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01 November 2013
Issue: 7582 / Categories: Features
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Book review: Smith & Wood’s Employment Law

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"There cannot be many textbooks amenable to a read over a cup of tea. This is a rare and illuminating exception" 

Authors: Ian Smith & Aaron Baker
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780199664191
Price: £35.99

Employment law is like a fairground dodgem car. One moment you are moving smoothly and then you are thumped unexpectedly and lose control. You take a deep breath, adjust to the new direction and off you go again. And thump. No area of law is so volatile.

The latest Smith & Wood is ostensibly a student textbook. I suggest that every employment lawyer would learn something useful here. The beauty of this book is that it presents a panoramic overview of the subject. Understandably, as with fashion, everyone wants to be aware of the very latest trends. The potential danger is that older relevant authorities are forgotten. Labour law has mixed parentage. Common law and statutory measures combined to create a forced and sometimes awkward mixed marriage. 

Despite the volatility I have described, there are some authorities which

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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