The comparative legal research conducted in highly internationalized fields, such as labor law, is not always horizontal. It sometimes exhibits a vertical structure. This occurs particularly when it does not examine labor relations solely within the context of the national labor systems in which they are integrated and operate but independently— or in combination with national laws— explores the international and supranational legal texts that influence such relations.

This collective volume is the result of a vertical comparative legal research focused on two significant European legal texts in the field of social rights: the Revised European Social Charter of the Council of Europe (RESC), on the one hand, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (CFR), on the other. The collective volume under examination provides a detailed presentation of the similarities and differences between the two legal texts under comparison and explains the reasons leading to their convergences and divergences.

Emphasis is placed on specific themes related to fundamental labor rights, such as the right to work, the right to adequate and dignified working time, the right to protection against dismissal, the right of workers to information and consultation within the enterprise, gender equality in the workplace, and the promotion of work-life balance, as well as the right to collective bargaining.