Response to interpellation 2024/25:519 on stress and high workload in working life
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns stress and high workload in working life. L argues that stress is a risk factor for deaths and that the employer is responsible for the work environment 1. L emphasizes that the government is working on a work environment strategy, strengthening primary care, providing Arbetsmiljöverket with permanent additions for supervision, and has a package of measures to reduce sick leave 1 2 3. L wants to task Försäkringskassan with providing more people with activity compensation with work-life oriented interventions 3. L argues that a good working life with zero tolerance for injuries is central 4. S argues that stress leads to exhaustion and physical illnesses 5. S wants Arbetsmiljöverket to be able to impose sanction fees 5 6. S demands that managers must have the right competence 6. S wants occupational health care to be strengthened and that a responsible authority be appointed for the occupational physician training 6.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Nina Larsson (L)
Madam Speaker! Johanna Haraldsson has asked Minister Paulina Brandberg what measures she intends to take to reduce work-related stress in Swedish workplaces, what measures she plans to take to ensure that the current regulations regarding the social and organizational work environment in our workplaces are complied with, and whether she intends to in any way change the work environment regulations in order to better counteract stress in working life.
The work within the government is distributed in such a way that it is now I who shall answer this interpellation.
Initially, I would like to take the opportunity to thank the interpellor for raising this important issue. Stress is one of the factors that leads to the most work-related deaths per year, and for women, it is the single greatest risk factor.
In addition to the Work Environment Act (1977:1160), which clearly places the responsibility for maintaining a good and safe work environment on the employer, the Work Environment Authority's regulations on organizational and social work environment (AFS 2023:2, Chapter 2) also apply to address the risks that, among other things, unhealthy stress can give rise to. The Work Environment Authority has conducted and continues to conduct inspections based on the regulations to ensure that employers manage and reduce existing risks.
In the government's work environment strategy for 2021–2025 (skr. 2020/21:92), it is stated, among other things, that work-related stress is a major work environment problem. The Swedish Work Environment Authority works based on this strategy and has as its goal to reduce the risks of ill health and accidents in working life and to improve the work environment from a holistic perspective.
The Government has commissioned a special investigator to analyze the impact of the current work environment strategy, to submit proposals for a work environment strategy for 2026–2030, and to submit proposals for further measures that can contribute to its impact in the long term. The assignment shall be reported by June 11 this year (dir. 2024:56).
Johanna Haraldsson (S)
Madam Speaker! Stress and mental ill-health are today two of our greatest work environment problems. Long-term stress leads not only to exhaustion, anxiety, and depression but also to physical diseases such as heart problems and diabetes. According to the Swedish Work Environment Authority, up to 800 people die prematurely every year as a result of work-related stress.
We see this development in profession after profession. It is nursing assistants and nurses who are being driven to their knees because the staffing is insufficient. It is social workers with unreasonable piles of cases. It is bus drivers with schedules that hardly allow for breaks. These are just a few examples. The common denominator is an unsustainable workload and stress, often with ill health as a consequence.
Madam Speaker! This is not just a question of individual suffering, but it is a societal problem. It costs enormous sums in sick leaves, healthcare, and loss of production. But above all, this question is about people's right to a sustainable working life. No one should have to become ill or die prematurely because of their job, stress, and unsustainable workload.
Madam Speaker! The Minister states in his answer that the employers are responsible for a good and safe working environment, that the Work Environment Authority inspects the workplaces, that a work environment strategy exists and that a new one is currently being investigated. All of that is stated. But I do not feel that I am receiving any direct answers to my questions.
In my interpellation, I asked the Minister what measures she intends to take to reduce stress in Swedish workplaces. What does she intend to do to ensure that employers follow the work environment regulations and take their full responsibility? I also asked if she wants to change the work environment regulatory framework in any way to address stress at work.
I experience that the Minister does not answer any of this. I wonder a bit how I should interpret that silence. Is it the case that measures will indeed be taken, but that one has forgotten to answer? Does it mean yes, no, or perhaps? I hope that the Minister can at least in his next contribution imagine reasoning a bit regarding the questions, or even better, actually answer what the government's ambitions are.
Madam Speaker! The employers have a clear responsibility. We all agree on that. That is what the law stipulates. But political leadership was also needed.
We Social Democrats commissioned an inquiry into how we can better address deficiencies in the organizational and social work environment, which is what causes the stress. The inquiry is complete. It has been on the minister's desk, or perhaps on the minister's representative's desk, since August 2022.
The investigation proposes that Arbetsmiljöverket should be given the possibility to impose sanction fees linked to both organizational and social working environment, but also if companies and employers fail in the systematic work environment work.
That has not been acted upon. It has been postponed and they have refused to take a position on the proposals. They have also referred to an evaluation of the sanctions system. That is also complete. It shows that sanction fees work. They increase compliance, and they could also be used for other regulations.
In addition to the questions that I feel I did not receive answers to earlier, I wonder: When does the government intend to ensure that more sanctions are put in place so that risks in female-dominated occupations are taken at least as seriously as risks in male-dominated ones?
Statsrådet Nina Larsson (L)
Madam Speaker! Work environment issues are completely central on so many levels. I have myself served as a manager in the business sector and in the non-profit sector for many years. I can truly agree with the commitment that Johanna Haraldsson shows here.
It is the parties in the labor market who have a great responsibility, and the employers have responsibility according to the work environment legislation. The Government is taking a number of different measures on a number of different levels.
Now we await the upcoming work environment strategy. It will be able to serve as a good direction for further measures. It can also be a good support for the labor market parties even further.
We also have the Swedish Work Environment Authority's regulations on the social and organizational work environment. They provide additional guidance alongside the law for employers on how they should work to, in cooperation with the employees, ensure a work environment without negative stress and excessive workload.
The regulations were also adjusted in the form of a rule renewal that entered into force on January 1 this year. They have been clarified, which makes it easier for employers to understand and to be able to work systematically, just as Johanna Haraldsson points out, for good work environment work.
The work against mental ill-health in working life is completely central. The Försäkringskassan situation report on mental ill-health in working life is incredibly important. It also provides valuable input and a basis for the understanding of this. The Government naturally takes the increasing mental ill-health very seriously.
The government has implemented a large number of measures to support employers, healthcare, and other relevant actors in the work with the objective that the individual shall receive better support during sick leave, that sick leaves shall be able to be prevented, and that return to work shall be promoted.
As an example of this, it can be mentioned that the government has tasked Socialstyrelsen to pay out 496 million kronor during 2025 to the regions to strengthen and develop primary care's work with mental health.
It aims to support the regional primary care's work with mental ill-health, including in terms of developing the work with sick leaves for psychiatric diagnoses and return to work, and to strengthen cooperation with the employers themselves. It is an important complement to other initiatives.
The Government has also tasked the Public Health Agency with allocating resources to operating grants for employer and employee organizations for various initiatives aimed at promoting mental health and preventing mental ill-health and suicide in working life. This includes grants to both employer and employee organizations and joint bodies.
Johanna Haraldsson (S)
Madam Speaker! Having a work environment strategy is good. The Social Democrats produced the previous two. I am very positive that the government now also understands that it is important to have a direction even for this policy and to have a strategy.
But if the strategies are not followed by action, they become quite meaningless. The ministers at the Ministry of Employment have since the Liberals stepped in said that they are following the strategy, but it has not resulted in any reforms or proposals from the government despite the fact that the work environment problems on the Swedish labor market have not decreased. Just as the minister and I know, records are instead being broken in sick leaves, and people are actually dying prematurely due to stress.
I mean that it is high time that the government takes the work environment problems seriously. It is said that they take them seriously, but it also requires that they act. We Social Democrats have presented several concrete demands to improve the work environment and counteract the increasing stress in our workplaces.
I asked in my first post: When does the government intend to present proposals on increased sanction fees? It is one of our proposals.
Firstly: We must give Arbetsmiljöverket the opportunity to impose sanction fees when employers fail in terms of systematic work environment work and the psychosocial work environment. Rules must be followed. Otherwise, there must be consequences.
Secondly: The Minister says that she herself has worked as a manager. She then, I understand, has great knowledge and a great understanding of the responsibility that a manager actually has for the work environment. But not all managers are like the Minister as a manager. We need to ensure that we set requirements so that employers ensure that managers and others responsible for the work environment actually have the competence and the education required to be able to prevent ill health. We cannot leave that to chance.
Thirdly: Occupational health care needs to be strengthened. The Minister mentions rehabilitation. It is usually occupational health care that comes in at the first stage. We Social Democrats believe that occupational health care must also become a much more self-evident part of preventive work environment measures. Employers must be required to use occupational health care at an early stage. But for that to be able to become a reality, we must secure the supply of competence within occupational health care.
In the currently applicable occupational health strategy, occupational health services are identified as a central actor in several areas, including to support employers who do not have the knowledge needed to be able to prevent ill health in various areas and in various ways. But for it to be able to develop and play a stronger role in occupational health work, the government needs to resolve this with funding and a principal for the specialist medical training in the field of occupational medicine.
Last year, I had a debate with the minister's representative, who promised a solution in the near future. She said that the work was in full swing. I understand that it may have stalled when the person in the ministerial post was changed, but the government has still not delivered. So far, they have not succeeded with this.
I wonder when the government intends to do what everyone – from the medical association and the industry to authorities and labor market partners – agrees is needed: appoint a responsible authority and principal for the occupational health physician training and secure the funding. This must be done before all occupational health physicians have retired.
Statsrådet Nina Larsson (L)
Madam Speaker! I truly share Johanna Haraldsson's commitment, also linked to the fact that managers should have the prerequisites for, knowledge of, and understanding of the work environment legislation and for what systematic work is required to achieve a good work environment.
There are incredibly good examples among the parties in the labor market. I was at a trade union this morning. There, some examples were raised of how one works proactively with these issues. It is incredibly important. There is much to learn from the parties in the labor market and from the trade unions. I truly see and appreciate that work. They need to continue with it.
For several years, Arbetsmiljöverket has received permanent supplements to strengthen its supervisory work and carry out more workplace environment inspections – this in order to counteract, among other things, crime in the working life.
During Arbetsmiljöverket's inspections, the authority checks that employers and others responsible for the work environment comply with the requirements set out in the Work Environment Act and Arbetsmiljöverket's regulations. In addition to the inspections being about investigating whether there are deficiencies in the work environment, they also aim to strengthen the workplace's own ability to prevent risks.
Arbetsmiljöverket has also been tasked with taking measures to increase the number of physical unannounced inspections – to increase the possibility of detecting employers who have deficiencies.
The Government has – to continue on the track with a particular focus on mental ill-health – decided on two assignments to develop the healthcare's work regarding sick leave and rehabilitation. The Inspectorate for Social Insurance, ISF, and the Agency for Health and Social Care Analysis have been assigned to evaluate the Act on Coordination Measures for Patients on Sick Leave. And the National Board of Health and Welfare has been assigned to strengthen the healthcare's work regarding sick leave and rehabilitation, particularly in the area of mental ill-health.
It is important to counteract long sick leaves – they can be due to various things, including mental ill-health. In the budget bill, the government presented a comprehensive package of measures to reduce sick leaves and help people back to work as soon as possible.
It is about, among other things, Försäkringskassan's work with following up on employers' plans for return to work and about us strengthening the coordination of rehabilitation measures that are important. Försäkringskassan and Arbetsmiljöverket are also tasked with developing cooperation and the supervision of employers' work environment and rehabilitation responsibilities.
We are reviewing the possibility of work assessment during a shorter period with maintained sickness allowance, in order to facilitate things for all parties in the sick leave process.
Försäkringskassan will be tasked with providing more people with activity compensation with work-preparatory or work-life-oriented interventions and reviewing the possibility of partial suspension of sickness and activity compensation during studies.
Johanna Haraldsson (S)
Madam Speaker! I would like to thank the Minister for this debate and for her commitment and willingness to do something about this problem, which we actually see in the workplaces.
But for us to be able to do anything about the problem, we need to focus on preventing people from becoming ill from stress in the first place. The measures that the minister here presents and that the government is now taking are very much about what comes afterwards, when people have already become ill and when they are to return to work.
We must ensure that the preventive work functions, and for that, the employers need much better knowledge. One needs to be able to use occupational health services. One also needs to ensure that this is detected in time, even by the Swedish Work Environment Authority. And when the regulatory framework is not followed, when one does not do what one is supposed to do and does not work systematically with the work environment, it should be able to have consequences in the form of a sanction fee.
Work-related stress has become one of our greatest occupational environment challenges. We are hitting negative records – record after record – due to stress.
I mean that this is not worthy of a modern Swedish labor market.
I want nothing more than for the government's new work environment strategy to become a starting point for real change and that steps are now taken to present reforms that have an effect on stress and unsustainable workload.
I still mean that we need to tighten the requirements on employers, give Arbetsmiljöverket new tools and secure the future for the vital occupational health care. It is not about burdens for employers, it is about people's lives and health.
Statsrådet Nina Larsson (L)
Madam Speaker! Many thanks, Johanna Haraldsson, for the important questions and the opportunity to discuss them!
A good working life where we have zero tolerance for this type of accidents and injuries and can truly proactively improve a good working life is completely central. It is also completely crucial for Swedish and European competitiveness in these times when economic security is a chip in the geopolitical game.
The government's goal regarding the working environment is clear: No one should have to be injured, become ill, or die as a result of their job. A prerequisite for this is the daily systematic and preventive work on the working environment, which Johanna Haraldsson very rightly points out.
The work on the working environment in the Swedish labor market is based on the Swedish working environment legislation, and it is and will continue to be the systematic and preventive work on the working environment that is the basis for a good, safe and equal working environment. This also applies to issues concerning the social and organizational working environment.
The responsibility for the work environment and thus for reducing stress and high workload lies, quite rightly, with the employer. The government's responsibility is to ensure a clear regulatory framework and good conditions for the Swedish Work Environment Authority to provide information and conduct supervision. The Swedish Work Environment Authority has also received significant additional funding to streamline that supervision.
I look forward very much to the upcoming work environment strategy, which can continue to point out a direction for this important area.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.