Newsletter

Subscribe to the latest news from the Nordic Labour Journal by e-mail. The newsletter is issued 9 times a year. Subscription is free of charge.

(Required)
You are here: Home i Topics i Labour Law

Labour Law

EU directive gives Nordic platform workers new hope

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Nordics split as EU minimum wage proposal delayed

Nordics split as EU minimum wage proposal delayed

(Apr 25, 2022) Is time almost up for the proposed European minimum wage? Much is pointing in that direction. The war in Ukraine and the French presidential election has put breaks on the issue. And there is still great disagreement within the EU.

Another yellow card from Sweden – against platform work proposal

(Mar 25, 2022) The European Commission has yet again presented a proposal that puts the Swedish labour market model at risk. That is the view of the Swedish parliament, which has decided to hand out a so-called yellow card against the proposed directive for better working conditions in platform work, presented in December. The strains from Denmark and Finland are more positive.

Will the ILO elect its first female Director-General?

Will the ILO elect its first female Director-General?

(Mar 25, 2022) On 25 March, the International Labour Organisation, ILO, will elect a new Director-General. There are five candidates, two of whom are women – Kang Kyung-wha from South Korea and Muriel Pénicaud from France. Both are former government ministers.

Sweden: most casual jobs and lowest work protection

Sweden: most casual jobs and lowest work protection

(Jan 28, 2022) Sweden has the highest unemployment levels among the Nordics, and also more casual jobs and lower employment protection levels for those on temporary contracts. An award-winning dissertation shows the consequences deregulation has had for people without permanent employment.

Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson: Planned to be a sheep farmer, now Iceland's labour minister

Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson: Planned to be a sheep farmer, now Iceland's labour minister

(Dec 07, 2021) A new government in Iceland was announced on 28 November, over two months after the parliamentary elections. The new labour minister is Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson from the Left-Green Movement.

Platform work challenges the Nordic model

Platform work challenges the Nordic model

(Dec 07, 2021) Should we be adding a third labour market category in addition to employer and employee? As the Nordic labour ministers met in Helsinki between 22 and 23 November, much of the discussion centred on platform work and the challenges this presents for the Nordic model.

Document Actions

Searchterm

Labour Law in Scandinavian

Danish: arbejdsret

Norwegian: arbeidsrett

Swedish: arbetsrätt

Labour Law in focus:
This is themeComment