Graduate Certificate on Workers' Rights

Do you care about Workers' Rights?

Learn about your own rights and the rights of other working people. Consider how rights have been expanded historically. Discuss how efforts to reduce rights today might be countered – or how to expand upon existing rights and make them available to more groups of employees.

The focus of this certificate is on workers' rights in the U.S.  However, coursework in this program allows for the opportunity to learn about rights in other countries because some international experience could inform proposals for change in the U.S.  And if you are an international student, the same insight applies – by learning about workers' rights in the U.S., you can examine potential ways to improve conditions for workers in your own country.

As with other SMLR graduate certificates, this certificate program requires successful completion, with a B or better, of four 3-credit graduate courses.  If you later decide to continue on to the full Master of Labor and Employment Relations program, all these courses would count toward that degree.

You can earn the certificate either with a mix of in-person and online courses or with online courses only. Our online courses are highly interactive, involve serious examination of important issues based on recent scholarship, and take place over the course of a semester. All classes include assignments designed to enhance skills and broaden perspectives.

Part A:  Current legal rights and their evolution

At least one course is required in this area. Students may choose to take up to two more.

• Labor and Democracy (38:578:509)
• Employment Law (38:533:566)  
• Immigration Law (38:578:521)
• Labor Law (38:578:550)
• Enforcing Worker Rights (38:578:515)
• Labor/Employment History (38:578:612)

Part B:  The context of rights; their institutional variety; how worker action and public policy can expand rights 

At least one course is required in this area. Students may choose to take up to two more.

• Organizing for Social Change (38:578:559) 
• Collective Bargaining (38:578:560)
• Global Employment Relations Today (38:578:562)
• Economics and Public Policy in a Global Context (38:578:527)
• Globalization and the Future of Employment (38:578:555)
• Public Sector Employment Issues (38:578:525)
• Employment Relations in Sports (38:578:528)
• Shaping the Future of Work (38:578:567)

• Other 38:578 courses approved by the Director of the MLER Program

How to Apply

For current Rutgers graduate students:

For application related questions and registration guidance, please contact Ann Marie Fiorella-Mullen, MLER Graduate Student Advisor.

For students not currently enrolled at Rutgers:

For more information on the certificate program and options for your academic future, contact Professor Francis Ryan, MLER Program Director.  

If you wish to complete a Certificate on a fully online basis, please contact Professor Ryan before applying because special application instructions are required.

To apply to complete a certificate, on a mixed in-person and online basis, as a non-degree student, apply to Rutgers Graduate Admissions. Click here to begin an application for admission.

All students:

Once you begin your application and have questions, please contact Ann Marie Fiorella-Mullen, MLER Graduate Student Advisor.

Frequently Asked Questions