Wilhelm Chydenius (1863-1926), who was professor of private law at Helsinki University, pointed out at the beginning of the 20th century that working life needed new legal rules.The Statute on Hired Servants of 1833 did not cover the thousands of service contracts that were entered into every year and whose validity was no longer questioned by anyone. As central legal sources, Chydenius referred to legislation, the individual contract and local custom. He moreover argued that several of the rules of the Statute on Hired Servants ought to be applied analogously to the free contracts of employment. On the one hand, a far-reaching duty of obedience and loyalty was borne by the worker.The question was namely one of a personal relationship that required that the worker lived a morally correct life and did not imbibe alcoholic beverages or commit fornication even if this did not affect his or her work. On the other hand, the worker could not be fired unless he or she had displayed great carelessness and had not taken advantage of the opportunities for improvement that it was the duty of the employer to provide. Moreover, the worker had the right to keep his or her wages in the case of illness that was not self-inflicted. According to Chydenius, it was possible to apply these general principles from the Statute on Hired Servants to the free service contracts by referring back to “the nature of the service contract”. On the other hand, he felt that the “administrative” rules of the Statute on Hired Servants regarding capturing by the police, punishment etc. or about a free week off could not be transferred to the modern service contracts.480 Carl Georg Björling (1870-1934), who was professor of legal history and private law at Lund University, was the man behind p a r t i v, c h a p t e r 9 236 Björling 480 Chydenius,W1906, pp. 139-186. Chydenius
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjYyNDk=