Hi Simon

Maybe look at a postgraduate qualification in employment law specifically?

AFAIK an LLB will incorporate a lot of legal topics of little or no relevance to HR specifically , even if you pick one that has a bespoke employment law option.

Such as an LLM in employment law or postgrad cert or diploma won't be likely to cover eg contract or H&S Law, but the principles thereof tend to come out in the wash.

Personally I doubt the investment would pay off in purely career / advancement terms. Unless you are interested in very niche areas of HR.

In reply to David:

Thanks, David, I have already got my MSc in HRM and CIPD level 7 but even then it was not very in-depth on the employment law side. But definitely get your point so I will do more research on the optional modules to see if I can tailor it to cover the contract and H&S elements.

In reply to Simon Connors:

I am an employment lawyer. I have known one or two HR people do an employment law qualification through the University of Northumbria I think. I'm a big believer that no knowledge is ever wasted but it is expensive and you could pay to do an awful lot of training for the same cost
I've got some really good text books that I've just replaced so have last year's versions if you would like them: it would be a good starting point to dip into and get more knowledge that way. My email address is at www.refreshinglawltd.co.uk.

In reply to Anna Denton-Jones:

Following-up Anna’s post, a few years back I completed Northumbria University LawSchool LLM in applied employment law by distance learning and found it immensely valuable as a complement to CIPD / practical experience and not too expensive. The optional weekend seminars in Newcastle at the Law School were most illuminating; the required dissertation was tough but well worth the effort and I still miss no longer having online access to such as Westlaw and Harvey on Employment Law. All in all, from personal experience, I’d heartily recommend it.

About a decade ago I did the Graduate Diploma in Law - the conversion course that you can do in a year full time or two years part time, to effectively cram in the knowledge you might gain during a law degree. At the time I was considering retraining as a solicitor with a focus on employment law, and while I ultimately decided that I didn't want to take that step, I've always been grateful for the really firm understanding it gave me of some of the fundamentals of law. They certainly weren't covered well when I did my CIPD qualifications (ahem, quite a few years' ago).

That said, I wouldn't choose that course as a good method of study - if I hadn't been looking at a life change, I'd have taken a longer period and enjoyed learning rather than cramming! Still looking for a suitable LLM Employment Law that works for me, but none local that I can find.

Thanks for all the comments I think a distance learning approach is best and at least part time or a more long term open university course.

Helps me feel like I am not being mad trying to do a law degree of any kind as a HR professional which is nice :)

In reply to Simon Connors:

A masters degree is the way to go
You may struggle to get much H&S law as tends to be a bit specialised and even Smith & Wood have dropped it.
As for contract law you could probably benefit by buying a decent book on the law of contract and self studying. A lot of employment law will suddenly make more sense.

In reply to Peter Stanway:

Hi Peter I have already completed a HR masters degree the other year., This is more of a degree to help on the legal side of the HR roles.

Will definitely try and find a few good books on contract law to get reading before signing up for a new course.

In reply to Simon Connors:

What are your career intentions? Is this investment going to advance you into a higher-level job? What future roles are going to need such an in-depth knowledge of employment law? To be honest, I think your boxing yourself into a corner that may be difficult to move on from.

In reply to Simon Connors:

I meant a master in emp law ie usually a LLM

In reply to Simon Connors:

Hi Simon I'm just completing an LLM in Employment Law and Practice through Robert Gordon University, although I don't believe the course is running, in the same way, this year. I've completed it full time by distance learning.
It may be that while you would not wish to complete an additional Masters level qualification you could look at studying the modules individually.
A number of universities now offer the online delivery model: as David states, Northumbria, Manchester Metropolitan also offers it and the OU may too. There are often more flexible start dates with these courses. I started mine in January.
Mine was a conscious choice to do instead of the L7 HRM as it is where my particular interest lies.

Hi Simon,

I am on the same boat. Like you I also gained my masters in HRM a few years ago. Over the course of my studies, I developed a fair knowledge of employment law. However, over the last couple of years I have increasingly encountered a number of convoluted disciplinary and grievance cases within my role, in which a greater understanding and surety of the application of employment law would have certainly helped. That’s why I have applied to do a Postgraduate Cert in Employment Law and Practice, starting in September.

Personally I couldn’t face doing a full masters again!

I say for it! It will help augment your knowledge and CV.

Good Luck!

Katie

I don't agree that the need for legal knowledge is in any way "new" Simon: More "newly recognised" in my opinion. :-)

The fundamental difference between law as practiced by Solicitors and in Courts (or ET's) and "day-to-day" in an HR context is that law in Court has the sole objective of "winning" the argument (or minimising the damage to the loser, if one's client), whereas in (well practiced) HR the objective is to "resolve" problems and disputes, with outcomes acceptable (and preferably comfortable) to both sides.

The solicitor fights for their client, regardless of the cost to the other party(ies) involved and walks away satisfied; the HR professional hopes to leave both parties able to lick their wounds (if any), take a deep breath, and work together effectively and more efficiently the following day.

The law is the skeleton: Rigid, inflexible, but supportive and defensive. It is the powerful muscles of good HR and people-management policy that make it work, facilitated by the flexible tendons of well-practiced procedures. That is how law is applied to HR; not locked into inflexible postures of aggressive defiance, one side against the other, but as does the rigid skeleton in your hand: Able to push or strike "in extremis", but also to guide, soothe and caress.

By learning enough of the "envelope" of law within which we function to clearly understand where our limits and obligations to our roles, people and functions lie (including issues such as Contract and H&S) we enable flexibility within that framework, but still enable our practice to interface seamlessly with the far more confrontationally demanding scenario of ET or Courtroom. (...and to work cooperatively and effectively with our legal colleagues on the route there, when necessary). So, as in so many things within HR: Choose whichever facilitates your position and practice: The broad-spectrum of a general LLB or Masters, or one of the more employment-focussed options suggested by Colleagues above as suits your needs best. What is certain, in today's business world, is that there is a need for clear and comprehensive knowledge of the laws governing our practice which we can no longer ignore, as we once might have done.

P