Jo Helme

Jo is a DPhil candidate in Labour Law, holding the Judge Meron Scholarship at Trinity College. She currently teaches Employment Law and was a Lecturer in Constitutional Law last year.

Her DPhil research examines the ‘humanisation of work principle’ and its application in today’s world of work, particularly the impact of algorithmic management on the organisation of working time. Separately to her DPhil, she has also published on the rise of internships for young people and the EU’s new draft rules on this growing, largely unregulated phenomenon.

Jo has presented her research at over 10 conferences, including the high-profile United Nations Regulating Decent Work conference in Geneva. She has co-authored a book on Austrian Labour Law and published two articles in the Industrial Law Journal. She was also a Visiting Researcher at the University of Buenos Aires in 2023 and won the Marco Biagi Award, issued by the International Association of Labour Law Journal, for best paper in 2024. 

Alongside her DPhil, Jo works as a consultant for the UN’s International Labour Organisation and undertakes freelance work supporting claims before the UK’s Employment Tribunals. Prior to starting her DPhil, Jo worked for two years in Italy, Austria and London, at an Employment Law Firm, an NGO and at the ILO.

Jo holds an MPhil in Development at the University of Cambridge, where she focused on the role of labour standards in economic policies. She won eight awards for her Law degree at the Universities of Nottingham and Vienna, including top performing student in Land, Employment, Public International, European Human Rights and Development Law. She attended state schools and is originally from Gloucestershire.

Publications: 

Joanna Helme, 'The Problems and Paradoxes with the EU’s Regulation of Traineeships: a Way Forward’ (2024) Industrial Law Journal dwae022. 

Joanna Helme, 'The Impact of Supreme Courts on the Development of Labour Law in Europe’ (2024) 53 Industrial Law Journal 2

Martin Gruber-Risak, Joanna Helme and Sascha Obrecht, Introduction to Austrian Labour Law (LexisNexis 2024).