Employee Relations Law Journal Publishes Akin Gump Article on Evolving Employer-Employee Relationship

“The Drive to Co-Equal Stakeholder: The Evolving Relationship Between People and Their Work and the Implications for Employers,” an article by Akin Gump labor and employment practice head Robert Lian and counsel James Crowley has been published by Employee Relations Law Journal as part of its Winter 2022 edition.

In the article, Lian and Crowley explore changes in the legal groundwork of the employer-employee relationship in the U.S. from its origin to current-day conception. The article notes 10 areas where social and economic forces, technology, and law are impacting and effecting significant evolution of the employment relationship.

The authors then discuss the role of the “at-will” employment doctrine, changing work structures, and the emerging social construct around employment, including changes in the nature of work, expectations of ethical leadership, and worker bargaining power and pressure for stakeholder status.

Lian and Crowley close with a detailed look at further changes in store and how business can better adapt and compete, as they cover employee expectations for “ownership” and democracy; diversity, equity and inclusion as value and imperative; heightened expectations of transparency; and much more.

To read the full article, click here.