This thesis aims to investigate the signification of qualification requirements that an employer imposes for resettlement in redundancy dismissals. Furthermore the aim is to examine how the requirement relates to the development of society and highlight possible consequences for the employment protection. To determine applicable law a legal dogmatic method is used. This method is supplemented with a sociological perspective to illustrate the connection between the application of the requirement and the development from an industrial society to a knowledge society. Based on this thesis, following conclusions were drawn. In the assessment of the requirement the Labour Court takes into account whether the requirement is reasonable, substantially and non-discriminatory. The requirement is a minimum criteria where the worker meets the same requirements as a new employee, and that is generally imposed on the current post. However, essential factors such as company size, financial situation, if the post in question is of a specialized nature, matters for the assessment. The Labour Court also reason about what would be a reasonable period of apprenticeship, which differs from case to case. What constitutes a reasonable time will depend partly on the above facts and also on the employee's ability to learn based on previous qualifications. Regarding the concept of qualification formal, informal and personal qualifications are included. In formal qualifications education, certifications and language skills are counted. The informal requirements consist of practical experience and the personal requirements include physical, mental abilities, behavior and personal suitability. During the later period of LAS the largest proportion of cases that investigates sufficient qualifications consists of education requirements, compared to the earlier period when practical experience was dominating. Today there are also fewer workers that fulfill the condition than during the early years of LAS and the most common reason is lack of education. The opinion that education is of importance to achieve the competence required in today's production efficient society leads to qualified jobs and a higher standard of qualification requirements. There is a clear connection between education and employment. Among the less educated; older and foreign-born people are overrepresented. The level of education also differs between the various sectors and between different classes. Even young people without secondary education, young people with disabilities and foreign-born youths are particularly vulnerable to being caught in long periods of unemployment. In summary, these groups tend to be marginalized and get a protection that does not provide the same conditions as if they were higher educated, Swedish-born and from a privileged class.

Since redundancy is considered as just cause for dismissals, the employees protection of theemployment mostly lies in his or her right to redeployment. The requirement for the employee to beconsidered for such redeployment, and thus a continued employment, is that he or she must possesssufficient qualifications for the post in question. The employer has the right to set up qualificationrequirements relating to the employees’ personal attributes and it is the employer who does theassessment whether the qualifications are sufficient. The purpose of this thesis is to examine thelegal framework of the concept ’sufficient qualifications’ within 7 § 2 st. and 22 § 4 st in LAS, inorder to highlight the problems arising from the employers right to set up qualification requirementsrelated to personal attributes of managers. Secondly this thesis aims at investigate how requirementsrelating to personal attributes may lead to disadvantages for female managers, by analyzing thefinds from a gender perspective.In order to fulfill the overall purpose of this thesis, various methods have been used. Theessay mainly consists of a judicial inquiry intended to investigate de lege lata, and therefor thedoctrinal method has been used. The doctrinal method has been supplemented with qualitativeinterviews in order to get a deeper understanding for the managerial role.From the finds in this thesis it can be concluded that managers are poorly protected by therules according to LAS, because of the subjectivity related to the requirements of reliance betweenthe employer and the manager, which has proven to be significative for the managerial role. Equaltreatment between men and women is a well developed area with provisions regarding nondiscriminationset out in several sources of law, both international as well as in the SwedishDiscrimination Act. Despite the strong legal protection women are struggling to get access toleadership positions. Subjective elements tend to be influenced by the norms of society and thelabour market. Within the labour market there is a perception that men’s roles are more congruentwith the leadership role, which can result in prejudice against female leaders. Since the employer isallowed to demand requirements related to reliance, it seems that reliance trumps the legalprotection provided by both LAS and the Discrimination Act.

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