What are the prospects for research in the area of labour law in the 1980s? This article argues that the main concern of research should be with legislative intervention in labour relations and should address itself to two inter-related questions: what lies behind the legislation? and how does the legislation function? We make some suggestions about the methodologies and theoretical perspectives of this research.The urgent need to focus upon legislation requires little justification in view of the fundamental changes in the content of labour law in the last 17 years, particularly since 1971.