Employment Newsletter

NOVEMBER 2024

New provisions on work environment within building and civil engineering work

The Swedish Work Environment Authority has developed a completely new general regulatory structure that will enter into force on 1 January 2025.The regulatory reform aims to make it easier to find, understand and use the Swedish Work Environment Authority's regulations. 67 regulations have now become 15 and other changes has been made, such as making the language easier to understand, the format has been digitalised and the responsibility for each role has been clarified.

All organisations, regardless of sector, need to review their internal documentation on the work environment and possibly update it based on the new structure. The Swedish Work Environment Authority has accessible tools for the new structure on its website, see Paragrafnyckel - Arbetsmiljöverket.

The new developed rules apply to each subject (person or corporation) who commissioning building or civil engineering works (Sw. Byggherre), designers, building work environment coordinators and manufacturers of prefabricated buildings and installations. The new rules include, among other things, that all operators must adapt their health and safety management to the size, complexity and risk level of the construction project and, in cases where there are temporary and interlocking structures, ensure that the work is supervised by a person with specific expertise on the structure to ensure its safety. 

There are also new rules for specific operators. Please find below a few examples in this regard;

• The party commissioning building or civil engineering work must monitor the construction time schedule to ensure that there is sufficient time to prevent accidents and ill health.
• The building work environment coordinator for the planning and design of the work (Sw. Bas-P) will have to check that the designers have procedures for their work environment management and follow up how they prevent work environment risks that may arise in the construction project.
• The building work environment coordinator for the performance of the work (Sw. Bas-U) shall request information on occupational health and safety risks with measures from the contractors to authorise the start of their work.
• Manufacturers of prefabricated buildings and installations shall monitor the assembly work to check that the buildings or installations can be assembled safely.

It will be important for those who conduct activities that are affected by the rules for building or civil engineering work or have the role of one of the operators affected by the rules, to update and ensure an understanding of the new rules. 

A Revised EWC Directive: What does it mean for multinational companies?

A revision of the European Works Council (EWC) Directive is imminent, with changes expected by 2025. Multinational companies with well-functioning EWCs could soon face stricter regulations, increased administrative burdens, and broader scope requirements that may affect decision-making processes. The European Parliament’s proposal includes expanding the definition of “transnational” issues and introducing new sanctions, which could disrupt established social dialogue and impact company competitiveness.

As negotiations between the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council continue, companies must stay informed to prepare for the likely implementation of these changes. How will these developments influence your company's EWC practice? Now is the time to assess the potential impact.

Read the full article here

Trade sectrets

In conclusion, we would like to shed some light on the topic of trade secrets, which was covered in the last edition of MAQSAD Arbetsplats. We are frequently asked how to best protect an organisation's trade secrets. Below is a summary of information on what is important to consider in order to achieve protection of your organisation's trade secrets.

There are various intellectual property rights that protect different aspects of a company's assets, such as names, logos, technical solutions, images and texts. However, some assets can be difficult to protect with the intellectual property rights, even though they can be of great value to the company. Commercial information that is valuable can therefore, under certain conditions, be protected under the Trade Secrets Act.
Obtaining protection for trade secrets under the Trade Secrets Act can be difficult, partly because the Act imposes specific requirements on the type of information that can constitute a trade secret.

Companies that want to protect trade secret information in their business must start by identifying  information that is business-critical. One of the prerequisites for protecting the information is that the company takes active steps to keep the information secret. As part of this obligation, it is important to review how employees deal with confidential information.

Therefore, consider that it may be useful to;

• restrict access to trade secret information; only those employees who need to have the information in their job should have access to it
• inform employees of the importance of not disclosing the information to unauthorised persons,
• regulate in contracts and policies how employees may deal with confidential information,
• establish procedures for reconciliation with employees when they terminate their employment, whether at the employee's own initiative or at the company's initiative. 

In summary, the Trade Secrets Act can protect business-critical information in the company's operations, but it requires that the company has taken concrete measures to protect the information.

Keep in mind that it is important to act quickly if there is a suspicion of irregularities regarding trade secret information. It is also important in such a case to launch an independent internal investigation, take concrete action and secure evidence properly.

Want to know more?

If your organisation will be subject to the new provisions on work environment within building or civil engineering work that will come into force in January 2025, you will need to be prepared to carry out proper risk assessments and to educate the relevant staff in time.

If you work in a multinational organisation that has a European Works Council (EWC) or is in the process of setting up an EWC, we strongly recommend that you familiarize yourself with the ongoing legislative work in Brussels, which will result in a revised EWC directive in this area in 2025.

Issues surrounding trade secrets are constantly a hot topic and there are always new court cases that test non-competition clauses, non-solicitation restrictions, breach of duty of loyalty and confidentiality clauses in various forms. It is important to be vigilant and secure the company's intellectual property and trade secrets in the best possible way. We will be happy to assist you with concrete tips and solutions.

Feel free to contact our labour law experts at MAQS Advokatbyrå and we will tell you more about the above topics or other labour law issues.

We would like to take this opportunity to mention that we are in the process of planning the next event in our labour law seminar series MAQSAD Arbetsplats, which will take place in the spring of 2025. More information will follow, and you are welcome to contact us if there is any topic you would like us to highlight!

CONTACT