| Tittel: | Seniority in a comparative perspective | | Ansvar: | Birgitta Nyström, Bernard Johann Mulder og Monika Schlachter | | Forfatter: | Nyström, Birgitta  / Mulder, Bernard Johann / Schlachter, Monika | | Materialtype: | Artikkel - elektronisk | | Signatur: | Arbeidsrett | | Utgitt: | Oslo : Universitetsforlaget, 2020 | | Omfang: | S. 114-151 | | Serie: | Arbeidsrett ; 2/2020 | | Emneord: | Arbeidsrett / Arbeidsvilkår / Eldre mennesker / Komparativ rett / Likebehandling / Oppsigelser | | Geografiske emneord: | Norge / Sverige / Tyskland | | Innhold: | The employee’s employment time with the employer (seniority) is of importance in several aspects in labour law. For example, longer time of employment usually entail longer notice period. Different employment benefits are sometimes acquired after a certain time of employment.
In Swedish labour law, seniority plays a paramount role when setting up a priority list because of redundancy due to shortage of work, since there is a statutory provision on ‘last in–first out’. This provision is probably the most controversial provision in Swedish labour law. In an international perspective, this kind of provision is unusual. Nevertheless, seniority as such is considered in situations of redundancy due to shortage of work also in other countries. In Norway, no statutory provision on seniority exists. Despite this, it follows from collective agreements and case law that an employer has to consider employees’ period of service. Time of employment is, however, only one of several criteria that shall be considered. Similarly, in Germany seniority can become a relevant criterion for dismissals on operational requirements, but there is no statutory provision that could be described as a seniority rule. Instead, technically complex dismissal rules exists, aiming at judging each case on in its individual merits while all aspects of the concrete situation relevant for the employee concerned must be taken into consideration.
In this article, we intend to briefly present the Swedish, Norwegian and German regulation on seniority as criteria for dismissal and how it is used in practice. We also discuss the reasons whether or not seniority should be considered.
Keywords: seniority, dismissal, redundancy, last in–first out, priority list, comparative law | | Del av verk: | Arbeidsrett 2/2020 |
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