Dismissal and Buyout: When They Want You to Leave Today – The Threshold, Deadlines, and What an Agreement Must Contain

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Dismissal and buyout often occur in the same meeting. First a threat of dismissal, then an offer to “resolve it smoothly.” It is a negotiation technique, not a legal necessity. The better you know where the threshold for dismissal lies, the more the buyout is worth – and the calmer you can say you will get back tomorrow.

Where the threshold for dismissal lies

The law states “grossly neglected their duties.” The Labour Court has filled it with content over forty years. What suffices is generally intentional or grossly negligent behavior that makes continued trust impossible:

• Theft and fraud against the employer, even of small amounts – cash discrepancies pocketed, falsified time reports, invoices to one's own company.
• Violence or serious threats against colleagues, managers, or customers.
• Gross disloyalty: competing business during employment, disclosure of trade secrets, deliberate sabotage.
• Serious sexual harassment or other gross violations.
• Clear and repeated refusal to work after clear instructions, when there are valid reasons for the order.
• Crimes outside work that directly damage trust in the position – a security guard convicted of theft, an accountant for embezzlement.

What does not suffice: a single mistake, poor performance, sick leave, cooperation problems, an angry comment, criticism of management, contacting the union or an authority, a social media post that is uncomfortable but not harmful. Such matters are at best grounds for termination, often not even that. A dismissal based on such grounds is likely unfounded and thus worth money for you.

Formalities

Formal errors do not invalidate the dismissal in themselves, but they provide damages and extend your deadlines. A dismissal without written instructions on how to proceed gives you one month from the termination of employment instead of two weeks (Section 40).

Contest: two weeks, and what you gain

What you can gain depends on how far the employer was from the threshold:

• Not even grounds for termination: the dismissal is declared invalid (Section 35). If the employer refuses to take you back: 16, 24, or 32 months' salary depending on the length of employment (Section 39), plus economic damages for lost wages during the process and general damages for the violation (Sections 38–38a).
• Grounds for termination but not for dismissal: the employment is terminated, but you receive economic damages equivalent to the salary during the notice period you would have had, plus general damages. Here too, the compensation after 2022 should be set to deter wrongful dismissals (Section 38a, second paragraph).
• Grounds for dismissal: nothing. But the burden of proof that what you did actually happened and was indeed serious lies with the employer.

To: [employer]
Subject: Dismissal on [date] – notification according to Section 40 of LAS

I received the notice of dismissal on [date].

I dispute that I have grossly neglected my duties and consider the dismissal invalid. I hereby notify the employer that I intend to claim invalidation of the dismissal (Sections 35 and 40 of LAS). I reserve the right to alternatively or additionally claim economic and general damages (Sections 38, 38a, and 41 of LAS).

I request that the employer provide in writing the circumstances cited as grounds for the dismissal (Section 19, third paragraph of LAS).

I further request final salary, outstanding vacation compensation, and an employer's certificate, and that the employer, upon the unemployment insurance fund's request, states that the validity of the employment is subject to dispute.

[Name, personal identification number, date]

The unemployment insurance fund after a dismissal

Anyone who has been “separated from their work due to improper conduct” is suspended from the unemployment insurance fund for 45 compensation days (Chapter 7, Section 4 of the Unemployment Insurance Act). The law makes exceptions when a termination by the employer is subject to court review or negotiation, and when the employment has ended through an agreement at the employer's initiative (Chapter 7, Section 5). Dismissal is not explicitly mentioned, but the unemployment insurance fund must itself assess whether you have acted improperly – and a contested dismissal where the union has requested negotiation is something entirely different from an acknowledged one. Send the dispute and negotiation request to the unemployment insurance fund along with your application, and request that the decision on suspension awaits the review. Register with the Employment Service on the first day of unemployment; without registration, no days are counted at all.

The buyout: what you are selling and what it should cost

A buyout – “agreement on the termination of employment” – is a contract. You refrain from questioning the end of the employment, often from all claims against the employer, and often from disclosing it. In return, you receive money. The employer offers it to avoid the risk of damages amounting to monthly salaries, the cost of a legal process, and the discomfort of explaining themselves. The price should therefore be set based on what the employer risks, not on what feels generous in the room.

Twelve points to check in the agreement

Bankruptcy and wage guarantee

If the employer goes bankrupt, you are terminated by the bankruptcy trustee. Unpaid wages for the period before bankruptcy (three months back) and wages during the notice period according to LAS are compensated through the state wage guarantee, up to four price base amounts (Wage Guarantee Act). The trustee decides; the Enforcement Authority and the County Administrative Board handle the payment. Register with the Employment Service immediately as the wage guarantee for the notice period requires you to be available to the labor market. A buyout agreement entered into just before bankruptcy may be refused by the trustee.

Sources

• LAS 18–20 §§ dismissal; 30 § notification; 35, 38–39 §§ invalidity and damages; 40–41 §§ deadlines
• Contracts Act (1915:218) 28–33 and 36 §§
• Unemployment Insurance Act (2024:506) Chapter 7, 4–5 §§
• Wage Guarantee Act (1992:497)
• Kronofogden: state wage guarantee
• Labour Court

The guide is general information about applicable rules, not advice for your case. Collective agreements may deviate from the law on several points. Legal status checked on 25 September 2026.

For those reading under stress

The guide is intended as support when you already have a lot on your mind. You do not need to read everything at once: start with the section that matches where you are today and return when the next step becomes relevant.

Matters with authorities rarely improve if you handle everything alone. Ask for help from a support person, lawyer, or relative if you can – especially before decisions with long-term effects.

Common mistakes that make the case more difficult

• Relying only on verbal promises without brief written confirmation or follow-up email.
• Waiting to request documents until the conflict is already locked – then it becomes harder to show what was said.
• Writing so long and emotionally that the authority stops responding to the substantive issue.
• Missing deadlines for reconsideration or appeal because the decision was not read verbatim.

Mini-checklist before you leave the guide

1. Do I have the date, diary/case number, and name of the person handling it (if you know)?
2. Do I know what the next step is: respond, request, remind, appeal, or report?
3. Have I saved emails and attachments in a place where I can find them in a week?