| Summary: | The main purpose of this essay is to study the Swedish labor law concerning employees who are, aspire to be, or are expected to become parents, both men and women. Thereby accomplishing a gender perspective on the issue at hand. The study also take in to account the laws issued by the European Union, and their impact on the Swedish law system, so as to gain an international perspective. The laws regarding parental leave, both Swedish and European, involve protection for workers from being treated in a less favorable way than someone in a comparable situation, as employers are forbidden to disfavor any employee or job-seeker in basically all situations in the work place or in a recruiting context, if the disfavor is in any way related to the parental leave. The only situation where an employer is allowed to disfavor an employee regarding his or her parental leave, is if the disfavoring is a necessary consequent of the employee’s absence. However, this exception is heavily restricted and is not to be abused. The laws concerning parental leave go hand in hand with the laws about equality and protection from discrimination. As pregnancy is tied to women alone, an employer’s choice not to hire a woman based on his or hers disinclination to cope with changes in the labor due to a woman’s right to parental leave, is in itself direct discrimination based on gender. This form of discrimination is prohibited by both Swedish and European law. The reasons for an employer, not to hire someone who is expected to invoke their right to parental leave, can often be traced to the economic consequences for the employer, however this is not an acceptable excuse, according to European law.
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