Response to interpellation 2025/26:239 on wage subsidies for platform work
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns the use of wage subsidies for platform work in the taxi industry. L argues that wage subsidies are an important support for people with reduced work capacity and that the government has facilitated controls to ensure that the subsidies are used correctly 1 2. L emphasizes that Arbetsförmedlingen is responsible for follow-up and that the government is now implementing stricter controls to counter fraud 2 3. S argues that it is problematic when subsidies are used for work without clear supervision or good conditions 4 5. S criticizes that the authority prioritizes employment goals over the work environment and argues that the current use risks becoming a waste of tax money 5 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.
Arbetsmarknadsministern Johan Britz (L)
Madam Speaker! Adrian Magnusson has asked me how I view the use of wage subsidies to subsidize platform work in the taxi industry. He has also asked whether I and the government are prepared to take any measures in light of the information raised in the interpellation.
I would like to start by thanking Adrian Magnusson for this important question.
Wage subsidies are an important support that makes it possible for persons with reduced work capacity to obtain and retain a job. But the support must be used in the correct way. It is required, among other things, that the employer follows the conditions for the subsidy and the work environment legislation and offers good and fair conditions.
The government has facilitated the controls of wage subsidies, among other things through digital controls, cross-referencing of data and workplace visits. I assume that Arbetsförmedlingen applies the regulatory framework for platform work in the taxi industry and follows up on the employments.
Adrian Magnusson (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you to Minister for Employment Britz for that answer!
Just as the Minister states in his answer, this is an important issue that deserves attention. It is an important article and an important revelation, or how one shall put it, that has been made by Skånes Folkblad here in Skåne.
The Minister and I completely agree that the wage subsidy is an important support that makes it possible for people who might otherwise have had very difficult to find a job to get a job. It can be even more important in times of high unemployment, when precisely this group risks falling even further away from the labor market. Society actually has a responsibility and a task to ensure that people can get work despite different circumstances.
Madam Speaker! It is just as important, at least in my opinion, that the wage subsidy is used in the correct way – that it actually provides people with bearable work which, in cases where it is possible for them, is closer to regular work, not further away, and that, as the Minister says, there are good and fair conditions. It is extremely important.
The wage subsidy obviously may not also be used for lowering conditions on the Swedish labor market. But, Madam Speaker, what Skånes Folkblad writes about in its article raises many questions regarding the procedure.
An example reported by the newspaper concerns a man in Kävlinge who – it is explicitly stated in the application – is to drive taxi for Bolt and Uber via a company that employs him. Arbetsförmedlingen itself states in a comment in the article that it is a prerequisite that the employer shall provide continuous guidance. There are certainly good reasons to reflect on what continuous guidance looks like in such a case.
The Minister states in his response that he assumes that Arbetsförmedlingen applies the regulatory framework for platform work in the taxi industry and follows up on the employments. In Skånes Folkblad's article, an anonymous employee at Arbetsförmedlingen states: We have targets for how many we should get into employment – how we do it is less important. Actual control is rarely performed. Often it is enough that the system shows a green check mark when we check against Skatteverket.
It can also be read from the decision documents in these cases that there is no clear plan for how the workplace is to be adapted to the employees, which is usually a prerequisite for wage subsidies, and that the supervision to be provided is very limited. It states, for example, in some of the decision documents that the supervision shall take place via telephone. This is perhaps not so strange in a taxi company that works against the platform companies. In some cases, it also explicitly states that the supervision shall take place remotely.
Madam Speaker! From this article, it also becomes clear that there seem to be different views within Arbetsförmedlingen on how companies' applications for wage subsidies should be assessed. According to the article, some managers within the agency believe that it is not a problem for wage subsidies to be paid out to this type of company as long as the company pays tax and social security contributions. On the other hand, another manager within the agency expresses that the suitability of the workplace is central in the assessment of whether wage subsidies should be paid out to the company in question.
Madam Speaker! 4 billion kronor are paid out annually in wage subsidies to various companies around this country. It must be of the utmost importance that those who receive their employment through wage subsidies get a good job – in the best of worlds a job that brings them closer to a so-called regular job or at least a tolerable job where they feel they are developing and can contribute to society – and that they are not instead exploited by actors who see a chance to earn an extra buck, furthermore at the taxpayers' expense.
My question to the Minister for Employment is: Does the Minister really think it is reasonable that wage subsidies are used in this way?
Arbetsmarknadsministern Johan Britz (L)
Madam Speaker! I thank you again for the question.
There are clear conditions for wage subsidies to be used and granted. It is a state support that Arbetsförmedlingen provides to employers who hire persons with disabilities when the disability involves reduced work capacity. The employment is a regular employment but shall be adapted to the job seeker's needs and circumstances. The purpose is to strengthen the individual's opportunities to obtain or retain a job where his or her competence and skills are utilized. Arbetsförmedlingen assesses whether the workplace and the work tasks are suitable.
In order for wage subsidies to be granted, the employer must fulfill a number of conditions. The employer shall, among other things, be registered with Skatteverket, comply with the work environment legislation, offer a safe working environment, have the prerequisites for supervision and adaptation of work tasks, and apply collective agreements or equivalent conditions. These requirements aim to ensure that the employment takes place under safe conditions and with good working conditions.
It is Arbetsförmedlingen that is responsible for the follow-up of the wage subsidy, and they carry out ongoing controls to ensure that the support is justified and that the employment functions in accordance with the regulations.
This government stands for order and tidiness. State funds and support shall be used correctly, and they shall go to secure jobs with good working conditions.
Adrian Magnusson (S)
Madam Speaker! The Minister concluded by saying that this government stands for order and tidiness and that state funds shall go to jobs that provide good conditions. The latter I have not always heard from Members of Parliament from other parties here in the chamber, but precisely order and tidiness is constantly recurring. When it comes to this type of use of tax revenue, this has recurred from all the Ministers for Employment and Ministers for Working Life who have passed through the Ministry of Employment this mandate period.
What *Skånes Folkblad* has written about makes one wonder whether this is truly a good use of tax money and whether it is really order and tidiness that prevails at Arbetsförmedlingen in this case. I do not need to tell the Minister for Employment that it is ultimately the government that governs the realm and also the country's agencies – Arbetsförmedlingen is one of these.
I think it is remarkable that information is coming out that this occurs here at all, just as one pays out wage subsidies for this type of work when the minister stands here and says that the guidance is a central part of the wage subsidy management itself.
I am personally very curious to see what that supervision looks like in practice and whether these companies are in the taxi and supervising the taxi driver. I am skeptical about that. Furthermore, it appears in the decision basis that this is not how it happens, but rather that supervision takes place remotely or via telephone or whatever it may be.
One can talk about the importance of order and tidiness, but I must nevertheless say that the words echo a bit hollowly when such things obviously occur and when there are even managers at Arbetsförmedlingen who say that it is in order as long as one meets the formal requirements that the Minister for Employment read out at the beginning – that one is registered with Skatteverket and the like, that is, purely formal requirements.
Something else that the Minister for Employment took up was that it is important to follow the work environment legislation. I think it would have been very interesting to see how one, as an employer in this case, ensures that the work environment legislation is followed when working in this way in the taxi industry.
There is another dimension that we haven't even raised. I believe there can arise quite a few cases where the employer argues that it is the app one works towards that is responsible for the work environment and not the employer. Then we slide into another issue on the Swedish labor market that is quite decisive. We get an additional dimension when one asks who it is that ensures that the work environment legislation is followed.
I cannot answer how widespread it is, but it appears in the article in Skånes Folkblad that there is a perception among a caseworker at Arbetsförmedlingen that it is more important that employment goals are met than that one ensures that people have good conditions and that they actually have supervision or that the work environment legislation is followed. This also raises a lot of question marks.
I would really like to know if the government and the minister think that this is a reasonable order. Do you think that the wage subsidy should be used in the way that it is obviously used in a number of cases in Skåne and with all certainty also in other parts of the country? Does the government really think that this is a reasonable way to use the wage subsidy, considering that one often talks about order and regularity in the payments of this type of subsidy?
Arbetsmarknadsministern Johan Britz (L)
Madam Speaker! We are now implementing various types of tightened controls of wage subsidies which will reduce the risk of incorrect payments and fraud. Arbetsförmedlingen has been tasked to contribute to the overall goals that payments from the welfare systems shall be correct, that the proportion of incorrect payments shall decrease, and that errors and abuse shall be countered.
Regarding the wage subsidy specifically, intensified controls are underway, and more are planned. The controls include various types of systematic analyses to detect incorrect payments. Arbetsförmedlingen also conducts workplace visits. The purpose is to ensure that the support goes to the right people and that the regulations are followed. Arbetsförmedlingen also collaborates with Utbetalningsmyndigheten to counter abuse and fraud with subsidized employment.
The government prioritizes the work against incorrect payments and subsidy crimes directed against the public sector. It is to counter errors and fraud that the government has facilitated the implementation of the controls of wage subsidies.
Adrian Magnusson (S)
Madam Speaker! It is good that Arbetsförmedlingen focuses on ensuring that the fraud with wage subsidies decreases.
I may not have quite received an answer to the question I asked at the beginning of the interpellation regarding how one views this development and – as I tried to elaborate in my previous remarks – how one views this phenomenon generally. The Minister still has a turn, so I can get an answer in his final remark.
The Minister spoke about that the Arbetsförmedlingen has been given a mandate to tighten its controls through, for example, workplace visits. I understand that the Minister for Employment may not be able to dive deep into the Arbetsförmedlingen's operations, but based on how the Minister for Employment views the use of wage subsidies, I wonder if he imagines that this could be a sector that should be particularly scrutinized.
I still want to assert that the Minister, in his first contribution, accounted meritworthily for what the purpose of the wage subsidy is. I am very critical that the purpose of the wage subsidy is fulfilled in this type of employment.
Could the Minister consider reflecting on whether this is a sector, or a specific type of wage subsidy payments, that may need to be scrutinized particularly? We cannot have it be that wage subsidies are paid out without there being order and clarity – wage subsidies that furthermore do not provide work that is meaningful, either for the individual in question or for society as a whole. It would not only be a waste of the state's finances but also of the individual's life. I believe that even an ideological liberal can agree with that.
Arbetsmarknadsministern Johan Britz (L)
Madam Speaker! Adrian Magnusson raised the issue of gig jobs in general. It may be worth mentioning that we are in the process of implementing the EU's platform directive while simultaneously respecting the Swedish model. We are working on how this shall be implemented in Swedish legislation. The directive aims, among other things, to improve working conditions within platform work, that is, what is called the gig economy.
The government has appointed an inquiry with the task of analyzing how the platform directive should be implemented in Swedish law. The report has recently been submitted to the government, and the inquiry's proposals have been referred. That is where the question lies. It is important that we ensure a correct and effective implementation of the EU's platform directive in Swedish law. I believe at the same time that we are in agreement here that we shall safeguard the Swedish labor market model.
Regarding the wage subsidies and their function, I believe we are in complete agreement that this is an important measure aimed at a vulnerable group that needs help in the labor market. They shall receive that help and that support through the fulfillment of the regulatory framework I have set out previously. That is what we are completely in agreement on.
I think this is a very important discussion, which I thank you for, because we of course constantly need to ensure – which the government does through various measures – that the tax money we invest in this is to the benefit of both the individual and for society, as the member so profitably expressed it.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.