Reassignment: managerial authority, obligation before termination or disguised termination?

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Reassignment is the tool employers use when termination is too expensive, too uncertain, or too visible. Used correctly, it is legal and sometimes even in your favor – it can save the job in case of redundancy or illness. Used incorrectly, it is a way to make the job so bad that you resign yourself. The difference lies in three questions: is the new work within your duty to work, why is it happening, and what happens with salary, location, and percentage?

How far does your duty to work extend?

The employer leads and distributes the work. This means you can get new tasks, a new department, a new manager, and a new desk without anyone asking you, as long as the work is within your duty to work. It is determined by the employment contract, collective agreement, and practice. The rule of thumb from the Labour Court (the so-called 29/29 principle) is that you are obliged to perform work that is

• performed on behalf of the employer,
• has a natural connection to the business and falls within the scope of the collective agreement, and
• is within your general professional qualifications.

A nurse can be moved between departments but not made a janitor. A store salesperson can be placed in the warehouse but generally not in another company within the group. An employment contract that specifies a certain position or location limits the duty to work; a contract that states “tasks according to the employer's determination” expands it. Therefore, read your contract and the collective agreement before you say the move is illegal – and before you say it is legal.

Sauna bathing principle: acceptable reasons for significant reassignment

In 1978, an employee at a paper mill was reassigned to worse work after having taken a sauna during the night shift. The Labour Court (AD 1978 no. 89) established that a reassignment that occurs for personal reasons and that has particularly significant effects on salary, tasks, or employment conditions in general requires acceptable reasons – even if it formally lies within the duty to work. If the reasons are lacking, the reassignment can be declared invalid and result in damages.

The principle addresses the classic punitive transfer: you have a conflict with your boss, and the following week you are assigned tasks below your competence. The employer must be able to demonstrate that the reassignment has a legitimate purpose that holds – documented cooperation problems, operational needs that can be explained. "We think it's best this way" is not a reason.

Reassignment before termination – the obligation and the trap

A termination is not based on objective grounds if it is reasonable to require the employer to offer you other work instead (Section 7, second paragraph of LAS). The employer must therefore conduct a reassignment investigation: are there vacant positions throughout the entire operation – not just in your unit – for which you have sufficient qualifications, possibly after reasonable training? The obligation applies both in cases of redundancy and personal reasons. It does not apply if there is no vacant position; the employer is not required to create positions or terminate someone else.

Here lies the trap. A reassignment offer that is reasonable – a job you can handle, in a reasonable location, under the conditions applicable to that job – you can decline, but then the employer is considered to have fulfilled their obligation, and the termination generally holds. Since 2022, it also applies that if the employer has previously reassigned you for personal reasons, no new reassignment needs to be offered unless there are special reasons (Section 7, second paragraph, second sentence of LAS). This means: you normally get one chance.

Hyvling: reduced employment rate

Reducing employees' percentage instead of terminating – hyvling – was long unregulated. Since October 1, 2022, two rules apply. When the employer, during a reorganization, offers reassignment to the same job with a lower employment rate, seniority must be observed: the person with the shortest employment time is offered first, and lower percentages are offered before higher (Section 7 a of LAS). Those who accept have the right to transition time with retained employment rate and benefits, as long as the notice period, but no more than three months (Section 7 b of LAS). If you are offered a reduced percentage without the employer mentioning seniority or transition time: ask in writing.

Also remember that employment contracts are presumed to be for full-time (Section 4 a LAS). If you are employed part-time and wish to increase your hours, you have the right of precedence to a higher employment rate if you have reported it (Section 25 a), and the right to a written response with reasons within one month if you request a higher percentage (Section 6 h).

When the “relocation” is actually a termination

The consequence is important: if the relocation is a disguised termination, the deadlines in Section 40 LASapply. Two weeks to notify of invalidity, four months for damages. The clock starts when you receive the notice, not when you realize what it means. If you are unsure whether the measure is management or termination: send the notification anyway. It costs an email.

How to respond to the offer

To: [manager], cc: [HR], [union representative]
Subject: Offer of relocation on [date]

I have on [date] verbally/in writing received an offer of relocation to [position/tasks] at [location/unit].

To be able to take a position, I request in writing:
1. a complete description of the work tasks,
2. salary, employment rate, working hours, and start date,
3. the reasons for the relocation and whether it is according to Section 7, second paragraph LAS (before termination) or as management,
4. which other vacant positions were available when the relocation investigation was conducted,
5. if the offer involves a reduced employment rate: how the order of priority according to Section 7 a LAS has been applied and what transition period according to Section 7 b applies.

I will return with a decision no later than [date, at least one week] after I have received the information and consulted with my union organization. Until then, my lack of response should not be interpreted as rejecting the offer.

[Name]

Is the reassignment related to illness and Försäkringskassan: if the work is not functioning. Is it actually a pattern of exclusion: offensive treatment. Does the next document come as a termination: termination.

Sources

• LAS 7 § – objective reasons and obligation to reassign; 7 a–7 b §§ reduction of working hours
• LAS 4 a, 6 h, 14, 25 a and 40 §§
• Co-determination Act 11–13 §§ – obligation to negotiate
• AD 1978 no. 89 (the sauna bath case)
• Labour Court

The guide is general information about current regulations, 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 by carrying 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?