The purpose of this guide is to point students to research tools and sources they can use for research assignments in MIR 823.
Some of the sources cited in this guide are located within the LancasterHouse First Resort database. Please note that First Resort is not a Queen's library database. Instead, to access this database, you must use the link provided to you by your course instructor.
When conducting legal research, it is usually best to start with a legal textbook that provides a summary of the law on the topic you are researching and points to key cases and legislation that determine the legal issue. Once you have gained a grounding in your topic, then it's time to move on to searching for additional cases and other materials to flesh out our research.
The organization of this guide reflects this general legal research process by describing secondary sources such as legal news and legal textbooks first, and then moving on to cases and scholarly literature. The final section of the guide points to sources of information on legal citation.
Employment law in Canada refers to the rules and regulations that govern the independent employee and employer relationship in a non-unionized workplace. Employment law generally deals with legal topics concerning employee termination, workplace investigations, contract employees, occupational health and safety, and human rights.
Contrastingly, Labour law refers to the laws and regulations governing the unionized workplace. Although unionized workers are also protected by employment law, labour law is particularly concerned with collective bargaining and mediating the relationship between the employee, the employer, and the trade union.
The names of books, journals, and databases usually reflect this distinction in terminology.