Redundancy and the Swedish Model in an International Context

In Swedish labour law, the dominant position of the employment perspective has resulted in a focus on the creation of protection against arbitrary dismissals and the reward for long and faithful service. In contrast to other industrialised countries, there is no financial protection in situations of redundancy (e.g. a statutory right to receive redundancy payment) and, in the main, employment transition has been left to the workings of the labour market policy. These topics instead are the subject of voluntary regulation by the social partners. Beginning in the early 1970s, a unique system of collective agreements on employment security has evolved on the Swedish labour market.

This study charts this system of collective agreements by examining its normative structures and relating these to the legal framework of redundancy in Sweden (the national context). This includes an in-depth analysis of the most influential accord, showing how its very basic stipulations are given content through application. In order to allow for an evaluative analysis, this Swedish contractual model is also compared to two foreign models of regulation, namely the Japanese Employment Stabilisation Fund system and the British redundancy payment legislation, which show diametrically different approaches to redundancy management (the international context).

Gabriella Sebardt is a researcher at the Stockholm University Department of Law. In addition to a Swedish Master of Laws Degree (Juris Kandidatexamen) from the same university, she holds a Master of Science in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). This work is her doctoral thesis.