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Business Law Question

Post ID: 2813547

Review the Seminar Paper Format, Schedule, and Other Requirements.

Submit your final Seminar Paper. 

You must submit your Seminar Paper to TurnitinLinks to an external site. before turning it in to the instructor. TurnitinLinks to an external site. is a program that analyzes content of papers for originality and proper citation and attribution of sources. It is used in this course primarily to help you identify any problems of excessive or uncited material from other sources. Your instructor will provide you with the class ID, password, and other pertinent information.

Seminar Paper Format, Schedule, and Other Requirements

The Seminar Paper involves three stages of work:

  • Your proposed topic and a brief, one-paragraph explanation are due with Lesson 9.
  • An outline of the paper and a partial bibliography are due with Lesson 11. Your instructor will provide you with information about outline format. If the instructor has any concerns about your proposed topic or outline, they will share them with you promptly. If you submit the topic or outline before the due date, please let the instructor know so they can give you feedback before you proceed with your research and writing.
  • The paper itself is due in the week of Lesson 14. No other assignments are due that week.

Selecting a Topic

Pick a subject that interests you. There are lots of ways to find one. You could, for example, choose a topic related to material that we've covered in HRER 811.  Possibilities include

  • the extent to which employers can (or should be able to) mandate private arbitration of employment-related disputes or prohibit employees from filing collective claims;
  • Title VII and sexual orientation and transgender status;
  • whether states should be able to enact their own immigration-related laws and the impact of those laws;
  • the NLRA and employer social media policies (and pitfalls);
  • trends in public sector labor law; and
  • labor and employment issues related to globalization of manufacturing and services.

Or you could write about something that we didn’t cover in HRER 811. Potential topics include

  • employment rights and the lack thereof in the gig economy (think Uber);
  • proposed regulation of workplace bullying;
  • the rights of and the challenges posed by veterans who leave and return to the workplace;
  • the use and potential abuse of unpaid student internships under the FLSA;
  • drug testing issues for public and private sector employers, especially in states that have legalized the use of marijuana, which remains a controlled substance under federal law;
  • employers and HIPAA;
  • the Railway Labor Act, which also covers the airline industry;
  • the Mine Safety and Health Act;
  • the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act ("Landrum Griffin”);
  • health insurance continuation under COBRA;
  • ERISA and 401(k) plans; and
  • unemployment insurance law.

Keep in mind that these ideas are just examples. Lots of other topics would make for an excellent Seminar Paper. Some students select a topic to help them better understand an issue that’s come up in their workplace or a topic their employer wants them to learn more about. The only requirements are that the topic relates strongly to employment or labor law and that it interests you.

Researching

Conduct your research using the internet, journals, newspapers, the Penn State University Libraries online (including its CCH Cheetah Labor and Employment Law materials), and any other acceptable resources. Make sure to use at least seven resources other than the HRER 811 or HRER 501 reading assignments and textbooks. The School of Labor Studies and Employment Relations does not view Wikipedia as a valid source for academic work. While it can be a useful tool to find general information on subjects or as a starting point for research, students should not cite Wikipedia as a source in their papers, reports, assignments, and so on.

Here are some websites that may be useful:

Formatting the Paper

The paper should be approximately 3,000 words of narrative discussion, excluding the title page, a table of contents, and bibliography (12 double-spaced pages in length, using 12-point font). Citations may follow either APA format (e.g., "Colvin, 2009, p. 251") or the format used in legal periodicals.

You can access the APA style resources guide via a link in the course Syllabus.

If you decide to use a legal periodical format, please follow the Bluebook, known more formally as A System for Uniform Legal CitationLinks to an external site..

Writing the Paper

The Seminar Paper assignment gives you an opportunity to use an important HR skill set: the ability to master legal material and think critically about how it applies in the workplace. After completing your research, think about what you’ve learned and how it relates to the real world. Be sure to organize your thoughts before you try to start writing the paper. This is where your outline will come in handy—either as submitted with Lesson 11 or as modified based on your additional research.

Once you’re ready to start writing the paper, do the following:

  • Create a cover page that includes the title of your paper, your name, and the name of this course.
  • Start the paper itself with the heading Introduction, and briefly explain your topic and its relevance to labor and/or employment law.
  • Follow the Introduction section with a narrative format in which you convey your research and your critical thinking about the topic.
  • Make sure the paper has internal headings and subheadings.
  • Observe the Academic Integrity rules that apply to this class.
  • Finish your discussion with a Conclusion section.
  • End the paper with a bibliography.

Because research, critical thinking, and writing are important components of this assignment, the paper must be original work that you’ve done for HRER 811. Please do not submit something that you prepared for another course or for another purpose.

Using Turnitin

Again, a reminder that per the Syllabus, you must submit your paper to TurnitinLinks to an external site. before submitting it into the instructor. Turnitin is a program that analyzes content of papers for originality, proper citation, and attribution of sources. It is used in this course primarily to help you identify any problems of excessive or uncited material from other sources. Your instructor will supply you with the class ID, password, and other pertinent information. 

Seminar Paper Evaluation

The Seminar Paper will be evaluated based on the following:

  • the underlying research (quality, accuracy, variety, depth, etc.);
  • the essence of the paper (for example, whether it presents a well-reasoned discussion, clearly explains its main points, reflects critical thinking about the topic and its impact on the workplace, discusses whether the law(s) should be changed and in what way or why not, etc.); and
  • the structure of the paper (organization, grammar, spelling, syntax, etc.).