As far as methodology is concerned, the TFM consists fundamentally of the elaboration of a document under the supervision of a director, who will be a lecturer in the area of Labour Law and Social Security at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. When preparing the work and consulting sources of knowledge, the student should bear in mind that the TFM requires a total dedication of 150 working hours.

From a chronological perspective, the following phases should be noted:

1. Interview with the coordinator to identify the title of the TFM. At the end of November the students will have to specify the topic to be addressed and will be assigned director.

2. Face-to-face session on TFM methodological guidelines. It will serve as a guide before the first interview with each Director of TFM.

3. Carrying out the TFM under the supervision of the director. This phase will take place between 15 February and 15 June and will include a minimum of 4 compulsory face-to-face interviews, linked to partial deliveries of the TFM, apart from contacts that can be maintained by telematic means. The objectives of these interviews and the linked deliveries will be as follows:

3.1. First interview: delimitation of the subject matter to be dealt with, the aspects or questions to be analysed, the sources of information to be used and the timetable for implementation.

During the fifteen days following this first interview, the director must be given a proposal for a title, a proposal for an index and a list of the bibliography to be consulted. This proposal will be validated in its entirety or with amendments by the director during the week following its reception, by telematic or face-to-face means, depending on the specific needs of each case.

3.2. Second interview: revision of the first issue of the TFM, with formulation of corrections, indications and proposals for improvement.

3.3. Third interview: review of the second issue of the TFM, with formulation of corrections, indications and proposals for improvement.

3.4. Fourth interview: revision of the final version of the TFM, with formulation, if appropriate, of proposals for improvement.

Maximum dates in which work deliveries must be made effective as well as the content of these and the time frame in which the interviews must take place,will be informed through the application: https://tfe.uab.cat/tfe2/. Non-compliance with two or more submissions and failure to appear for two or more interviews may result in a failing grade.

4. Delivery of the TFM. The work must be delivered before the date set by the coordination (orientatively, June 15) through the application: https://tfe.uab.cat/tfe2/.

5. Defence of the work. It will take place at the end of june or beginning july. The work will be evaluated by a Tribunal made up of three professors from the area of Labour Law and Social Security.

Strictly speaking, the methodology involves the preparation of a paper that tackles a specific subject in a critical perspective that can be framed within Labour Law and Social Security. The work must contain, at least, an index, an introduction, a chapter in which the analysis carried out is developed and, finally, conclusions in which the main results and reflections of the student are collected. Likewise, the TFM must contain a bibliographic annex in which the sources used are properly cited.

Beyond the indications that may be received from the director of the TFM, the student is obliged to consult and quote, at least, the bibliography and the jurisprudence indicated by the director, documentation that should appear in footnotes. In this respect, it is pointed out that in order to overcome the TFM it must contain at least twenty-five citations of doctrine and jurisprudence. The aim is to guarantee an adequate dedication to the work and conclusions of originality and substantiation appropriate to a university master's degree level.

As regards the dimensions and presentation of the work, the main text (notes and annexes in part) should contain between 15,000 and 18,000 words and should be presented in Arial 12 with an interlinear spacing of 1.5.

Students will be provided with a document with formal and methodological guidelines.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Once the dissertation has been submitted, the supervisor will issue a report on the development and outcome of the work.

The assessment will be carried out by a Committee composed of three lecturers from the field of Labour Law and Social Security Law. The Committee will be chaired by the Master's Dissertation supervisor. The other two members of the Committee will have read the dissertation in advance, which is why it is essential that the dissertation be submitted by the specified deadline.

A schedule indicating the date, time, and venue of the dissertation defense, together with the composition of the Committee responsible for assessing each dissertation, will be published sufficiently in advance.

The student will have a maximum of ten minutes to present the most relevant aspects of the Master's Dissertation. Following the presentation, the Committee may make any comments or observations it considers appropriate, after which the student will be given the opportunity to respond to or clarify any questions raised by the Committee.

The Committee will assess the quality of the oral presentation, the student's responses, and both the substantive and formal aspects of the written dissertation. In particular, the following criteria will be taken into consideration:

• Legal grounding, meaning that, beyond economic, sociological, or other considerations, the dissertation must focus on the analysis of legal rules and sources of legal knowledge, including specialized academic literature, case law, and judicial doctrine.
• Ability to synthesize information, with particular value being given to dissertations that comply with the maximum length indicated, provided that the minimum required length is also respected.
• Citation and use of the relevant literature, in accordance with the methodology guidelines set out above.

Original contribution, reflected throughout the dissertation and particularly in its conclusions. In this regard, the verbatim reproduction of texts—such as reports, scholarly articles, or commentaries—without a clear and direct reference to the original source is unacceptable. It should also be emphasized that the verbatim use of extracts from academic literature or case law without proper citation and without quotation marks will be considered plagiarism and will result in a failing grade.

Failure to comply with two or more of the required preliminary dissertation submissions will automatically result in a failing grade for the Master's Dissertation.

There is only one examination session for the defense of the Master's Dissertation.

USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI): Restricted use. For this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted exclusively for support tasks, such as bibliographic or information searches, proofreading, or translation. Students must clearly identify which parts of their work have been generated using AI technologies, specify the tools used, and include a critical reflection on how these technologies have influenced both the process and the final outcome of the assignment. Failure to disclose the use of AI in academic work will be considered a breach of academic integrity and may result in a partial or total reduction of the assignment grade, or more severe disciplinary measures in serious cases.