Nida Kadayifci

Nida Kadayifci

S.J.D. Candidate

nkadayifci at sjd.law.harvard.edu

Dissertation

Employer-Based Statutory Eligibility Thresholds in U.S. Employment & Labor Law and The Path to Change ‘Who’s Left Behind?’

In the United States, several of the most important workplace entitlements are only available to employees who meet statutory eligibility requirements based on the employer’s size, sector, turnover, and work hours. My S.J.D. dissertation investigates these thresholds that depend on employers’ business practices by asking: Why did key U.S. federal labor and employment statutes adopt employer-based eligibility thresholds, and are they justified?

The research project focuses on the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (CRA), Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), and Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHAct). I have two stages and goals. First, unpacking the compromise, historical purposes, and the impact of the thresholds descriptively. A particular attention will be paid to the numbers and demographics of workers excluded due to the employer size thresholds. Second, evaluating the contemporary implications normatively based on the theory of rights discourse and multiple foundations of labor and employment law. Ultimately, my aim is to show the diminished justifications and undesirability of the thresholds rigorously to open the path to change ‘who’s left behind’.

Fields of Research and Supervisors

  • Employment & Labor Law with Professor Benjamin I. Sachs, Harvard Law School, Principal Faculty Supervisor
  • Labor History and the Law with Professor Laura Weinrib, Harvard Law School
  • Theory of Rights with Professor Kenneth W. Mack, Harvard Law School

Additional Research Interests

  • Human Rights at Work
  • Labor Migration
  • Comparative Equality Law
  • Law and Social Change
  • Alternative Dispute Resolution

Education

  • Harvard Law School, S.J.D. Candidate 2023 – Present
  • Harvard Law School, LL.M. 2022-2023 (requirements fulfilled, degree waived)
  • University of Oxford, U.K., B.C.L. (Distinction), 2021-2022
  • University College London, U.K., LL.B. (First Class Hons.), 2018-2021

Academic Appointments and Fellowships

  • Harvard Law School, 2024-2025, Graduate Program Fellow, LL.M. Paper Advisor
  • Harvard Law School, 2023-2025, Teaching Fellow for Business Negotiations
  • Harvard Law School, 2023-2024, Teaching Fellow for Law & Inequality Workshop
  • Harvard Law School, 2023-2024, Graduate Program Fellow, LL.M. Advisor
  • Harvard Law School, 2022-2023, David and Jane Shapiro Fellowship
  • University College London, 2020 & 2021, Tutor (Laws’ Connections)
  • University College London, 2018, Denys Holland Scholar

Representative Publications

“Who’s Left Behind by Unpaid Leave” (December 2022) OnLabor.

“Peace Begins with Mediation – Mediating the Russia-Ukraine conflict” (March 2022) Oxford Business Law Blog.

Additional Information

Languages: English, Turkish, French (basic)

Last Updated: July 31, 2023