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Demokratiskolan
The Work environment & rights card from MethodKit for Society and Politics
Card 4 of 128 · MethodKit for Society & Politics
  • AreaEconomy & work
  • Centre of gravityCentral government
  • Points of influence3 on the journey
  • Decisive electionThe general election
Economy & work

Work environment & rights

Workplace safety, wages, working time & rest

How many hours you work, what happens if you are injured and what your employment contract says are governed by a Swedish speciality: the social partners do the job. Unions and employer organisations negotiate wages and conditions in collective agreements (kollektivavtal), while the central government sets the frame with laws. There is no statutory minimum wage.

Where does the power lie?1

  • Municipality · employer, not rule-maker · approx 5 %
  • State · laws, oversight & court · approx 75 %
  • EU · minimum levels & working time · approx 20 %

The central government sets the frame, but much of the power lies outside the public sphere, with unions and employers as the social partners. The general election steers the laws, membership the agreements.

How it works: the breakdown

The municipalityThe employer
The regionHealthcare's employer
Central governmentThe laws & the oversight · centre of gravity
Who decides?
The municipality as an employer, often the town's largest. No rule-making power.
The region as an employer for healthcare staff. No rule-making power.
The Riksdag, Arbetsmiljöverket (the Swedish Work Environment Authority) and the Labour Court (Arbetsdomstolen).
What do they decide?
Negotiates collective agreements (kollektivavtal) with the unions, through SKR, and is responsible for its employees' work environment.
Negotiates collective agreements and is responsible for the work environment in hospitals and health centres.
The Work Environment Act, LAS, MBL and the working time rules. Arbetsmiljöverket inspects and can stop dangerous work.
Where are decisions made?
In negotiations between the social partners and in each administration's work environment efforts.
In negotiations between the social partners and in the region's own work environment efforts.
In the Riksdag, at Arbetsmiljöverket and in the Labour Court, which rules in labour disputes.
Who pays?
The municipal tax pays wages and work environment efforts for the municipality's employees.
The regional tax pays healthcare's wages.
The central government budget funds the oversight. Wages are set by the social partners themselves, without state involvement.
Fastest way in?
Municipal election The municipal election steers the employer policy in the town's largest employer.
Regional election The regional election steers the working conditions in healthcare.
General election Report risks to Arbetsmiljöverket, respond to regulations out for consultation (remiss).
EUThe EU sets minimum levels for working time, safety and conditions that Swedish law must live up to. Influence it in the European Parliament election.

Read the table by column to understand one level, or by row to compare the levels. The green level is the area's centre of gravity.

How it works: follow the decision

The case A safety representative stops the construction site
  1. EU

    The minimum levels come from the EU

    Working time rules and basic safety requirements are decided at EU level and apply in all member states. Sweden then fills it out with its own laws and with collective agreements.

  2. State

    The law gives the safety representative power

    The Work Environment Act gives safety representatives the right to stop work in cases of immediate and serious danger. Arbetsmiljöverket's regulations specify what applies at each type of workplace.

    Point of influence

    The general election steers the law, and Arbetsmiljöverket's regulations go out for consultation (remiss) before they are decided.

  3. Your everyday life

    The danger is spotted on the roof

    On a construction site there is no fall protection at height. The safety representative, appointed by the union or by the employees, sees the risk and demands action, but the employer wants to carry on.

    Point of influence

    Safety representatives exist at most larger workplaces. You can become a safety representative yourself, or alert yours.

  4. Your everyday life

    The stop: work is halted

    The safety representative imposes a work stoppage. Work may not resume until the matter is examined, and no one can be punished for having stopped work in the face of serious danger.

  5. State

    Arbetsmiljöverket decides

    An inspector examines the stoppage and can prohibit continued work until the fall protection is in place, with a fine if the prohibition is not followed. The employer can appeal Arbetsmiljöverket's decision to the administrative court (förvaltningsrätt).

    Point of influence

    Anyone can report risks at a workplace to Arbetsmiljöverket, even anonymously.

  6. Your everyday life

    The work continues, made safe

    The next day the railings and harnesses are in place. The stoppage cost a few hours, a fall could have cost a life. The system rested on a law, a representative and an inspector.

The journey looks the same in reverse: what has been built came the same way, through the same decisions. Whoever knows where the decisions are made also knows where they can be changed.

Questions to discuss

  1. In Sweden wages are set by the social partners, not by law. What are the strengths and risks of that model?

  2. What do you know about your own employment contract, and what would you want to negotiate about?

  3. Who protects the person who works in the gig economy or without a collective agreement?

  4. Would you dare to stop dangerous work at your workplace, and what would it cost you?

  5. How should the balance look between secure employment and companies' need for flexibility?

Glossary

Kollektivavtal
An agreement between a union and an employer on wages and conditions, the core of the Swedish model.
Skyddsombud
A person at the workplace who represents the employees in work environment matters.
Skyddsombudsstopp
The safety representative's legal right to stop work in cases of immediate and serious danger.
LAS
The Employment Protection Act, the rules for employment and dismissal.
MBL
The Co-determination Act, which gives the union the right to information and negotiation before important decisions.

Go further

Footnotes

1) This is an estimate of how decision-making power over the issue is split between the municipality, the region, central government and the EU, based on how responsibility is divided in legislation. A teaching guide, not an exact measurement.