Fair Work and Equality Clinic
In the Fair Work and Equality Law Clinic you are given the unique opportunity to on a case pertaining to social rights, labour exploitation and equality law.
Clinic students will be directly involved in providing legal advice on international and national labour law, equality law, and economic and social rights with the aim to remedy violations of fundamental labour rights and economic and social rights.
During the clinic students’ critical thinking about the functions of law in society and its possibility to make positive changes especially in relation to labour rights, equality law and economic and social rights is encouraged.
Clinical work
Clinical work consists of projects undertaken for clients for which the students conduct legal research, provide legal advice and draft legal documents. The clinical work is conducted in a team of 3 -5 students with regular meetings with supervisors (and clients). Students are closely supervised by members of the faculty, among others from the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS-HSI). Emphasis is placed on professionalism, high quality work, teamwork, and respect for confidentiality.
“Participating in the Fair Work and Equality Law Clinic was an excellent way for me to get a better grasp of what it is like to work for a client as a lawyer. I learned a great deal from writing a case file together with the actual lawyers, and working with students from different masters was really helpful and provided new insights.”
Clinical Programme
In addition to the Clinical Programme of the Amsterdam Law Clinics , the Fair Work and Equality Law Clinic offers a thematic workshop to its students. Through this workshop you will acquire a thorough knowledge of the regulation of work and the role of labour and equality law at EU and international level (ILO, UN, and Council of Europe). This background will allow you to analyse labour law, decent work, and equality law issues in the national and international legal context.
Key issues for discussion will include:
- Sources of law
- Key concepts: Direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment
- Burden of proof
- Remedies and sanctions
Upcoming projects
In the second semester 2024-2025, the Fair Work and Equality Law Clinic (FWELC) will run a clinic on pregnancy leave for Members of the European Parliament (MEP’s). At present MEP’s are required to forfeit their right to vote when they are unable to be present in person during parliamentary votes. This requirement may force young women who are pregnant or have recently given birth to return to work before they are physically fit to do so. This situation may deter young women from participating in European politics and as such can increase the shortage of women in politics.
Students will research whether there are any laws or conventions, both within EU-law or in international law, on women’s rights that they can rely on to compel the European Parliament to introduce a paid pregnancy leave. In addition, the client would like to know if there are other ways to reach their goal and which stakeholders they can involve in their project. The results of this law clinic will be integrated into the coalition’s ongoing efforts, with the aim of advancing a paid pregnancy leave policy for the European Parliament.
Prior projects
In the first semester of 2024-2025 the Fair Work and Equality Law Clinic (FWELC) did research on the legal position of au pairs, together with the NGO FairWork (https://www.fairwork.nu/). FairWork supports victims of labour exploitation in the Netherlands in various ways. Lately the organisation received more cases from au pairs which make clear that au pairs are increasingly used as cheap workers in the household instead of them doing some light work in the household and providing some care to children of their au pair family, in addition to their exchange programme. FairWork therefore would like to know which regulations (both national and international) are violated in those cases, which practices exist in other countries to protect au pairs from exploitation, and, if there is case law on their legal position and how the exploitation of au pairs can best be prevented.
In addition, the FWELC carried out research on the equal payment of female football players in the Netherlands. The pay gap between male and female football players has several causes. The main two are firstly the way the player contracts of female footballers are qualified and secondly the distinction made between men and women in the collective agreement for contract players. These two practices may violate Dutch and European labour law. The players' council of the female Dutch premier league would like to start a collective action (3:305a BW) and would like the feasibility (procedural and material) to be investigated. It's been said that it is financially impossible for clubs to reward women (fairly and) equally. This statement raises the question of what can be added in the context of the financial structure of Dutch professional football in terms of equal pay.
Other examples of projects the Fair Work & Equality Law Clinic has worked on include:
- Assisting a Dutch NGO in drafting one or more summons aimed towards the European Commission in the field of labour law and doing research for this NGO into working conditions in mines in Colombia and Peru.
- Research into labour laws regarding individuals competing in e-sports.
- Research for SOMO (Stichting Onderzoek Multinationale Ondernemingen - Expertise Centre on Multinational Corporations). Students have looked at the best way to ensure that multinationals are liable for damages in the supply chain.
- A comparative Study on Health and Safety at Work in the Personal and Household Services Sector. The conclusions of this research are summarized on this blog.
- Research into the issue of labour exploitation of EU migrant workers working for temporary work agencies in the Netherlands. The clinic dealt with the cases of Spanish and Polish workers who have labour problems or have been victims of labour abuses.
- Assisting on a case concerning the topic of equal pay for men and women.
- Assisting on a case concerning the exclusion from social security benefits of workers who work less than four days a week as a domestic worker – which includes providing medical care on the basis of government budget provided to their private employers – constitutes (indirect) discrimination against women, given that the vast majority of these domestic workers are women.
Publications
- Report concerning Labour Exploitation of Polish Migrant Workers in the Netherlands (pdf). An executive summary of the findings is available here (pdf).
- Research into the situation of Spanish migrant workers in the Netherlands (pdf). A summary of the findings as well as recommendations are available here (pdf).
- Comparative study (pdf) on the health and safety of domestic workers in Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy.
Contact us
For any questions regarding the Fair Work & Equality Clinic, please e-mail us at amsterdamlawclinics@uva.nl or contact Marlies Vegter.
Requirements, eligibility and application
The Fair Work and Equality Law Clinic is in principle open for all Master's students of the Amsterdam Law School.
Other requirements are:
- You are available at least 10 hours per week
- You have a strong work ethic, excellent communication and English-writing skills, and a genuine interest in labour law, fair working conditions and human rights law.
Check out the specifics on how to apply.
Contact former clinic students
If you're interested in more hands-on information about the clinic and experiences from former Fair Work and Equality Law Clinic students, you can contact any of the following former students. Send an e-mail to amsterdamlawclinics@uva.nl and we will provide you with the relevant contact information. You can also watch a video on YouTube in which Anastassia Kachalova talks about her experiences with the clinic.