ABSTRACT
Labour law is an important instrument for structuring the relations between employers and employees. It supports and restrains the power of management and organised labour by defining the conditions for payments, employment security and negotiations in the workplace. In this regard, labour law has historically developed along different avenues in various countries. Legislation and collective agreements have had various influences due to the strengths of organisational interests, constitutional factors and political preferences. The interwoven social relations of capital-labour, property rights-employee rights, and state regulation versus the free play of market forces create country-specific patterns. This chapter describes the main differences and similarities in the developments of jurisdictions and practices in employment regulation and workers' participation in North America and Scandinavia. The aim is also to relate the respective patterns of labour legislation to the debate on labour market flexibility and unemployment. The point of departure is that labour laws must be seen as limitations in the traditional prerogatives of capitalists to freely recruit and dismiss employees and to exercise management without encumbrance from unions. This chapter examines the different routes taken by the respective countries.
