Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations
Master of Labor and Employment Relations (MLER)
Piscataway, USA
Master degree
DURATION
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
STUDY FORMAT
Key Summary
About: The Master of Labor and Employment Relations (MLER) at Rutgers SMLR trains professionals in labor, employment relations, and human resource management. Courses combine practical skills, taught by nationally known scholars. Study full-time or part-time, with online options. Programme explores employee and employer perspectives, collective bargaining, workplace policy, social justice, leadership, and connects you to a supportive community and New Jersey employment relations networks.
Career Outcomes: Graduates find roles in corporations, nonprofits, unions, government, and policy institutes. Typical careers include HR manager, labor relations specialist, policy analyst, union organizer, and researcher; skills fit mediation, compliance, diversity and inclusion, organizational development.
About
The Master of Labor and Employment Relations (MLER) program produces graduates who are thoughtful professionals, informed leaders, and/or researchers grounded in contemporary reality. Graduates have careers in many types of organizations, ranging from corporations to non-profits, from unions to other social justice organizations, and from state or federal government agencies to public policy institutes.
Explore Exciting Ideas with Top Instructors
- Classes both build skills and expand intellectual horizons
- Engaging real-world courses are taught by nationally-known scholars
- Part-time or full-time student is available
- Online courses increase your options
- Get both the employee and the employer perspective
It’s a Professional Program Helping You to:
- Be a role model for your family
- Move up at your current employer
- Teach others what you have learned
- Advance justice, diversity, or your other ideals
What Sets the MLER Program Apart?
Breadth
- Expand your intellectual horizons from both the employee and employer perspective.
- Understand employment relations from a range of different perspectives, such as labor, management, employees, citizen activists, and that of society as a whole.
Profession
- Acquire current, leadership skills needed to maximize your future professional employment opportunities in a work world of constant change.
- Build professional skills that are appropriate for multiple and varied career goals.
Community
- Join a supportive learning environment that values critical thinking and intellectual exchange and will connect you to a community of active scholars, teachers, learners, and involved citizens.
- Network with employment relations professionals in New Jersey.
Convenience
- Courses are scheduled at times convenient for working adults. You may complete the MLER program on either a full-time or part-time basis.
Program Choices
The MLER program is one that allows graduates to gain employment as professionals in a variety of related employment relations careers. Since work constantly changes and evolves, the program focuses on developing a set of core competencies useful in multiple jobs. It is a broad program that prepares students not just for one position, but for a broad range of positions in which having an advanced degree is an advantage in the labor market.
Core Competencies:
A set of required courses foster clear, professional writing; analytic skills; knowledge of research methods; and the acquisition of financial information. Negotiation skills, leadership techniques, emotional intelligence, and group process/teamwork skills are developed in additional courses.
Specializations and Electives:
Since students come from different backgrounds and have different occupational goals, the MLER program allows students to specialize by combining required classes with carefully selected electives. All students have five electives out of thirteen required courses. Students with an interest in combining employer-side labor relations with human resource management are encouraged to take up to three electives from the MHRM program.
By choosing electives wisely, students can create a program that meets their own individual needs. The following are examples of the specializations possible:
Diversity and Workplace Inclusion Specialization
In addition to the required course in Employment Law, potential classes include:
- The Inclusive Workplace (online class)
- Immigration, Public Policy, and Worker Rights
- Women and Work
- Seminar in Minorities and Work
- Disability, Work, and Society (taken for graduate credit)
- Latino Workers in the United States (taken for graduate credit)
- Asian American Workers in Global Context (taken for graduate credit)
Organizational Leadership and Change Specialization
Potential classes include:
- Organizational Leadership and Change Management
- Organizational Design and Structure
- Group Process and Team Dynamics
- Conflict Resolution in the Workplace
- Globalization, Corporate Restructuring, and Employment
- Creating and Sustaining a Learning Organization
Labor Relations Specialization (Employer or Employee Representative)
In addition to the required course in Collective Bargaining, potential classes include:
- Labor Law
- Public Sector Employment Issues
- Conflict Resolution in the Workplace
- Strategic Corporate and Industry Research
- Negotiation
- Seminar in International/Comparative Labor and Employment Relations
Labor and Community Leadership Specialization
Potential classes include:
- Enforcing Worker Rights
- Organizing for Social Change
- Immigration, Public Policy, and Worker Rights
- Globalization, Corporate Restructuring, and Employment
- Organizational Leadership and Change Management
- Public Policy Advocacy (taken in Public Policy School)
With our degree, you might:
- Manage employment relations for employers
- Build a career as a union professional
- Specialize in diversity, globalization, or other hot topics
- Get a great job in a government agency like the NLRB
- Lead a community or non-profit organization
- Combine labor relations with human resources
- Manage people well in many types of organizations
