New Case Law – Whether a company was under a duty to negotiate and, if so, whether it initiated negotiations in a timely manner (AD 2026 No. 48)

A company that operates department stores hired temporary workers from a staffing agency for three days to handle an unexpected and unusually large shipment of goods. The parties agree that the situation required urgent action and that it was appropriate to engage a staffing agency. The main issues in dispute have been whether the company was obligated to negotiate in the situation at hand and, if so, whether the company initiated negotiations in a timely manner. The Labor Court has found that the company was not obligated to negotiate under Section 11 of the Co-determination Act, but that the company had an obligation to initiate primary negotiations under Section 38 of the Co-determination Act. The company has claimed that it made a request for negotiations after hiring the temporary workers, but in the Labor Court’s assessment, the contacts that took place cannot be construed as the company having initiated negotiations at that time. The company has thus violated its obligation to negotiate under Section 38 of the Co-determination Act and is liable to pay damages to the union.

Read more here (Swedish).