European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
Eurofound's ERM database on restructuring-related legal regulations provides information on regulations in the Member States of the European Union and Norway which are explicitly or implicitly linked to anticipating and managing change.
Working Environment Act 2005, chapter 9
This chapter contains regulations setting limits and procedures for the application of control measures in undertakings. The employer may only implement control measures in relation to employees when such measures are objectively justified by circumstances relating to the undertaking and it does not involve undue strain on the employees (section 9-1). Such measures should be discussed with the employees' elected representatives as early as possible. The obligation to discuss covers both the needs, design, implementation and major changes (section 9-2).
Before a measure is implemented, the employer has a duty to inform the employees affected of the purpose of the control measure, practical consequences and duration. The measure should further be evaluated regularly (section 9-2).
Further, the chapter gives more detailed regulations in some areas. The employer is not allowed to request health information from persons applying for a position, exceeding information necessary for performing the job
The regulations are supplemented by the the EU regulation 2016/679 GDPR, and the regulations are partly overlapping. WEA chapter 9 mainly give regulations concerning what control measures that can be implemented, while the GDPR gives regulations on how data collected as part of these measures should be handled.
Research into the application of the regulations indicates problems when it comes to compliance with the regulations (Bråten et al. 2023). Among the companies that have safety delegates or union reps, 36 per cent indicate that safety delegates were involved in the decision-making phase in the procurement of new digital technology, while 34 per cent report that union reps were involved. Many of the businesses that involved union reps or safety delegates in the decision-making also involved them in the implementation. Meanwhile, almost half of the businesses indicate that they have not involved union reps or safety delegates in the process. Businesses’ reported practices in terms of involvement seem to differ considerably from the statutory provisions regarding the introduction of new technology.
There is broad agreement among the business leaders covered by this research that it is important to protect employees’ privacy when introducing digital technology. However, only 58 per cent have told employees what data is collected, and only 46 per cent have discussed the ramifications for privacy with safety delegates or union reps
Eurofound (2023), Norway: Algorithmic management, Restructuring legislation database, Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/legislationdb/algorithmic-management/norway
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