William C. Wefel Center for Employment Law

As a Jesuit institution, Saint Louis University School of Law is committed to recognizing the dignity of work and the human person. In keeping with this valuable tradition, SLU Law is home to one of the few academic centers for labor and employment law in the United States. Known formally as the Wefel Center for Employment Law, the center promotes scholarship in these deeply consequential areas and provides interested students with a structured labor and employment concentration. 

What is Labor and Employment Law?

New law students and the general public alike are sometimes unclear about the meaning of labor and employment law. Labor law refers generally to the body of law governing conflicts between groups of employees (including unions) and their employers. Employment law, on the other hand, focuses more on the working conditions of individual employees. Among other things, employment laws govern employee wages and hours, prohibit workplace discrimination, establish protections against wrongful discharge, and implement standards for occupational health and safety.   

At their core, labor and employment laws address fundamental questions about power, dignity, exploitation, and fairness. The rights that derive from these laws are often born of hard-won social and political movements and then are reassessed and redefined by each generation. Today, our generation faces groundbreaking questions that call on scholars, legal practitioners, law students, and workers to take notice.