Arbetsledningsrätt och arbetsskyldighet : en komparativ studie av kvalitativ flexibilitet i svensk, engelsk och tysk kontext

Sammanfattning: The general aim of this doctoral thesis is to study the legal regulation of the managerial prerogative and how it relates to the employee’s obligation to work in Swedish, English and German law in the light of the increasing flexibilisation of working life. The ongoing flexibilisation of working life is often described as an increase in adaptability and allocative flexibility, and as a shift from traditional to atypical employment. The aim of functional flexibility, which is the main focus of this study, is to vary the content of work in relation to the changing demands of production. In order to achieve functional flexibility the employer can broaden job descriptions and the obligation to work in general, and invest in training and education. This study provides a legal dogmatic and comparative description and analysis of questions regarding the employer’s right to direct and allocate work (including the employer’s right to transfer employees and assign them new and different tasks), the industrial relations model and rules regarding information, consultation and co-determination, the employee’s obligation to work and the employer’s possibilities to achieve a variation in the employee’s obligation to work. Furthermore, the development towards a more general requirement for objective grounds with regard to decision-making in the area of the direction and allocation of work is discussed. The research approach is wide and multidisciplinary, and the aim of the study is to analyse the development and functionality of the law in relation to the flexibilisation of working life.