I am currently a senior lecturer in law with a particular interest in employment law and work-family rights. I am the Programme Leader for the LLB (Scots) Law programme. I lead on the delivery of teaching in Employment Law and Legal Philosophy and Human Rights. My main research interest is employment equality law, particularly work-family rights. I have a keen interest in working fathers and atypical working families. This is reflected in my book, ‘Assisted Reproduction, Discrimination and the Law’, which also includes a comparative analysis with reference to the EU and US approaches. This is also reflected in my current research project 'Regulationg the Boundaries of Work-life Conflict'. I have also undertaken some research on the potential implications of Brexit for Scotland in the employment law context.
I was awarded my undergraduate degree, LLB (Hons), in 2004 from the University of Strathclyde followed by my PhD in 2010, also from the University of Strathclyde. Prior to joining Abertay University in 2008 I was law tutor and research assistant at the University of Strathclyde.
I am one of the Lead Voices for Pregnancy and Maternity and the co-chair of the BLSS Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team.
I am a senior law lecturer on the LLB programme and I am the LLB Programme Leader.
I am currently the module tutor for:
I also deliver guest lectures in:
I supervise projects, dissertations, and PG research in:
My research is currently centred around the boundaries between work and private life. This has primarily focused on the work-family employment rights of working parents and other carers, examining the boundaries between employment law and family law as they relate to care in this context. This includes examining: the role of working fathers within work-family legislation and their engagement with work-family rights in practice; the relationship between more atypical working family models and work-family legislation, in particular whether it needs to adopt a different understanding of the family, and; the employment and equality protections and rights for those engaged in assisted reproduction.
The focus is primarily UK and European legislation, but also includes comparative perspectives, including Sweden and the USA.
Additional current research projects involve other areas of employment law. These include: equality law; and the future development of labour law in Scotland.
I have been awarded several grants totalling over £8000 from the Clark Foundation for Legal Education. This enabled four students and one member of staff to attend the International Law Week delivered by the Universities of EPHEC and KHLeuven in Belgium.
I have also secured and supervised students on Carnegie Vacation Scholarship grants.
I am currently involved in the following external roles:
Invited seminars:
s.de-alwis@abertay.ac.uk
+44 (0)1382 30 8270