The Master in Industrial and Employment Relations aims at developing specialized multidisciplinary knowledge in the field of industrial and employment relations from a comparative viewpoint. It provides participants with a deep theoretical and practical understanding of industrial and employment relations systems in the world, by looking into recent changes and trends in the major economic geographical areas.
Learn by doing, through case studies, workshops, and group exercises
Exchange ideas with international students and faculty
Engage with experts from the ILO and the ITCILO, practitioners and university professors.
In a fast-changing environment (political, economic, social, cultural and technological) in which governments, workers' organizations and employers' and business membership organizations are continuously required to adapt their strategies, a better understanding of contemporary trends and challenges in industrial and employment relations is a compelling need. To provide labour relations practitioners with the best possible learning environment and the opportunity to engage in serious discussion relating to industrial and employment relations, the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ITCILO), in partnership with the University of Turin, Italy, is offering a Master in Industrial and Employment Relations. It includes a distance-learning phase with synchronous activities (weekly live webinars), and an optional residential phase of in-depth study on the ITCILO campus in Turin, followed by a second distance-learning phase for the preparation of the Master's thesis. The online learning journey allows students to engage continuously with a global faculty coming from a wide range of institutions, ranging from the ILO to universities and training and research institutions around the world. It is also an opportunity to share a learning experience with practitioners and students from all regions of the world. The Master in Industrial and Employment Relations aims to develop specialized, multidisciplinary knowledge in the field of industrial and employment relations from a comparative viewpoint. It will provide students with a deep theoretical and practical understanding of industrial and employment relations systems around the world by looking into recent changes and trends. The Master's programme combines the sound academic background of the University of Turin with the ITCILO's international training experience. An international approach has been applied to the content and methodology, as well as to the composition of the faculty.
The Master in Industrial and Employment Relations is intended for participants with the following profiles: consultants and graduate students; government, workers' and employers' representatives; practitioners in the field of industrial and employment relations from the public and private sectors; human resources managers, personnel in human resources departments dealing with industrial and employment relations; labour court judges and lawyers; labour administration and labour inspection officials; staff of the ILO and other international organizations.
General objective
The Master in Industrial and Employment Relations is designed to provide a wide spectrum of knowledge and skills for those with professional interests in industrial and employment relations. In addition, students will be exposed to international and comparative industrial and employment relations systems with a view to better understanding the implications for current industrial relations systems and practices.
Specific objectives
On successful completion of the Master’s programme, participants will be able to:
Important: Learning acquired outside of formal education settings will not be recognized. The validity of non-Italian degrees must be recognized under Italian law and regulations.
A first level Master’s Degree from the University of Turin (60 certified university credits) will be awarded to the participants who fulfill all of the following conditions1 :
The Master’s Programme will be divided into two mandatory distance learning phases and one face-to-face component that is optional:
Distance-learning phase with live Webinars from 2 October 2023 to 20 April 2024 (29 weeks)
Students will have access to an e-platform through which they will learn online with live Webinars usually twice a week (6 hours/week in 2 days) and will have access to additional readings to study on an individual and collective basis. They will receive support from a tutor with expertise in the subject matter, participate in a forum, and exchange views with other students. Number of learning hours per week is minimum. 15 hours.
This phase is designed around 7 macro competence areas:
This phase includes self-study, assignments, quizzes and exams.
Face-to-face phase (optional): Residential phase at the ITCILO campus in Turin, Italy, from 22 April to 10 May 2024 (3 weeks
During the optional face-to-face phase in Turin, students will be exposed to a more practical learning experience on a range of matters such as negotiation and collective bargaining skills. Classes are held from Tuesday to Thursday from 9 am to 4 pm.
A two/three-day study visit to the ILO Headquarters in Geneva (Switzerland) will be organized (depending on the COVID-19 situation in Switzerland and related travel restrictions). Others study visits may also take place depending on the restrictions in place.
Phase 3: Distance-learning phase for the drafting of the thesis from 20 April to 27 September 2024 (23 weeks
Students will be required to carry out individual research in their home country for the preparation and submission of a thesis. The outline of the thesis to be presented by 20 April 2023, and the thesis to be completed by 15 October 2023.
Methodology
Professors, practitioners and other resource persons will use lectures, case-studies, case law judgments, excerpts of collective agreements and legislation, discussions, group-work and practical exercises to strike a balance between theory and practice and to stimulate interaction with the resource persons and among students.
Resource persons
Resource persons are selected based on their professional experience and subject matter expertise. They consist of experts from the ILO and ITCILO, university professors and practitioners.
Tuition fees: 9,000 Euros payable by the student or his/her sponsoring organization.
Tuition and accommodation fees for the face-to-face optional phase: to be determined.
Applications should be made through the online application form on this webpage: https://oarf2.itcilo.org/CST/A9716191/en
Partial scholarships
A limited number of partial scholarships is available, on a competitive basis, for students from developing countries. If you wish to apply for a partial scholarship, please specify it on the application form.
The selection criteria for the award of partial scholarships will include academic and professional qualifications, organization, country of origin and gender balance.
Please note that apart from these partial scholarships, there is no other financial support provided by ITCILO including from ACTRAV and ACTEMP.
Payment, cancellation and refund policy
The ITCILO’s payment, cancellation and refund policy can be consulted on the following website: www.itcilo.org/turin-school-of-development/admission