Ice-hockey players sign Sweden's first collective agreement in sport

A collective agreement for 250 top ice-hockey players, the first in professional sport in Sweden, was concluded in October 1999 by the Salaried Employees' Union on behalf of the players, and by the Employers' Alliance on behalf of the clubs. The deal contains significant variations from statutory provisions on issues such as working time, holidays and negotiation rights.

On 28 October 1999, Sweden's first-ever collective agreement in top-level professional" sport" was concluded by the Elite Ice Hockey Subcommittee of the Sport Sector Committee of the Employers' Alliance (Arbetsgivaralliansen) and the Salaried Employees' Union (Tjänstemannaförbundet HTF, HTF). The agreement governs the working conditions for the 250 (male) "elite" ice hockey players and is valid until 27 October 2001. The Employers' Alliance (Arbetsgivaralliansen) is an independent confederation for employers in areas such as sporting and educational associations. It has 1,500 employers in membership, mostly among sport associations. Sports professionals may join HTF, which has about 155,000 members in the private service sector, of whom 22% work in organisations and associations in sport and other areas.

The ice-hockey players' association has been requesting agreed employment and working conditions for some 10 years. In 1999, negotiations started after some threats of action by the players and resulted in the new agreement, which covers all players employed by clubs in the Swedish Hockey League (Elitserien).

Loyalty rules

According to the agreement, the duties of an ice hockey player include participating in all ice-hockey activities that the employer imposes on the player. The player shall in addition carry out such other duties that the employer imposes in connection with the player's employment. This may, for example, concern advertising and sponsorship activities. The employer has a right to use the player's name and image for marketing purposes. These rules follow the traditional practices in sport.

The players may not engage in secondary occupations: the agreement states that no player may do work or engage in economic activity, for an employer or on his own behalf, competing with the players' own employer. Nor may any player undertake work or carry on activities that may have an adverse effect on the player's employment. "Sometimes the employer has to decide whether it is appropriate or not if a player, for example, drives a taxi at night. The employer can forbid this kind of activity if there is a risk that the player cannot play well enough in these circumstances," comments Nils Lyckeberg, chief negotiator at the Employer's Alliance.

In the agreement's section on "general undertakings", it is stated that the player shall represent and promote the interests of the employer. Complete discretion shall be observed both internally and externally with regard to the employer's affairs. These rules follow the standard rules in Swedish sport and are also to be found in ordinary collective agreements for salaried employees.

Individual pay agreements

Employers and players are to reach an individual agreement on salary and other remuneration. All the players' salaries are individual and differentiated. The average monthly salary is estimated to lie between SEK 30,000 and SEK 35,000, but there are large variations, with young players often receiving less and top players commanding higher salaries.

The form of employment for ice-hockey players is also regulated in the agreement. Employment as an ice-hockey player is of limited duration and will normally run for one or two years at a time. Agreements on longer periods may be made between the employer and the player. The player does not have prior entitlement to reemployment at the end of a period of employment. "This fixed-term employment is different compared with collective agreements in general where the norm is a permanent job," says Hans Göran Elo, head of negotiations at HTF, "however, this is quite acceptable under the circumstances." The working hours of players are not regulated, the agreement states, thus deviating from the Working Hours Act (arbetstidslagen, 1982:673) for "natural" causes. The scheduling of working hours is decided by the employer.

As for annual leave, the agreements also deviates from the Holidays Act (semesterlagen, 1977:480) by applying provisions that are more suitable for ice-hockey players. Under the accord, the employer shall make efforts to ensure that the player has two weeks' holiday at the end of the ice hockey season and three weeks' continuous holiday during June and July.

Consultation instead of negotiation

"Information" and "consultation" is the title of an important section of the ice-hockey players agreement. The Co-Determination Act (medbestämmandelagen, MBL, 1976:58) has been a cornerstone in communications between Swedish employers and employees ever since it was introduced in 1976, and the sections dealing with the right to negotiations and the right to information are among the most important in the Act. However, the agreement for ice-hockey players sets aside some of these rules.

For example, sections 11, 12, 14, 19-20 and 38-40 of the Act have been set aside. These sections deal with the employer's duty to negotiate with the local union before significant changes are carried out in the company. These provisions on negotiations are replaced in the agreement by rules about consultations. A local consultative committee consisting of representatives of players - a players' committee (spelarråd), whose members are also union representatives - and the employer concerned will deal with issues normally covered by the abovementioned sections of the Act. The employer has a duty to provide information on the progress of activities from the production and financial point of view, together with the guidelines for personnel policy. The employer shall, in addition, consult the players' committee before decisions concerning major changes in activities.

"The parties have agreed that a local players' committee shall, in a spirit of mutual understanding, together with the local employer deal with issues concerning ice-hockey activities. Working like this is in line with the parties' wish to have an activity and an agreement adjusted to reality," says Nils Lyckeberg of the Employers' Alliance.

Skills development and insurance

The new agreement also contains provisions on skills development, with a view to the players' working life after the end of their playing career. The agreement states that the possibility of developing the player's skills with regard to the period after the end of their career shall be borne in mind during the period of employment. This means, for example, that in making a player an attractive offer to join its club, an employer might make an arrangement to let the player study part time at university for another career after the contract has expired.

A separate insurance contract connected to the collective agreement offers a unique package, especially designed for conditions in the Swedish ice-hockey business. The insurance package comprises sickness pay, accident pay, collective life insurance and a retirement annuity. Team sports are not included in ordinary collective insurance agreements, so the parties had to construct a new package from services offered by different companies.

Commentary

The ice-hockey collective agreement is unique in Sweden and in Scandinavia. It is too early to say how it will work out for the parties involved, but the agreement will be evaluated after two years and, if the outcome is positive, the agreement may serve as a model for the world of sport. In that case, top football players may be the next group of Swedish sports professionals seeking to have their employment conditions regulated, and they may consult their Norwegian colleagues, who already have an agreement. Swedish football players' working conditions are currently subject to considerable variations. (Annika Berg, Arbetslivsinstitutet)