This page was last updated on:
2023-12-29
Frihet att gå med i och skapa en förening
The individual employee and employer are granted the right to join and become members of associations, and to engage in activities through these associations without hindrance from the other side. Employees are entitled to establish, belong to and participate in trade unions ("employees' organisations") and to exercise union membership rights. Employers must not subject employees to detriment for exercising their right of association, or induce them not to exercise it.
The Right of Association is also protected under the Instrument of Government.
If an employer takes action against an employee as a result of his or her membership or activity in a trade union, he/she is liable for damages. The right of association may not be infringed. Employers' and employees' organisations shall be obliged to seek to prevent their members from taking any action that would infringe the right of association. Where a member has taken such action, the organisation shall be obliged to attempt to persuade him to cease such action. The employer must not prevent trade union representatives from performing their duties. It must provide them with premises at the workplace and reasonable paid time off to perform their duties (which must be scheduled so as not to cause any significant impediment to the proper performance of the representatives' work), plus unpaid leave to carry out related activities.
Source: §1 of the Chapter 2 of the Constitution (the Instrument of Government); Trade Union Representatives (Status at the Workplace) Act No. 348 of 1974; §7-9 of Employment (Co-Determination in the Workplace) Act No. 580 of 1976
Rätt till kollektivavtal
A collective agreement is defined by the Co-determination Act as an agreement in writing between an employers' organisation or an employer and a trade union in respect of conditions of employment or other aspects of the employment relationship.
Collective agreements are binding only on the signatories and on their members in the case of employers' organizations and trade unions as there is no system for declaring collective agreements binding on employers or employees that are not members of signatory organizations.
Collective agreements play the key role in regulation of the employment relationship in Sweden. In many areas, including working time; rest breaks and periods; annual leave; information and consultation; and notice period agreements are permitted by law to deviate from what is provided under the legislation.
Source: §23-40 of the Employment (Co-Determination in the Workplace) Act No. 580 of 1976
Strejkrätt
In accordance with article 14 of the Swedish Constitution (Instrument of Government), A trade union or an employer or employers' association is entitled to take industrial action unless otherwise provided in an act of law or under an agreement.
A general statutory labour stability or peace obligation applies during the term of a collective agreement. It is unlawful for employees and employers bound by a collective agreement to initiate or participate in a strike, lock-out, blockade/picketing, boycott or comparable industrial action with the aim of: exerting pressure in a dispute over the validity, existence or correct interpretation of the agreement, or about whether or not a particular action is contrary to the agreement; bringing about an amendment to the agreement; introducing a provision that would enter into force after termination of the agreement; or supporting another party that is not permitted to take industrial action. However, the above prohibition does not prevent employees from taking part in a blockade duly ordered by an employees' association for the purpose of exacting payment of pay or any other remuneration for work that has been performed that is clearly due.
When an employers’ organisation or an employers’ organisation intends to implement industrial action or to extend pending industrial action, it shall give written notice to the other party and the Mediator Office at least seven working days in advance.
An employer may not, as an industrial action or as a part of an industrial action or as a consequence of employee participation in a strike or other industrial action, withhold pay or other remuneration for work that has been performed and which is due and payable.
source: §41 onwards of Employment (Co-Determination in the Workplace) Act No. 580 of 1976
