Taking Employment Contracts Seriously

Abstract

The essay, written for the Symposium in Honor of the Work of Charles A. Sullivan, examines the honoree's work on the employment contract. Rather than quickly moving past the common law of contract onto the many statutory regimes governing the workplace, Sullivan has repeatedly explored the nature of the employment agreement and the role of common-law doctrines in regulating this relationship. The essay explores Sullivan's expeditions into the common law and compares his work with those scholars working in the private law and New Private Law traditions. In addition, I argue that the contractual approach has failed to appreciate the role of organizational law in employment and that this omission should be rectified.

Keywords: employment law, employment contract, employment relationship, New Private Law, common-law contract

JEL Classification: K12, K31