- An entrepreneur needs to feel comfortable dismissing staff when the company requires it, especially after completing documented and proper negotiations with the trade union, without ending up in court, says Michael Jensen from the Labour Law Firm MBL 11, who represented the company.
- We have seen a lot of companies get hit with invalidation of terminations due to a redundancy of work. Oftentimes it’s a way to pressure the employer to pay them money, and many employers feel the need to pay their way out of a long and costly process, even though they know that they’re in the right. In this case, the employee was in service for 5 months and 18 days while the court case was finished 26 months later.
- I want to point out that after the local negotiation, the union did not pursue this dispute, but the employee himself chose to do so with his own paid representative. There is an imbalance in the power relationship between an employee and an entrepreneur when an employee invalidates a termination, that must not be the case. Sweden needs entrepreneurs who are willing to invest, try new things and hire, it creates prosperity for all of us.
About invalidation
The purpose of invalidating a termination is to allow the employee to keep his job with the support of a court decision. It normally takes the practical meaning that the dismissed person keeps his salary throughout the dispute without the obligation to pay back the salary if the employee loses. The workplace then has the only countermeasure to put the employee to work, which can be difficult especially if it is the case that the dismissal is due to the organization needing to remove services.
From the first of October 2022, the Employment Protection Act has been slightly changed in the employer’s favor regarding invalidation.
Background
Valvent AB carried out and concluded redundancy negotiations in agreement with the union on March 11, 2020, after which the employee was dismissed due to labor redundancy.
Valvent AB was sued in Gävle District Court on May 11, 2020, Case No. T 1549-20.
Valvent AB appealed the part of the judgment they were not satisfied with 9 June 2020 Case No. B 77/21.
The Labor Court announced its ruling on February 2, 2022.