The 1998 Employment Rights (Dispute Resolution) and the 2002 Employment Act, seek to change the existing face of UK employment law dispute resolution. Conciliation via in-house disciplinary and appeal procedures must now be followed before resorting to a tribunal hearing. Alternatively, in dismissal cases, employers and employees can both agree to go to arbitration. As a consequence, ADR takes centre stage in employment law dispute resolution.

This timely book explores the development of the European Social Model and questions whether the relatively high level of social protection provided, both in terms of social welfare provision and in the creation of workers' rights and employment regulation, is sustainable. At the 2000 Lisbon Council the Member States agreed that this model was in need of modernisation if the objective of creating the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in Europe was to be achieved. Consequently, this book examines the economic rationale for EU social policy, identifies the main factors...