Online HR Degree Program Highlights
Human resource professionals serve as the crucial link between an organization’s management and its employees.
Dedicated to helping human resources (HR) professionals increase their overall knowledge and effectiveness, Tulane University Law School’s Online Master of Jurisprudence in Labor and Employment Law (MJ-LEL) employs a collaborative learning environment where practical application is front and center.
A formal, academic credential in labor and employment law allows these individuals—whether they carry formal HR titles or are business managers with personnel responsibilities—to comply with the myriad regulations established by state and federal law. It allows them to successfully navigate everything from creating personnel manuals, to engaging in collective bargaining, to administering benefits, to handling sensitive employee relations issues.
The bright, accomplished, ambitious professionals who choose the MJ-LEL all work full time and participate in the program through a flexible online experience, visiting the Tulane campus just once for an immersive multi-day learning experience. The knowledge and skills they obtain in the program will make them more highly valued by their organizations. Without doubt, HR practitioners with an MJ in Labor & Employment Law from Tulane will outshine and outdistance their peers.
Program at a Glance
- 12 courses
- 30 credits
- Mix of required and elective courses
- Culminating capstone project course
- Mix of live classes and asynchronous coursework
- Complete in as few as two years
- Three opportunities to start per year
Who Chooses the Online MJ in Labor & Employment Law From Tulane?
This program is for you if you are:
- The manager, director or VP of human resources at a global Fortune 500 company
- The faculty coordinator at a public K-12 school with unionized teachers
- President of a small business that is driven by the talents of its employees and contractors
- Business or office manager at a small to mid-sized business where there is no formal HR department
- Owner of a company that relies heavily on the subcontracted work of unions
- An HR professional in any industry, in a company of any size, and at any point in your career
- A professional who is planning a strategic career shift into human resources and wants to differentiate yourself from the competition by being a clear expert in the labor and employment laws that govern the way businesses interact with their people
Associate professor Elizabeth Townsend-Gard explains the unique opportunities the program offers. She addresses the importance of those working with the law every day to have a strong grasp of its ins and outs, rhetoric and applications.
Program Benefits
Powerful experiences and insights
Improve your understanding of the laws that govern the practice of human resources, your ability to communicate and collaborate with lawyers and other legal professionals, and your own workplace results and job satisfaction.
Career impact that counts
With the expertise you’ll gain through the MJ-LEL program, your job effectiveness will increase, and you’ll quickly become a highly valued contributor on the job. You’ll become more adequately self-sufficient and will prove to be a huge asset to your organization as you save money, reduce risks and improve workplace culture.
A rigorous education with the flexibility of online learning
Enjoy the flexibility of online learning so you can participate from anywhere. The only on-campus requirement for the degree is one multi-day Immersion Weekend on Tulane’s campus in New Orleans, where you’ll gain face-to-face connection and intellectual synthesis.
Practical lessons that enhance your life and career
Through your daily conversations with classmates and faculty, and through your master’s capstone experience, you’ll learn practical lessons and hone new skills that you can put to immediate use. You’ll walk away with the ability to train employees about sexual harassment, to deal effectively with unions, to engage in collective bargaining, to mediate disputes or participate in the arbitrations of labor disputes, to create personnel manuals, to lead executive searches that are EEOC-compliant, and much more.
Expert faculty who inspire
You’ll be taught by faculty members who are national and international authorities on labor and employment issues, like program director Joel Wm. Friedman, author of the most widely adopted law school textbook on employment discrimination law (The Law of Employment Discrimination, Foundation Press, 10th edition, 2015).
Unrivaled value
Tulane is reputable, rigorous, accessible and affordable. The investment in your graduate education can reap returns that far exceed your expectations.
Connections for life
Study alongside other human resource professionals, business owners, executives and office managers with personnel responsibilities. The dynamic nature of the program will ensure that you form professional and personal connections that create a life-long network of classmates and faculty who can help support and accelerate your career.
Distinct pride
Accomplish something that very few people do—earning a graduate degree from a prestigious, nationally ranked university and a top law school.
Curriculum
Semester 1
Students must take both of these required courses:
Legal Analysis I (2 credits)
Introduction to Employment Discrimination Law Principles and Strategies (3 credits)
Semester 2
Students must take both of these required courses:
Legal Analysis II (2 credits)
Introduction to Labor Law Principles and Strategies (3 credits)
Semester 3
Students must take this required course:
Employment Law (2 credits)
IP Issues in the Employment Context (3 credits)
Semester 4
Students must take this required course, plus one 2-credit elective:
Sex and Gender Issues in the Workplace (2 credits)
Semester 5
Students must take this required course, plus one 2-credit elective:
Social Media Issues in the Workplace (3 credits)
Semester 6
Students must take this required course, plus one 2-credit elective:
Capstone (3 credits)
Elective Courses
Negotiating Skills (2 credits)
Employee Medical Leaves of Absence (3 credits)
Developing and Managing the Workforce: Recruitment, Retention, Termination, Retirement and Turnover (2 credits)
To thrive in a competitive business environment, organizations need more than just strategic plans in place. They need the right talent to implement those plans. Those who manage human resources—not just HR departments, but all managers—have a critical task in front of them. They have to identify, recruit and retain employees who have both the skill sets and determination to effectively implement strategic objectives in their individual departments, so the business plan succeeds as a whole.
In this course, you’ll learn to align workforce management with the overall strategic goals of the business and how to navigate the opportunities and pitfalls that can arise from that challenge. You’ll also learn results-based strategies for finding, motivating and rewarding individual employees as well as successful work teams. With the skills developed through this course and through this master’s program at Tulane, you can better position yourself to manage human resources responsibilities and find employees who will positively impact your company.
Privacy in the Workplace (2 credits)
This course will cover both the general framework of privacy law and the most notable statutes addressing workplace privacy. The course begins with an overview of the origins and legal sources of privacy law. The course then covers specific areas of workplace privacy, including medical inquiries; background and misconduct investigations; monitoring and surveillance; honesty, psychological, drug and alcohol testing; medical and personnel records; off-duty conduct; employer information; and privacy tort claims. As to each topic, you will gain an understanding of governing legal standards and best practices through reading materials, examples, and when appropriate, checklists and sample policies.