Focusing on paid work that blurs traditional legal boundaries and the challenge this poses to traditional forms of labour regulation, this collection of original case studies illustrates the wide range of different forms of regulation designed to provide decent work. The original case studies cover a diversity of workers from across developed and developing countries, the formal and informal economies and public and private work spaces. Each deals with the failings of traditional labour law, and several explore the capacity of different forms of regulatory techniques, such as commercial law, corporate codes of conduct, or supply chain regulation, to protect workers.

As scholars and policymakers around the world seek a systematic approach to the question of 'gig work,' one of its regulatory dimensions - the intersection of labor and competition law - points toward a deeper reconceptualization of the conventional legal and economic categories typically brought to bear upon it. A comparative approach to the question of gig work further reveals the variety and contingency of background assumptions that are often overlooked in the context of domestic policy debates. By combining a detailed comparative doctrinal survey of the regulation of non-employee workers in domestic competition law systems with a set of essays reframing the underlying questions raised - in terms of international legal frameworks, freedom of association norms, alternative approaches to law and economics, and more - The Cambridge Handbook of Labor in Competition Law moves the debates over the fissured workplace and the labor - competition law intersection forward in novel ways.

International law and most national legal systems recognize the right to strike as a fundamental human right. However, the most common qualification for a strike is that the action must first be approved by ballot. These types of requirements are often said to be necessary to protect the democratic rights of the workers - the so-called democratic imperative. But is that truly their aim? This book draws on detailed empirical study of the Australian legislative provisions for pre-strike ballots; a comparative analysis of law and practice in a range of countries including Canada, South Africa, the United States, and the United Kingdom; and the approaches of the supervisory bodies of the International Labour Organisation to evaluate the true purpose and effect of the ballot requirement. While in some cases the ballot requirement provided additional bargaining leverage for unions, overall, the study showed that the principle purpose of ballot requirements is to curtail strikes rather than vindicate the democratic imperative it claims to support. Exploring collective bargaining and union democracy, this is an essential title for those involved in or studying labour law. This book also demonstrates the fundamental shortcomings of ballot regimes, and provides and accessible exploration of the operation of said regimes, which makes this a helpful tool for unionists to understand their rights as workers. It also considers significant policy questions in the field and is relevant in the respect of the international labour law regime.