Employees' time limit for bringing an action in connection with a transfer of business.
Supreme Court order 21 December 2021, HR-2021-2554-A, (case no. 21-090917SIV-HRET), civil case, appeal against order.
Aker Solutions AS (Counsel Kurt Weltzien) v. A, B (Counsel Eyvind Mossige), C, D, LO (intervener) (Counsel Tina Storsletten Nordstrøm)
Justices: Falkanger, Noer, Kallerud, Falch, Sæther
Three employees who had been dismissed after the company in which they worked had lost a tender competition, brought an action claiming that their employment after the dismissal had been passed on to a new employer under the transfer of ownership rules. A claim for compensation was also made. The Supreme Court found that the time limit rules in section 17-3 of the Working Environment Act only apply "insofar as they are appropriate" in cases concerning a transfer of ownership, see section 16-4 subsection 3 second sentence, and found like the previous instances that the time limit for bringing an action under section 16-4 of the Working Environment Act in the present situation runs from the time of the transfer of ownership and not from the earlier time of the dismissal. Although it takes a lot for the time limit rules, which contain special requirements for clarity and predictability, to become inapplicable because they do not fit, decisive emphasis was placed on considerations of objective and the connection to Chapter 16 in general. The claim had thus been made within the time limit. The appeal against the Court of Appeal's order was dismissed.