Distance-learning phase with live Webinars from 30 September 2024 – 27 April 2025

Students will be enrolled in an interactive e-learning program, which includes live webinars typically held on Mondays and Thursdays, amounting to 6 hours of instruction per week over these two days. Attendance at these sessions is mandatory. In addition to the webinars, students will have access to a range of supplementary materials for both individual and collaborative study. They are expected to dedicate a minimum of 15 hours per week to their learning, which includes time for webinars, reading, and other activities. Throughout the course, students will be supported by a tutor and they will also have the opportunity to participate in forums and engage in discussions with fellow students, facilitating a rich exchange of ideas and perspectives.

This phase is designed around 7 macro-competence areas: 

1. Fundamentals of industrial relations: Students will be introduced to the basics of industrial relations such as scope and definitions, actors involved and regimes of industrial relations. They will get exposed to the history of industrial relations and will better understand the actors of industrial relations. Students will acquire the necessary knowledge to use statistics and data around industrial relations and will develop an understanding of the role of industrial relations institutions in the labour market.
2. The regulatory framework: Within this area of study students will be able to enrich their knowledge of the different regulations around industrial relations. Students will be fully exposed to the international labour standards system and will reflect upon the role of labour law in shaping employment and industrial relations. Private and social initiatives and their impact on development of industrial relations will be thoroughly explored.
3. Forms of Industrial Relations: Collective bargaining, workplace cooperation, international framework agreements are, among others, different forms of industrial relations. Under this macro area, students will gain in-depth studies of the different modalities under which interactions between workers and employers’ organizations can take place at different levels.
4. Labour dispute prevention and resolution: Students will get exposed to the principles underpinning dispute resolution and will look at labour conflict from different angles including psychological and organizational. Students will get an increased understanding of the role of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and other  dispute resolution methods including adjudication and arbitration.
5. Application of economics for industrial relations practitioners: Understanding economics to discuss while negotiating a collective bargaining or to set a minimum wage is of a paramount importance. In this area of study students will be introduced to the rules of the labour market and its institutions and the relationship between economics and industrial relations.
6. Variety of Industrial Relations: Industrial relations vary from countries to countries. During the programme students will “travel” around the globe to gain knowledge on the different types of industrial relations systems and their peculiarities, from developed economies, emerging economies and developing economies.
7. Drivers of industrial and employment Relations: Students will study a variety of drivers of industrial and employment relations development, such as global supply chains, trade agreements and regional integration. Students will also be exposed to the impact of technological change on industrial and employment relations and  many others.

This phase includes self-study, assignments, quizzes and exams.

A first level Master’s Degree, according to the Italian Qualifications Framework, is intended to provide students with further specialization or higher continuing education. The qualification awarded does not give access to a PhD under the Italian education system. Nevertheless, each country has its own education regulations and the participant is responsible to check the acceptance in its own Country or place where they want to apply for a continuity education.

Face-to-face phase (optional): Residential phase at the ITCILO campus in Turin, Italy, 28 April 2025 – 17 May 2025 - To Be Confirmed (Optional)

During the optional phase of the Master in Industrial and Employment Relations is designed to provide deep knowledge and skills for those with professional interests in industrial and employment relations, notably with an interest in negotiation skills and workplace practices. Students will be exposed to international and comparative industrial and employment relations practices and will be able to discuss and compare with their own countries’ practices and context.

A study visit at the ILO Headquarters in Geneva will also be organized, providing students with engaging sessions with experts from the ILO, as well as a number of study visits to selected institutions and enterprises in Turin, providing students with an opportunity to be exposed to different practices of industrial and employment relations. 

All the study visitis, including to the ILO Headquarters will depend on availability and restrictions.

Distance-learning phase for the drafting of the thesis from 28 April 2025 – 26 September 2025 (22 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.