Future of Work Post-COVID

Even before the global COVID-19 pandemic, legal regimes governing work in the United States struggled to keep up with a changing world. The increase in gig work chipped away at traditional employment concepts. Globalization and shifts in worker bargaining power confounded efforts to protect worker rights. Advances in technology allow for remote work but also greater worker surveillance, raising workplace discrimination and worker privacy issues. The global pandemic accelerated these trends and the urgency of addressing the legal issues they pose in the workplace.

This week-long, 1-credit course will prepare you to grapple with current legal issues at the edge of American laws governing work. You will be introduced to black letter law – particularly as pertains to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and tests governing worker classification as employees or independent contractors – but this alone is not the goal. Instead, the course will emphasize exposing future practitioners to important concepts and challenging them to apply these to current problems. There are no prerequisites.