Essay: A Positive Perspective on Regulation of the Workplace Relationship

Positive Organizational Scholarship studies how business organizations and their employees excel and thrive. It takes the opposite perspective from the traditional organizational research that examines negative deviance and how that deviance inhibits organizational performance. Like traditional organizational scholars, legal scholars (as well as lawyers, legislators, judges, and regulators) typically focus on problems. Examples abound in the field of employment law.

For example, to what extent does employment discrimination still exist and how can it be eliminated? And, what constraints prevent Americans from achieving retirement security and how can those constraints be eliminated? This Essay proposes that we examine the Positive Organizational Scholarship for insights on how a positive research lens can provide a new perspective on legal interventions in workplace relationships.