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.
Sweden: Health monitoring of workers affected by restructuring
Phase
Provisions of the Swedish Work Environment Authority on Systematic Work Environment Management (AFS 2001:1)
Native name
Arbetsmiljöverkets föreskrifter (AFS 2001:1) om systematiskt miljöarbete
Type
Health monitoring of workers affected by restructuring
Added to database
08 May 2015
Article
8
Description
Employers must assess whether any planned restructuring entails risks of ill-health (including psycho-social health), or accidents which may need to be remedied.
The health of both redundant employees and those staying in the company must be monitored in accordance with the provisions.
The risk assessment shall be documented in writing and indicate what risks are present and whether or not they are serious.
The employer is obliged to carry out follow-ups of the performed risk assessment.
The employer shall give the employees, trade unions and safety delegates the possibility of participating in the systematic work environment management (including the aforementioned assessments in connection to the restructuring process).
Commentary
The Work Environment Authority has published videos explaining how to make risk assessments. Prevent, an organisation providing of knowledge and training in the field of Health and Safety owned jointly by the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and The Swedish Trade Union Confederation, provides templates and check lists.
Additional metadata
Cost covered by
Employer
Involved actors other than national government
Trade union
Other
Involvement (others)
Safety delegates
Thresholds
Affected employees: No, applicable in all circumstances Company size: No, applicable in all circumstances Additional information: No, applicable in all circumstances
Sources
DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities/Héra, Selected companies’ legal obligations regarding restructuring, 2011
Eurofound (2015), Sweden: Health monitoring of workers affected by restructuring, Restructuring legislation database, Dublin,
https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/legislationdb/health-monitoring-of-workers-affected-by-restructuring/sweden
This Eurofound research paper explores key trends in restructuring in recent years, highlighting the companies that announced the largest job losses and job gains in the EU. It builds on an analysis of company announcements recorded in Eurofound’s European Restructuring Monitor (ERM), alongside a new classification of restructuring events involving changes in company location.
Employers increasingly use tools such as email, SMS and messaging apps like WhatsApp or Signal to communicate with employees. While these technologies offer both efficiency and convenience, their use in communicating sensitive information, particularly for notifying employees of dismissal, raises legal concerns. This article explores the legal framework on dismissals across the EU, with a special focus on the use of digital means for communicating employment dismissals. Drawing on examples from various Member States, it examines the legal validity of digital dismissals.
In 2023, thousands of workers in big tech lost their jobs. Meta, Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft and Salesforce had been considered to offer good and secure jobs up to this point. Giants of the information and communication technology (ICT) sector, these companies are among the highest paying, with Eurostat data from 2022 indicating that workers in ICT had the second-highest median gross hourly earnings (surpassed only by earnings in the financial sector).[1] These layoffs were a shock, especially as the biggest companies had hired extensively during the COVID-19 pandemic. What happened in the two years after this redundancy wave – was that the end of the cuts or did the companies start expanding again?
In 2024, the automotive sector in the EU came to the fore in public and policy discussions. The focus was on the slowdown in electric vehicle (EV) sales, rising global competition, belated investments in new technologies, and the potential closure of production lines in Europe. A number of European car manufacturers and suppliers announced their intention to make large-scale redundancies and change long-standing collective agreements on job security and wages, while workers raised concerns amid demonstrations and industrial action.