Response to interpellations 2024/25:307 and 322 on the timeline for the Occupational Injury Inquiry's proposal

Statsrådet Anna Tenje (M)

Madam Speaker! I have been asked what I intend to do during the year 2025 to ensure that the proposals from the Office for Sustainable Working Life and other relevant completed investigations that can increase the labor supply become a reality.

Jessica Rodén has asked me when the government intends to proceed with the Occupational Injury Inquiry's proposals and how I intend to ensure that more people affected by occupational injuries have their rights met. Jessica Rodén has also asked me what measures I and the government plan to take to improve protection for vulnerable groups in the labor market, such as women in the welfare sector and employees in physically demanding occupations.

Over 1 million people are not self-sufficient, and the unemployment rate is almost three times higher among foreign-born than among domestic-born. Against this background, the government has from day one had a clear course toward a more efficient labor market policy and an increased labor supply. The government's budget for 2025 is aimed at getting more people into work and increasing growth and productivity. This is achieved, among other things, through extensive investments in infrastructure, research, and education, but also in the area of social insurance. The government's strategy to get more into employment is aimed at activating the unemployed through measures that provide knowledge in the Swedish language and training that benefits the competence supply.

In Arbetsförmedlingen's regulation letter for 2025, the agency is tasked with improving the matching and monitoring of job seekers. One aspect of this work is the continued focus on increasing the professional and geographical mobility among job seekers. Those who are unemployed shall be offered the right support and measures, but society must also set requirements that they participate and activate themselves.

The Government also intends to implement a comprehensive benefit reform to address the large-scale exclusion and increase the labor supply. The benefit reform consists of three parts: a benefit ceiling so that benefits are not higher than the income from work, a gradual qualification for the Swedish welfare system, and an activity requirement linked to social assistance to counter long-term benefit dependency and so that the individual may approach self-sufficiency.

Increasing the labor supply is a priority also within the social insurance system. In the budget for 2025, the Government allocated nearly 100 million kronor to finance a number of measures to strengthen the return to work, including through increased coordination of rehabilitation efforts, work-oriented rehabilitation support, and a review of increased opportunities for studies for those who receive sickness and activity compensation.

The new provisions in the parental leave regarding that the number of so-called double days is doubled and that parents are given expanded opportunities to transfer parental leave to another insured person, which were introduced on July 1, 2024, contribute to parents being able to better combine work life with family life in periods in life that require more flexibility. These provisions strengthen the work line and parents' power to design their own lives.

For the government, it is a priority to continue working to ensure that everyone who can be available for the labor market makes an effort to get a job and becomes self-sufficient. The proposals submitted by the Office for Sustainable Working Life, together with the proposals in the other investigations Åsa Eriksson refers to, constitute important foundations for the government's continued work to increase the labor supply. Some of the proposals have been adopted, and others are still being prepared in the Government Offices.

The investigation that Åsa Eriksson refers to and that Jessica Rodén has asked about is the Occupational Injury Investigation which, in September 2023, submitted the report A Purposeful Occupational Injury Insurance - for better economic security, knowledge and legal certainty (SOU 2023:53). I would therefore like to answer both members that it is of the utmost importance that we make careful considerations before we choose appropriate measures that ensure that the occupational injury insurance becomes more purposeful and legally secure for all employees.

The occupational injury inquiry has submitted a comprehensive and valuable basis, but the government assesses that the report lacks fundamental analyses of how the occupational injury insurance should be designed to fulfill its function given how the labor market and the sickness insurance function today. More knowledge is therefore required to be able to determine whether some of the inquiry's proposals are expedient.

Even though the government sees a need for supplementary analyses, measures have been taken aimed at ensuring that more people who are affected or risk being affected by work-related injuries have their rights met. I will gladly tell more about them in upcoming posts.

Madam Speaker! To summarize: The Government is working on a number of different measures to increase the labor supply and maintain momentum in the reform work, not least regarding the occupational injury insurance.

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Åsa Eriksson (S)

Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer.

The background to my interpellation, in which I have listed seven different investigations, is that we believe far too little is happening when it comes to increasing the security for Sweden's wage earners. Minister Anna Tenje and I have had several debates in the chamber, and Anna Tenje often says nice things, such as things we Social Democrats can stand behind, like improving things for people who are on sick leave, creating a more sustainable working life, improving protection for pregnant women, and so on. But then very little happens. It is good that the Minister, in her response, talks about progress, but the progress I notice is new wording in the budget bill, which are in themselves nice and good wordings that I stand behind, but where are the reforms?

When the Minister received the inquiry on sustainable working life, the Minister spoke about the importance of increasing the labor supply, and I agree with them that it is. We all know that we have a large shortage of doctors, psychologists, nurses, and nursing assistants, to name a few. These are professional groups where sick leave is increasing. It concerns primarily stress-related ill health, with long sick leaves as a consequence. It is also a reason why many trained in these professions choose to leave their jobs – they cannot endure it.

For me as a Social Democrat, it appears urgent to implement the proposals that the investigation lists. I wonder why it takes so long, Madam Speaker. Some of the proposals that come from the investigation are calls to the government. It is argued, for example, that the government must ensure that employers offer a better working environment and prevent stress-related ill health. I believe that the Minister and I are in agreement on that point; it is indicated by the new wording in this year's budget bill.

What the Minister is doing is providing 100 million kronor. How many kronor will that be per employer who has staff on sick leave? What does the Minister mean that the employers should do with that money? I think it is a modest sum, to say the least, if one means that it is an investment that is supposed to make a difference. I hope that more will come, perhaps already in the spring budget.

Madam Speaker! In another proposal from the commission, the government is urged to demand strengthened rehabilitation efforts from employers to accelerate the return to work. It is also something that the Minister usually says she considers to be important.

I think that testing social outcome contracts sounds interesting, like investing in young and foreign-born women so that more can enter the workforce.

I would like to conclude by asking the Minister: Which of these requests will the Minister proceed with and realize this year, so that there will be sufficient competence for tomorrow's working life?

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Jessica Rodén (S)

Madam Speaker! The Minister received questions from me regarding the occupational injury insurance but chose to answer them by stating that more people must enter the workforce. I find this remarkable. At the same time as the government talks about labor supply, benefit ceilings, and activity requirements, a policy to create more jobs is completely missing. Unemployment is increasing, food prices continue to rise, and many people are struggling to make ends meet. This is the reality in Sweden today.

Many who have a job to go to have a job that wears them out. It is women in health and social care, construction workers, cleaning staff and others with heavy work tasks who are affected by injuries that impact their quality of life and economic security. They cannot work any longer, no matter how much the government wishes it, but they need a secure insurance that catches them when the body no longer holds up.

Madam Speaker! The occupational injury investigation proposed, among other things, that the exceptions in the insurance which today cause many who are injured at work to be denied compensation should be removed. It is a concrete proposal that would strengthen the security for those who work the hardest in our society. But what is the government and the Sverigedemokraterna doing? They are doing nothing. The Minister says that more analyses are required, but what we need is action.

The government and the Sweden Democrats talk about more people entering the workforce but ignore that their own policy leads to more layoffs and increased unemployment. At the same time, they fail those who already have a job to go to.

For us Social Democrats, it is obvious that those who are worn out at work should have the right to compensation. We should not have a labor market where people are expected to work until they break down without a secure system when that is needed.

Madam Speaker! When will the government understand that the work line is not just about pushing people into any job at any cost? When will the proposals arrive?

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Arber Gashi (S)

Madam Speaker! I intended to spend a few minutes discussing the social insurance protection for pregnant women, which was not mentioned with a single word in the answer but which was part of the interpellation.

Being pregnant should not entail an economic or social risk, but for many women, that is exactly what it has become. We have seen countless testimonies of pregnant women forced to work despite medical certificates stating they should be on sick leave, women who are denied applications for pregnancy allowance, and parents who worry about their finances instead of focusing on their health and their child.

It is about women who work in healthcare and who are forced to lift heavy patients despite having rheumatoid arthritis and severe pain, it is about pregnant women who work in retail environments where they stand all day without the possibility of relief, and it is about self-employed people who do not receive sufficient protection and are therefore forced to work until the very end, with risk to their own and their child's health.

The investigation report "A more modern social insurance protection for pregnant women" contains clear proposals to address this. It points out how pregnant women fall between the cracks in the system and how the protection for them needs to be strengthened. It has been on the government's desk for over a year, but nothing has happened.

Madam Speaker! How long must women have to risk their health because they biologically carry a child? How many women must be denied maternity benefits before the system is reviewed? Women's health and safety during pregnancy cannot wait. I want to have an answer on this from the Minister for Social Insurance.

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Sanne Lennström (S)

Madam Speaker! I would like to address another investigation report that is also on the government's table. It is called Rätt och lätt - an improved regulatory framework for VAB.

Parents of children with diabetes bear a great responsibility for their children's health. The illness is chronic and requires daily self-care. One of five guardians of children with diabetes testifies that they are often forced to step in as resource persons in school without being able to receive compensation from Försäkringskassan. This means that parents are forced to take unpaid leave from their jobs to ensure that their children receive the help and security they need.

The children are not sicker than usual and therefore do not qualify for VAB compensation. The economic pressure on these families is unacceptable and undermines both their private finances and their ability to combine parenthood with work life.

Just over 9,000 children in Sweden live today with type 1 diabetes, and an additional 900 children are affected every year. Many of these children need a resource person in school to be able to manage their illness and keep blood sugar levels at a stable level. When this resource person is absent due to illness or other reasons, the responsibility often falls on the parents. It is not a sustainable situation.

Madam Speaker! The previous Social Democratic government saw the problem and appointed an inquiry in order to be able to grant these parents the right to parental leave compensation when they are forced to substitute as resource persons in schools.

The investigation is complete, and the proposals are on the government's table. They mean that parents who step in at the school should be able to receive compensation from Försäkringskassan, which would give them financial security and ensure the children's well-being. Another proposal is that one should be able to be involved in introducing medicines for staff within both preschool and school.

The investigation was submitted in 2022 and contains many good proposals that are worth being reviewed by the government. Many parents whose children live with illness are waiting for answers on how their everyday lives can be made easier. Now it is 2025, and I believe the investigation deserves better than to gather dust on the Government Offices' or the ministry's desks.

I would therefore like to ask State Secretary Tenje: Does the government intend to proceed with the investigation to improve the situation for parents of children who have diabetes?

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Caroline Högström (M)

Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer.

I want to begin by turning against what I perceive many of the Social Democratic members are doing in this speaker's chair, which is to imply that things are not happening.

This is a reform-oriented government. In area after area, major and important reforms are being implemented to address the societal problems we face. Proposals are being submitted, most recently in the budget bill for 2025, linked to increased growth, infrastructure, and lower taxes for everyone who works. There will also be subsidy reforms, which will be presented during the spring.

As the system stands, much lies in investigations, which is also mentioned in these interpellations. But one chooses to imply that what is stated in the budget bill for 2025 is just fine words. You barely give it a month before saying: No, you are not going to do anything here!

Politics must have to take effect somewhere. I believe the proposals in the budget bill for 2025 regarding increased support for return to work can have a really important effect, Madam Speaker, but then one must give them a little more than a month to take hold.

But, Madam Speaker, it is part of the political game to beat the drum when barely a month has passed and, for that matter, to hint at and push for issues that one has not even budgeted for in one's own budget.

We can take the diabetes parents as an example. The Social Democrats themselves do not include them in their budget bill, which I, of course, think is a pity. It is important, and we need to move forward with it. The Minister will surely describe this moving forward.

But it is a high tone from the Social Democrats, Madam Speaker, even though one actually presents rather thinly when one holds the power and for that part in one's own budget motion.

(cont.)

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