Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Employment Promotion and Protection against Unemployment Convention, 1988 (No. 168) - Sweden (Ratification: 1990)

Article 3 of the Convention. Consultations and cooperation with organizations of employers and workers. The Committee notes that a number of measures have been taken during the reporting period such as, for example, legislation to promote employment for refugees and new provisions on unemployment benefits for part-time workers (1 January 2009 and 5 July 2010) and self-employed persons (5 July 2010). In this connection, the Committee would like the Government to describe the manner in which the consultation and cooperation with the employers’ and workers’ organizations called for in Article 3 are ensured when implementing the provisions of the Convention in Sweden.

Article 8(1). Employment promotion. The Committee notes that, since 1 December 2010, legislation has been adopted to promote the employment of refugees, and other persons in need of protection who hold a residence permit, and their family members who have applied for a residence permit within two years. The Committee would like the Government to specify whether special programmes exist for other identified categories of disadvantaged persons, such as those listed in Article 8(1) of the Convention, having or liable to have difficulties in finding lasting employment and, if this is the case, it invites the Government to describe these special programmes.

Article 10(3). Part-time work. In a message received on 26 September 2008, the Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees (TCO) and the Swedish Confederation of Professional Associations (SACO) state that the description given by the Government on the restriction on the number of days that unemployment benefits can be paid in the event of partial unemployment as a means to prevent people from being trapped in part-time employment, does not give the right picture. This reform puts all the responsibility and all the costs of part-time unemployment on the individual worker, while it should be the employers’ responsibility to offer full-time work to those who wish to work full time. The Committee understands that unemployment benefits for persons who previously worked full time and who are looking for a full-time job but who were only able to find part-time work, have been reduced from 300 to 75 days on 7 April 2008, while in case the person remains fully unemployed, the period during which unemployment benefits are paid remain unchanged (maximum 300 days or 450 days for beneficiaries with a child under the age of 18). The person working part time may, after the expiry of these 75 days, either choose to continue working part time without receiving unemployment benefits or may resign from the part-time work and, if certain conditions are met, obtain unemployment benefits based on the income received from the part-time work for the remaining 225 days. The resignation from a part-time job after 75 days shall not be considered a reason to suspend unemployment benefits as it is the case for persons that left their full-time job without valid cause. According to the Government, its decision to reduce unemployment benefits from 300 to 75 days was aimed to encourage part-time workers to get full-time work. The Committee considers however that this decision may seriously undermine the incentives for the fully unemployed persons to take up part-time employment instead of remaining on full unemployment benefit. “Rewarding” unemployed persons for taking up part-time work by depriving them of the right to the full amount and duration of unemployment benefit which they have acquired in their previous employment would go against the logic of the Convention, which aims at offering additional protection against unemployment for part-time workers without reducing the level of protection guaranteed to full-time workers. The Committee wishes to refer in this regard to Paragraph 15 of Recommendation No. 176 which clearly states that, if an unemployed person has agreed to accept part-time work in the circumstances covered in Article 10(3) of the Convention, the level and duration of the unemployment benefit paid at the end of such employment should not be adversely affected by the earnings of the unemployed person from that employment. The Committee would like the Government to reconsider the situation in the light of the above social rational of the Convention and its objective to promote employment, including part-time, by means of social security benefits, detaching itself from the purely financial objective of seeking immediate cuts in the overall cost of unemployment protection.

Article 11. Persons protected. The Government states that it is difficult to estimate how many persons are actually covered by the income-related unemployment insurance since there is a lack of statistics on the membership of the unemployment insurance funds and estimates that about 3.4 million persons are members, assuming they are all entitled to benefits in the event of unemployment; and that there are about 1.3 million persons in the basic unemployment insurance, which covers persons that are not members of an unemployment insurance fund. In a letter dated 28 September 2011, the Ministry of Employment transmits a comment on these figures from the Swedish Confederation of Professional Associations (SACO) stating that the number of 4.7 million persons covered by unemployment insurance compared to the 4.9 million persons of the Swedish workforce, is exaggerated since not all members of the unemployment insurance qualify for benefits. SACO observes that there is a problem in Sweden since the proportion of the unemployed that are entitled to benefits is falling and refers to a 2009 Report of the Swedish Unemployment Board (IAF) “Job seekers with and without unemployment benefits”, according to which in 2008, the proportion was 55 per cent, and this downward trend has continued according to the Swedish Fiscal Policy Council Report of 2010 (p. 275). According to SACO, this reduction is due to the fact that students are not anymore eligible for benefits and benefits for part-time unemployed persons have been limited and benefits for full-time unemployed persons have been limited to maximum 300 days. In its 43rd report on the European Code of Social Security in 2010, the Government reported the substantial drop in the number of members of the unemployment insurance funds and the extensive efforts it was taking to help stimulate the number of new applications for admission to the funds not only from previous members who have resigned from membership, but also from individuals who have never applied for membership. In particular, throughout 2009, conditions for membership in unemployment insurance funds have been eased and each month of membership was counted double. The Committee invites the Government to reply to the comments of the SACO and to assess the effectiveness of the measures taken to increase membership of unemployment insurance funds.

Article 18. Waiting period. The Committee notes that since 7 July 2008, the waiting period to receive unemployment benefits has been increased from five to seven days. The Committee notes that seven days correspond to seven working days which means that the waiting period would correspond to nine calendar days (sections 20 and 21 of the Unemployment Insurance Act). The Committee would like the Government to indicate the measures it intends to take to bring national legislation into conformity with the Convention which limits the waiting period to a maximum of seven calendar days.

Article 21. Suitable employment. Since 2 July 2007 the possibility for jobseekers, during the first 100 days of benefit, to limit the search for work within their profession and vicinity was abolished and jobseekers must be prepared to accept any suitable work. According to the information provided by the Government in its report of 2008, the kind of work a jobseeker must seek and accept, and the limitations applicable thereto are specified in the regulations on suitable work (IAFFS 2004:3) issued by the Swedish Unemployment Insurance Board, which entered into force on 1 September 2004. It appears that jobseekers, after 100 days on unemployment benefit, must accept any suitable job even if it was outside their previous profession and training. If a jobseeker rejects an offer of suitable work without acceptable reasons, the daily unemployment benefit will be reduced for the first refusal by 25 per cent for the period of 40 days of compensation and for the second refusal by 50 per cent for the next 40 days; in case of the third refusal the entitlement to the benefit is terminated. In determining the suitability of the work offered on such conditions reasonable consideration is given to the applicant’s capacity for the work and other personal circumstances, such as age, health and local family ties. No additional information was provided on these new developments in the 2011 report of the Government. The Committee observes that the above changes might devoid the concept of “suitable employment”, on which the Convention is based, of its role of protecting the professional and social status of jobseekers during the prescribed initial period of unemployment.

As regards the situation in law, the Committee notes that, according to section 3 of the Swedish Unemployment Insurance Board’s Regulations on the application of section 11 of the Unemployment Insurance Act (1997:238) regarding suitable work, IAFFS 2004:3, as amended, the applicant must apply for and accept available and suitable work. An assessment of what may be deemed to constitute work that is suitable for the applicant shall be made taking into consideration the supply of job opportunities throughout the entire labour market. The Unemployment Insurance Board’s Annotations on section 11 of the Unemployment Insurance Act specify that unemployment insurance is not an insurance of one’s profession. This means that the applicant may not limit the search for work within their profession or education. What is deemed to be suitable work shall be assessed in the light of the labour market supply of vacant jobs and demand for labour. While the applicant’s experience shall be taken into account so as to avoid unnecessary changes of occupation, section 7 of the Regulations stipulates that an offer of work or directed work that does not correspond to the applicant’s training and occupational experience is not unsuitable for that reason alone, and section 8 makes it clear that, if the employer considers that the applicant’s qualifications are sufficient and wishes to employ him or her, the work shall be deemed to be suitable even if the applicant makes another assessment of his or her knowledge and skills. The Committee observes that the above provisions have the effect of depriving the worker of the possibility of protecting his education, professional skills and experience during the initial period of unemployment limited by Article 19(2) of the Convention to 26 weeks. They also formally relieve the Swedish Public Employment Service (PES) of its responsibility under Part II of the Convention to assist unemployed persons to obtain new work which is suitable to their professional qualifications through directing its efforts to maintaining and improving the professional quality of the labour force. The Committee wishes to stress that the concept of suitable employment works as a guarantee against the deregulation of the labour market to the point when it will compel jobseekers to accept any unsuitable job, as well as against the reduction of the role of the PES to act only as a labour supply agency satisfying the demands of the employers irrespective of the jobseekers’ own assessment of their professional and social status.

When it comes to the practical application of the above legal rules, the Government’s report explains that the PES official and the jobseeker discuss what constitutes a suitable job, so as to be able, within 30 days of the start of unemployment, to draw up an action plan that identifies the fastest and best way of finding a new job for the unemployed person. In this action plan, the jobseeker can specify an interest in different fields of work within a geographical area. After a discussion with the jobseeker, the PES makes an assessment of the jobs that are suitable based on the jobseeker’s experience and training. An instruction from the PES to the jobseeker to take up a suitable job is issued if the job in question is compatible with the jobseeker’s skills. While noting that these practices satisfy the requirements of the Convention, the Committee observes the existence in Sweden of the mismatch between law and practice, where the law has been changed to formally abolish the protection of the jobseekers’ professional qualification, while the PES continues to base its job offers on matching them to the jobseeker’s actual experience and training. As regards the situation in practice, the Government gives examples of determining the suitability of employment by the Public Employment Service and expresses the opinion that the applicant’s opportunity to protect his/her education, working skills and working experience during the initial period of unemployment is met through the existing arrangements. In order to make this opportunity clear also from the legal point of view, the Committee asks the Government to inform the Public Employment Service of the international obligation assumed by Sweden under Article 21(2) of the Convention, to determine the suitability of employment by taking into account to an appropriate extent, alongside the labour market situation, the applicants’ acquired experience and length of service in their former occupation. The Committee would also like to request the Government to provide statistical information on the number of persons whose unemployment benefits have been reduced or suspended according to section 45(a) of the Unemployment Insurance Act.

Article 25. Adjustment of social security schemes to part-time workers. Since 1 January 2009, unemployment benefits are also being paid to part-time workers who have been granted unpaid leave in order to perform other work at an equal or higher rate, provided that the positions cannot be combined. Also, as of 5 July 2010, a new regulation was introduced which codifies a practice of the Unemployment Insurance Funds that entitles workers to unemployment benefits when they combine part-time work for at least 17 hours per week with self employment for a maximum of ten hours per week. The Committee would like the Government to indicate the period during which unemployment benefits shall be paid in these cases.

Article 27. Complaints and appeals procedures. In its 2008 report, the Government provided information on the applicable procedures in the Unemployment Insurance Funds. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information about the procedures available to persons who are covered by the basic unemployment insurance.