the course, the student is required to : • To be able to take clear and complete notes during oral presentations (lectures, practical work, conferences, webinars, etc.) on which he/she can rely to master the material and solve practical cases, just as he/she will do in his/her professional life; • To learn and acquire by themselves a given subject, for which materials are provided, in order to be able, in their professional life, to master subjects that would never have been taught to them ('learning to learn'); • Master the most important legal rules and principles of labour law and social security law; • To define precisely the basic concepts of labour law and social security law; • Use and apply these concepts, legal rules and principles to concrete cases similar to those he will encounter in his professional practice; • Distinguish, in the subject studied, the essential from the accessory; • Mastering the organisation of social relations ; • To know the administrative and financial organisation of social security; • To master the distribution of competences in social matters and to know which institutions and services are competent; • Understand and correctly apply the hierarchy of norms; • Distinguish and define precisely the different occupational categories; • Apply the relevant legislation to each occupational category and give the correct reasons for this choice; • Making the necessary links between labour law, social security law and other branches of law such as administrative law, constitutional law, the law of obligations, judicial law, etc. This of course implies a sufficient command of these subjects; • Solve concrete cases (casus) reflecting the reality of professional life and therefore mixing different themes and different legal norms, if necessary from different branches of law; • Read and analyse case law correctly in French and Dutch; • Develop and formulate a personal opinion, a critical point of view on all questions of social law, in a structured, argued and motivated manner; • Write with correct spelling, respecting the rules of grammar, syntax and conjugation of the French language; • Use your social law code correctly, even when faced with a new problem, in order to analyse and solve it; • Develop, in groups or alone depending on the exercise, the ability to question the legal framework, to master it, to use the tools and to adopt a critical and nuanced mindset on the questions that are put to him or her or that the student has identified himself or herself; • To understand the issues at stake in any social matter, not just the legal issues.

Objectives

The Social Law course covers labour law and social security law. At the end of the course, the student will achieve the following objectives: • Understand the originality and specificity of social law with respect to other branches of law and professional realities in the field; • To properly understand the interactions between social law, other branches of law and the economic, social, human, etc. issues of the labour market as a whole; • To master the fundamental concepts of labour law and social security by knowing the applicable legal framework, in particular the organisation of social relations, the administrative and financial organisation of social security, the hierarchy of norms, the different professional categories and their specificities, the distribution of competences between entities (federal and federated), the main legal norms governing the discipline. • Use the legal framework and apply theoretical knowledge to practical situations; • To have a reflective and nuanced grasp of the subject matter; • Identify, problematize and respond to legal issues related to social law; • To qualify the legal and statutory framework studied.

Content

The social law course covers labour law and social security law. It covers : • The articulation between social security law and labour law ; • Differences between professional categories (employees, civil servants, self-employed) ; • The history of social law ; • Collective labour relations (professional organisations, trade unions, national labour council, joint committees, works councils, collective labour agreements, etc.); • The individual employment relationship (in particular, specificities of salaried employees, civil servants, selfemployed persons; social protection regime resulting from it, employment contract (from recruitment to termination of the contract); • Worker protection (health and safety at work, non-discrimination, working time, etc.); • The administrative organisation and financing of social security (including the distribution of competences) ; • The principles relating to social security benefits with a particular focus on certain social security schemes social security (e.g. family allowances, unemployment, social assistance or retirement pensions); • Welfare at work (basic principles, welfare at work obligations, occupational health).

Teaching methods

Please note that teaching methods may change depending on the health situation and the guidelines given by the relevant authorities. The course is essentially a lecture (36 hours spread over 12 weeks), supplemented by practical work sessions (4 TP) and autonomous home learning (AAL) for the hours of the course that cannot be given (at least 9 hours, possibly supplemented by the hours of the course that could not be given). The lecture is given in French, with the exception of one lesson which may be given in Dutch. The practical sessions are also conducted in French, but students may be required to do some reading or activities in Dutch. Self-directed learning at home is based on documents and materials that are communicated to the students in due course via webcampus ('AAL' folder). The material acquired through self-directed learning at home will not be presented in the lecture. The student is expected to acquire the material on his or her own and may be asked to do so in the examination. In order to show the importance of social law and to make the subject as lively as possible, the lecture is closely linked to current events and developments (social developments, strike movements, new reforms, social consultation, relocation, statistics on social benefits, social debates, etc.). It is therefore more than likely that some of the material covered in the course will not be included in the reference materials listed below. The lecture is based on : • A manual of labour law (KEFER, F. and CLESSE, J., Manuel de Droit du travail, Larcier, edition 2018); • One or more reference publications on social security (available during the social security lectures on Webcampus); • A code of social law (code La Charte CLC4droit social, edition 2021-2022) ; • A casebook 2021-2022 (available from September via webcampus). The basis of the social law course is the lecture and therefore the student's lecture notes. The student can usefully supplement his or her lecture notes, particularly with the content of the reference publications on social security law and the labour law manual. Furthermore, when the lecture is based on Powerpoint presentations, these presentations will be available on Webcampus at the end of the course in PDF format only. The lecture aims to introduce the subject, emphasise and explain important points, give a different perspective on the subject and possibly make a link with some or all of the case law included in the collection. It is essential that the student ensures that his or her lecture notes are up to date and worked on throughout the term in order to be able to follow the course easily and to prepare for the exams as well as possible. The use of the CLC4 'Social Law' code is essential for the course, the exams and the exercise sessions. A casebook containing various decisions, both in French and Dutch, is intended to illustrate the subject matter and to work on it. The decisions in the casebook form part of the examination material, regardless of the language of the decisions. The use of the casebook (in paper or electronic form) is essential both in the lecture and in the practical sessions. In addition, decisions will have to be regularly read and prepared for the lecture. The Dutch translation of the basic concepts is given during the course, depending on the subject. In addition, the translation of certain terms is given in the table of contents of the case law or the Labour Law Manual. Students are required to post their questions on the webcampus forum so that all course participants can benefit from the questions and answers. Student-to-student responses are encouraged and the teaching staff ensure the quality of the answers available on the forum. It is therefore the ideal platform to ask a question and get a quality answer. Towards the end of the course, a specific question and answer session is also organised. Questions from students must be posted on the webcampus forum before the deadline.

Evaluations

Assessment method Assessment in the form of written examinations. Assessment objectives Examinations are designed to validate that the student has achieved the course objectives and has the required learning outcomes (supra). Evaluation methods The mastery of the course objectives and learning outcomes can be checked in several ways: 1. By comparison of one concept to another (in this case, it is a general question aiming to assess whether the student has mastered the subject as a whole and is able to articulate the different concepts in a relevant and argued manner, in compliance with the requirements and rules of the French language); 2. By commenting on a text (in principle, a case law decision (in French or Dutch) from the 2021-2022 case law collection or on the webcampus or discussed during a practical course) or a quotation; 3. By solving practical cases (practical exercises of the same type as those proposed during the practical sessions but mixing different legal issues, as in professional realities); 4. By multiple choice questionnaire; 5. By multiple response questionnaire ; 6. Through open questions; 7. Through closed questions. Organisation of the evaluation The examination consists of two parts which take place at different times of the year: 1. A partial examination out of session for 40% of the final course grade; 2. A final examination held during the session for 60% of the final grade of the course. In the event of failure in June (if the final score for the Social Law course is less than 10/20), the student is required to resit the part(s) for which he/she would not have obtained 50%. 1.Partial review The partial examination is in principle organised face-to-face and out of session for the June session (end of April/beginning of May or in August for the second session). It consists of a case law commentary and/or case resolution. If necessary, the resolution of cases may require recourse to (and citation of) case law, as is the professional reality of any lawyer. The relevant case law can be found in : • Or in the case law report 2021-2022 ; • Or on webcampus ; • Either in the subject matter seen during the practical sessions. The partial examination is an open-book examination, i.e. using any paper material the student wishes to use (codes, course notes, documentation provided on the webcampus, etc.) to the exclusion of any electronic material of any kind and any use of the internet. However, as the duration of each examination is limited, it is essential that the student has prepared and studied the course before the examination. 2.Final review The final examination, held in June (or August in case of a second session), covers the whole subject. As described in the previous section (Assessment methods), the questions asked may be : • One or more general questions (open questions) ; • Practical case studies; • Multiple choice questions (with negative points for wrong answers); • Multiple answer questions (with negative points for wrong answers); • Closed questions (with negative marks for wrong answers). The examination is, in principle, face-to-face and closed-book. All relevant details concerning the assessment and its modalities will be communicated to the students during the second semester. Materials allowed in the examination With the exception of the open book assessments, only the social law code and the bac code are allowed, possibly supplemented by the texts listed in the legislation section, 'texts allowed for the examination', of webcampus. • In accordance with the guidelines issued by the Academic Secretary, only "number" references are permitted in the codes. The numerical references must of course be placed next to the relevant articles and not arbitrarily on any page of the code! Any non-compliant return will be considered as fraud. • Post-it notes may only be used as 'bookmarks', to indicate the relevant page(s). Collections of post-its filled with numbers and other figures, letters or words are strictly forbidden, as are post-its in the form of arrows or any other drawing. Any improper use of post-its will be considered as fraud. • The current indexed amounts can be noted by the student in their social law code instead of/alongside those listed in the legal texts.

Language of instruction

French / Français

Location for course

NAMUR

Organizer

Faculté de droit
Rue de Bruxelles, 61
5000 NAMUR

Degree of Reference

Undergraduate Degree

	Block	Credits
Bachelier en philosophie	2	4
Bachelier en droit	3	4
Bachelier en philosophie	3	4