Derogability From Swedish Statutory Labour Law

The possibility for the social partners to derogate from statutory legislation in the area of labour and employment law is an important characteristic of the so-called “Swedish model” for industrial relations and labour market regulation. With a system built on collective bargaining and collective agreements, and where legislation in the labour law area was rather scarce until the 1970s, freedom for the social partners is a core element. The possibility to derogate from certain parts of statutory labour law by collective agreements also gives room to adapt rules for different kinds of businesses and trades. Sweden is a member of the European Union, and EU directives have, to a certain extent, circumscribed the possibilities to derogate when the issue is regulated by a directive. An example is the Swedish Working Time Act, which traditionally can be derogated in its totality in collective agreements, but the social partners nowadays must respect the rules in the EU Directive 2003/88/EC on Working Time when they regulate working time in collective agreements.