Employment, Training and Lifelong Learning

This book offers a timely exploration of the continuous training of individuals, a subject crucial to both business competitiveness and societal progress in today's rapidly changing world. Addressing the digital and climate revolutions, it examines how lifelong learning helps workers adapt their skills to meet evolving demands while supporting active ageing for all citizens, even in retirement. Divided into three sections, the book features studies that combine theoretical insights and practical recommendations from renowned experts in education and law. The book stands out for its international scope, with chapters covering diverse national perspectives from countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan and various European nations. It uniquely integrates both education and legal perspectives, providing a comprehensive analysis that addresses gaps in existing literature. Readers will benefit from clear, accessible language, proposals for key stakeholders (e.g., policymakers, social partners), and coverage of pressing issues like vocational training for immigrants, legal frameworks for non-formal learning and the impact of digital transitions on workforce development. This book is an essential resource for academics, researchers, advanced students, legal professionals, educators, policymakers, trade unions, and employer associations. It offers valuable insights for anyone involved in Labour Law, social security, vocational training or workforce development on a global scale.

Editor Lourdes Mella Méndez is Professor of Labour and Social Security Law at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), Spain. Co-Editors Silvia Fernández Martínez is Permanent Professor at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), Spain. Bárbara Torres García is Assistant Professor at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), Spain.

I. INTRODUCTION Introductory chapter: Professional training and lifelong learning as key drivers for competitiveness in the current labour market: national and international perspectives II. EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING IN THE EUROPEAN CONTEXT Chapter 1. Towards a coordinated approach to EU policies to 'attract talent' and 'upgrade skills' Chapter 2. The legal basis for the validation of non-formal and informal learning as a route to qualifications and labour market certificates Chapter 3. The provision of reasonable accommodation (not only) for persons with disabilities in vocational training Chapter 4. Vocational training and Labour Law: the case of apprenticeship contract and the role of companies and social partners III. TRAINING AND ECOLOGICAL AND DIGITAL TRANSITIONS IN THE LABOUR MARKET Chapter 5. Using the ecological and digital transitions to restructure groups Chapter 6. Green skills framework: strategies for a greener world Chapter 7. Enhancing remote workers' skills - Insights from EU and Polish regulations Chapter 8. Workers' training in the virtual environment: risks and opportunities of the metaverse Chapter 9. Training and educating employees and management as a necessary element of implementing the right to disconnect at the enterprise level IV. TRAINING AND LIFELONG LEARNING FROM INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES AND DIFFERENT NATIONAL SCENARIOS Chapter 10. Continuing training in the transformation: rights and obligations for employees under German individual Labour law Chapter 11. Promotion of continuing training in Germany - new development in social security law and possible effects on in-company training Chapter 12. Middle-aged workers' willingness of promotion and self-development of new skills in Japan, from perspective of work as a social activity Chapter 13. The principle of proportionality in professional training - insights from the Portuguese case law Chapter 14. Training rights in Spain in the light of the 'lifelong learning paradigm' Chapter 15. Legal reform for job training and lifelong learning in the United States Chapter 16. Labour Law and lifelong learning: bridging theory and practice through triangulation Chapter 17. The right to lifelong learning: An international education perspective