Labour Law — Nordic Labour Journal

Swedish strip club challenges ban on night work

(Oct 22, 2024) Should the employees at the strip club Club Heartbeat be allowed to work all night? No, says the Swedish Work Environment Authority. Yes, says the club’s owner, referring to a new collective agreement that allows exceptions to the Working Hours Act.

Nordic governments' sigh of relief as collective bargaining rights still intact

(Oct 19, 2024) Pilots and cabin crew do not perform work of equal value, thus it is not discriminatory when pilots receive higher travel allowances. This was the somewhat anticlimactic ruling from the EU Court of Justice in a case that Sweden and Denmark feared would set a precedent that could threaten the right to free collective bargaining. That did not happen this time.

Norway doing construction in a more orderly way, but EU temping rules might stop it

(Sep 19, 2024) When Oslo’s new government quarter is constructed, it is done with workers who have regulated wages and working conditions. This is ensured, among other things, by the controversial hiring ban.

Tight Nordic-Baltic cooperation against work-related crime

(Sep 19, 2024) Work-related crime is a growing problem that requires cross-border collaboration between state authorities and countries. For several years, a Nordic-Baltic collaboration on work-related crime has been in place. In January 2025, it will be formalised on the initiative of the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Denmark cracks down on social dumping and money laundering

(Sep 19, 2024) Danish authorities have introduced tighter legislation and lawsuits to stop cooperation between gangs and lawyers in cases of money laundering and social dumping.

EEA report reignites Norway’s EU debate

(Apr 29, 2024) It is nearly 30 years since Norwegians voted no to EU membership and also 30 years since Norway signed the EEA agreement. A new report on Norway in the EEA has reignited the debate about Norwegian EU membership.

EU directive gives Nordic platform workers new hope

(Mar 25, 2024) The EU platform work directive is in place at last. It should help platform workers in the Nordic EU countries who work for companies like Foodora and Wolt to secure decent working conditions. In Norway, this was solved at the start of this year through a change to the working environment act.

Unexpected delay of the EU platform directive

(Feb 29, 2024) There is a race against time to land the EU directive on platform work. In December, it looked like the issue was being solved, but then nearly half of the member states’ governments gave it a thumbs-down, including the Finnish and Swedish ones.

The Tesla strike – a fight for the Swedish model

(Dec 06, 2023) A drama is taking place in the Swedish labour market. The trade union IF Metall is taking industrial action to get EV maker Tesla to sign a collective agreement. Elon Musk, one of the world’s richest people and Tesla’s main shareholder, refuses. After many sympathy actions from other trade unions, he is taking the Swedish state to court.

Nordic bus industry associations take fight to the EU

(Dec 06, 2023) Abandon the lawsuit against Denmark and instead ensure that the EU establishes clear rules preventing bus companies from low-wage countries from engaging in social dumping in the Nordic region. This is the message in a letter to the European Commission from the bus industry associations in Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.

Finland’s new government wants major changes to labour law

(Sep 26, 2023) A new centre-right government started governing in Finland on 20 June after winning April’s elections, and there is now talk of an historic paradigm change. Petteri Orpo’s four party coalition wants to make major changes in the labour market.

EU questions whether Sweden follows the working time directive

(May 30, 2023) Does Sweden really have to ban 24-hour shifts? This has been hotly debated lately, with angry firemen taking to the streets to be allowed to continue to work for a whole day and night in a stretch.

Norway tightens rules on hired labour

(May 30, 2023) Norway is tightening the rules on hired labour. Trade unions are cheering while staffing agencies rage and have reported Norway to ESA for being in breach of the EEA agreement.

Four new Nordic labour ministers – and their challenges

(Jan 19, 2023) In 2022, both Norway, Sweden and Denmark got new labour ministers. Here is your chance to get to know them better.

Denmark takes minimum wage directive to the EU Court

(Jan 19, 2023) Denmark and Sweden will go separate ways after the EU directive on adequate minimum wages has been adopted.

The labour ministers consider collective agreements' position in the Nordics

(Nov 29, 2022) The Nordic governments should introduce a new kind of support where employers who sign up to collective agreements pay lower employer taxes for their employees. That was what Fafo researcher Jon Erik Dølvik proposed when he presented a report about collective agreements in the Nordics during the Nordic labour ministers’ meeting.

Nordic nuances regarding whistleblowers and paternity leave

(Aug 18, 2022) Nordic citizens have many rights that can seem nearly utopian to people elsewhere in the world. But in certain areas, there are surprisingly large differences also between Nordic countries. Paternity leave is one example.

Dads on equal footing with mums in Denmark’s new parental leave law

(Aug 18, 2022) More gender equality in the labour market and more fathers on leave with small children. This is what Danish families can now look forward to after the government has given fathers nine extra weeks of earmarked paternity leave.

Sweden lands new landmark main agreement

(Aug 18, 2022) Finally, the large labour law reform which has been called a structural shift for the Swedish model is in place. LO, PTK Council for Negotiation and Cooperation and the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise have signed the new basic agreement on “security, transition and employment protection”.

After a couple of yellow cards – EU agreement on Swedish startup jobs

(May 26, 2022) Sweden will be able to spend 404 million euro in state support for so-called etableringsjobb – or entry jobs – for newly arrived and long-term unemployed people. That is now clear as the European Commission has approved a completely new model for encouraging companies to hire people who find it particularly hard to access the Swedish labour market.