Penalty fees

The plan requires strengthened employment rights with higher standards for the work environment and specifically points out that stress-related illness is increasing without the work environment changing. Being able to impose sanction fees even for deficiencies in the organizational and social work environment follows from that commitment. The plan does not mention sanction fees as an instrument, however, which is why the support is derived.

• address unhealthy work environmentdecisive»Stressrelaterade sjukdomar blir allt vanligare och psykisk ohälsa ökar särskilt bland kvinnor och hos unga utan att det leder till utbyggd vård eller förändrad arbetsmiljö.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Stress-related illnesses are becoming increasingly common and mental illness is rising especially among women and young people without leading to expanded care or changed work environment.”
• strengthened employment rights»tryggare anställningar, högre krav på arbetsmiljön och en starkare« (party programme ↗)“more secure employment, higher standards for the work environment and a stronger”
• organizational work environment in welfare»Kombinationen av marknadslösningar, byråkrati och resursbrist har skapat närmast omänskliga villkor för de samhällsbärare vi inte klarar oss utan.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The combination of market solutions, bureaucracy and resource shortages has created virtually inhumane conditions for the societal pillars we cannot do without.”
• strong employment law»Vänsterpartiet kommer att fortsätta försvara förhandlingsrätten och en stark arbetsrättslagstiftning.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The Left Party will continue to defend collective bargaining rights and strong employment law.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The election manifesto states that it must never pay to gain competitive advantages by neglecting employees' right to a safe working environment, which requires tangible consequences even when the deficiencies are organizational and social. The party programme counts psychologically demanding working environments as a serious problem and requires strong labour law legislation as protection. The counter-proposal's requirement for penalty fees also in this area aligns with the plan.

• safe working environment must not be circumventeddecisive»Det ska aldrig löna sig att begå brott eller skaffa sig konkurrensfördelar genom att försumma de anställdas rätt till en trygg arbetsmiljö.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“It shall never pay to commit crime or gain competitive advantages by neglecting employees' right to a safe working environment.”
• psychological working environment is a problem»hälsa i fysiskt eller psykiskt pressande arbetsmiljöer« (party programme ↗)“health in physically or psychologically demanding working environments”
• strong labour law legislation»arbetsrättslig lagstiftning behövs som skydd för de anställda.« (party programme ↗)“labour law legislation is needed as protection for employees.”
• crackdown on workplace crime»Krafttag mot arbetslivskriminaliteten.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Crackdown on workplace crime.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan's commitment to a good physical and psychosocial working environment explicitly encompasses the social and organisational side of working life, and the party explicitly points out that people are worn down by stress and harsh working conditions. The counter-proposal's demand for penalty fees also for shortcomings in the organisational and social working environment gives that side of occupational health work the same weight as the physical. The plan also favours legislation and economic instruments as tools when conditions fall short.

• psychosocial working environment equateddecisive»Alla har rätt till friskvård och en god fysisk och psykosocial arbetsmiljö.« (party programme ↗)“Everyone has the right to exercise and a good physical and psychosocial working environment.”
• prevent stress burnout»Hela samhället tjänar på att människor orkar och vill arbeta fram till pensionen utan att slås ut på grund av stress eller för hårda arbetsvillkor.« (party programme ↗)“Society as a whole benefits from people being able and willing to work until retirement without being worn down by stress or harsh working conditions.”
• improved working conditions»Deras arbetsvillkor måste förbättras.« (party programme ↗)“Their working conditions must be improved.”

The plan's central commitment on the employer side is to clean up the legal framework and make it cheaper and easier to hire, not to expand penalty fees to new and difficult-to-assess areas. Expanding penalty fees to deficiencies in organizational and social working conditions places a new administrative and economic burden first and foremost on small employers. The plan certainly wants employers to take greater responsibility for preventive measures against stress-related illness, but it prescribes support and rehabilitation rather than penalty fees.

• reduced regulatory complexity for businessesdecisive»Rensa upp i regelträsket för entreprenörer, stora som små.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Clear up the regulatory thicket for entrepreneurs, large and small.”
• cheaper to hire»Det måste bli billigare och lättare att anställa, särskilt personer som står långt från arbetsmarknaden.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“It must become cheaper and easier to hire, especially people far removed from the labour market.”
• lower administrative burden»minska den administrativa bördan för små och nystartade företag.« (party programme ↗)“reduce the administrative burden for small and newly established businesses.”
• employer responsibility for prevention»Arbetsgivare bör ta ett större ansvar för förebyggande insatser och rehabilitering.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Employers should take greater responsibility for preventive measures and rehabilitation.”

The plan does not address sanction fees for organizational and social working environment. The closest commitments are that the regulatory burden shall decrease and that the rules of the game shall make it easy to do the right thing, which argues against extending sanction fees to a difficult-to-assess area. At the same time, the plan wants to make employers' preventive incentives clearer, but through reliefs rather than new fees.

• reduced regulatory burden for businessesdecisive»Regelbördan för små företag ska minska, genom ansträngningar på både kommunal, statlig och europeisk nivå, och offentliga beslut analyseras ur småföretagarperspektiv.« (party programme ↗)“The regulatory burden on small businesses shall decrease, through efforts at municipal, state and European level, and public decisions analyzed from a small business perspective.”
• predictable rules of the game»Vi vill ha spelregler som gör det lätt att göra rätt och säkerställer konkurrens på rättvisa villkor även i digitaliseringens och delningsekonomins tid.« (party programme ↗)“We want rules of the game that make it easy to do the right thing and ensure competition on fair terms even in the era of digitalization and the sharing economy.”
• clearer preventive incentives»Företagens sjuklöneansvar bör slopas på sikt, samtidigt som arbetsgivarnas incitament att förebygga arbetsrelaterade skador och sjukdomar och bidra till rehabilitering av anställda ska bli tydligare.« (party programme ↗)“Employers' responsibility for sick pay should be abolished in the long term, while employers' incentives to prevent work-related injuries and illnesses and contribute to rehabilitation of employees shall become clearer.”

The party programme establishes that worker protection shall include mental health and that the state shall actively work for a better work environment through advice, support and supervision. A sanctions instrument covering the organizational and social work environment is an application of the high ambition level the plan requires of work environment legislation. The plan simultaneously urges that new regulations be tested from a small business perspective, which dampens the certainty of the conclusion.

• mental health in the work environmentdecisive»Ett väl fungerande arbetarskydd och god arbetsmiljö ska ta hänsyn till såväl fysisk som psykisk hälsa hos arbetstagarna.« (party programme ↗)“Good occupational health and safety and a good work environment shall take account of both physical and mental health of employees.”
• state supervision of the work environment»Staten ska bland annat genom rådgivning, stöd och kontroll aktivt verka för en förbättrad arbetsmiljö.« (party programme ↗)“The state shall among other things through advice, support and supervision actively work for an improved work environment.”
• high ambition in work environment legislation»En hög ambitionsnivå ska prägla lagar och arbetet för bra arbetsmiljöer.« (party programme ↗)“A high level of ambition shall characterize laws and work for good work environments.”
• small business perspective on new regulations»Tillkommande lagar bör prövas ur ett småföretagarperspektiv.« (party programme ↗)“Forthcoming laws should be tested from a small business perspective.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan's bearing commitment on the employer side is deregulation: one-third of bureaucratic red tape and companies' administrative costs shall be removed and processing times shortened. Expanding penalty charges to deficiencies in the organisational and social working environment instead places a new and difficult-to-assess penalty liability on employers. The plan gives no support for such an expansion.

• minskat regelkrångeldecisive»Ta bort en tredjedel av företagens administrationskostnader och en tredjedel av regelkrånglet« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Remove one-third of companies' administrative costs and one-third of bureaucratic red tape”
• byråkrati hämmar tillväxt»Men höga skatter, krångliga tillståndsprocesser och byråkrati sätter käppar i hjulet för innovation och tillväxt.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“But high taxes, complicated permit processes and bureaucracy put obstacles in the way of innovation and growth.”
• förutsebar myndighetsutövning»Korta myndigheternas handläggningstider genom en bortre tidsgräns« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Shorten government agencies' processing times through an outer deadline”
• överreglering skadar jobben»Alltför höga skatter och en överreglerad ekonomi har hämmat tillväxt och jobbskapande« (party programme ↗)“Too high taxes and an overregulated economy have impeded growth and job creation”

The plan requires that new rules shall be cost-effective and that unnecessary rules and administrative burden for businesses are removed, which speaks against expanding sanction charges to the difficult to delimit organizational and social working environment area. The plan certainly establishes that no one shall be seriously injured at work, but its tools are sound occupational health work and a depoliticization of occupational health work, not more sanction charges against employers.

• cost-effective regulationsdecisive»Nya regler ska vara kostnadseffektiva och befintliga regler behöver ses över.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“New rules shall be cost-effective and existing rules need to be reviewed.”
• reduced regulatory burden»Verka för regelförenkling och avlasta småföretagens administrativa börda« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Work for simplification of rules and relieve small businesses' administrative burden”
• safe working environment»Ingen ska behöva avlida eller skadas allvarligt på jobbet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“No one shall have to die or be seriously injured at work.”
• depoliticized occupational health work»Sverigedemokraterna vill avpolitisera arbetsmiljöarbetet genom att avveckla politiskt styrda fackförbunds företrädesrätt att utse skyddsombud.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden Democrats want to depoliticize occupational health work by phasing out politically controlled trade unions' preferential right to appoint safety representatives.”