Persons in LaW-BALANCE
The project group consists of researchers with wide competence within employment and social law, both at the national and EU level.
Main content
Principal Investigator
Melanie Regine Hack (Associate Professor, University of Bergen, Norway) is an expert on Norwegian, European, and International social, labour and non-discrimination law. Hack is the chair of the Research Group for European Law and a member of the management group at the Centre on the Europeanization of Norwegian Law (CENTENOL). Together with Ingrid Barlund she coordinate the course on EU & EEA Commercial Law at the University of Bergen.
Hack's research covers inter alia legal comparison of Germany and Norway social law, the impact of EU law on national labour and social law, legal instruments to address the challenges of demographic changes, digitization and platform economy as a challenges for social security systems. Hack furthermore has extensive experience in science management and stakeholder engagement by inter alia advising policy and lawmakers regarding labour and social law reforms in Norway and their compliance with EU law.
Co-Investigators
Tine Eidsvaag (Associate Professor, University of Bergen, Norway) is an expert on labour law, inclusive work environment and marginalized groups on the labour market. Eidsvaag coordinates the courses in labour law at UiB and leads the discipline on labour and discrimination law under the UiB Law faculty’s Master thesis course. A focus of her research has been on inclusive work environment and the right to individual accommodation of the workplace. Eidsvaags publications covers inter alia individual accommodation for workers with health problems and disabilities, individual accommodation and paid leave for temporary agency workers and digital platform workers, and the right to working time accommodation. Eidsvaag is a member of The Norwegian Anti-Discrimination Tribunal.
Lisa Waddington (Professor, Maastricht University, Netherlands) is an expert on European Disability Law and non-discrimination law. She was one of the first scholars to write on the link between the protection of carers and EU non-discrimination law, as well as the new EU Work-Life Balance Directive. She has coordinated and been involved in numerous large EU-funded research projects and is a senior expert in the European Network of Legal Experts in the Non-discrimination Field and the European Disability Expertise network. Waddington has also extensive experience with working with policymakers, national authorities, and equality bodies at the European and national level.
PhD and Postdoctoral Research Fellows
One full-time Ph.D. student and one full-time postdoctoral researcher in law will be recruited to work on the project.
Scientific Advisory Board
A scientific advisory board will further support the project. The board consists of:
- Prof. Mark Bell (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland)
- Prof. Colm O’Cinneide (University College London, UK)
- Prof. Stein Evju (University of Oslo, Norway)
- Prof. Wendy Nilsen (Oslo Metropolitan University; Norway)
- Prof. Monika Schlachter (University of Trier, Germany)
Reference Group
A stakeholder reference group will support the project in bridging the gap between research, policy and practice. The group consists of:
- Mona Næss (Deputy Director-General, Norwegian Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion)
- Kari Østerud (Director, Centre for senior policy)
- Nina Odberg (Lawyer, LO - Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions)
- Joakim Augeli Karlsen (Lawyer, NHO - Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise)
- Agnieszka Piasna (Senior Researcher, ETUI - European Trade Union Institute)
