Press release 08 October 2009
Ministry of Employment

Measures with reference to the Laval judgment

The Government today made a decision on a proposal to be referred to the Council on Legislation concerning measures in response to the European Court of Justice judgment in the Laval case.

"I am glad that we have found a solution that combines the Swedish labour market model with existing Community law in a well-balanced way. It is possible to retain the Swedish model while respecting Community law. We do not need to introduce a statutory minimum wage or extend collective agreements to be generally applicable. Swedish collective agreements constitute the standard regulation of conditions of employment for posted workers," says Minister for Employment Sven Otto Littorin in response to the Government´s decision on the proposal to the Council on Legislation.

The proposal to the Council on Legislation is based on the Laval report that was submitted to the Government on 12 December 2008. The proposed measures mean that certain conditions must be met before trade unions may take industrial action to bring about a collective agreement with a foreign company that posts workers to Sweden. The proposal also means that the Swedish Work Environment Authority must provide information on Swedish collective agreements that may be applicable when posting workers to Sweden.

The new conditions for industrial action mean that the terms of collective agreements over which trade unions take industrial action must be taken from a Swedish central industry-wide agreement and may only regulate certain areas - such as pay, working hours and holidays. The trade unions must also take into consideration that the posted workers may already work on terms that meet Swedish standards, for example under a foreign collective agreement.

It is proposed that the amendments to the legislation should enter into force on 1 April 2010.