The waiting period deduction

The plan demands a humane sickness insurance and that those who become sick can rely on receiving benefits without having to bleed themselves dry. The waiting period deduction hits according to the counter-proposal particularly hard against wage earners in working-class professions, which addresses the plan's class analysis of who bears insecurity. A more comprehensive reform of the waiting period and sick pay therefore follows from the plan's commitment to robust security systems based on the income-loss principle.

• humane sickness insurancedecisive»Vänsterpartiet vill se en mänsklig sjukförsäkring och ett slut på utförsäkrandet av sjuka.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The Left Party wants to see a humane sickness insurance and an end to exclusion of the sick.”
• reliable sick benefits»När du blir sjuk eller föder barn ska du kunna lita på att få ersättning från Försäkringskassan utan att behöva stånga dig blodig.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“When you become sick or have a baby, you should be able to rely on receiving benefit from the Insurance Office without having to bleed yourself dry.”
• income-loss principle»tighetsbaserade och grundade i en inkomstbortfallsprincip är viktigt« (party programme ↗)“tightsness-based and based on an income-loss principle is important”
• robust security systems»Tryggheten i ett samhälle hänger ihop med hur våra trygghetssystem fungerar – a-kassan, sjukförsäkringen, LSS och pensionerna.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Security in a society is connected to how our security systems work – the unemployment insurance, sickness insurance, LSS and pensions.”

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 explicitly promises a billion reform during the mandate period to change the sickness benefit deductible and increase fairness for all who cannot work from home, on the grounds that the deductible hits hard against LO union members. It is the same injustice the counter-proposal wants to address through a more comprehensive reform. The party programme's demand for good economic protection when income falls points in the same direction.

• reform of sickness benefit deductibledecisive»Därför vill vi under nästa mandatperiod genomföra en miljardreform för att förändra karensavdraget och öka rättvisan för alla som inte kan jobba hemifrån.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Therefore, we want during the next mandate period to implement a billion reform to change the sickness benefit deductible and increase fairness for all who cannot work from home.”
• the deductible hits working-class occupations»Karensavdraget skapar en ekonomisk orättvisa som slår hårt mot LO-förbundens medlemmar och andra som fysiskt måste vara på jobbet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The sickness benefit deductible creates an economic injustice that hits hard against LO union members and others who must physically be at work.”
• income-loss principle»Ett gott ekonomiskt skydd när den egna förvärvsinkomsten faller bort är grundläggande« (party programme ↗)“Good economic protection when own earned income falls away is fundamental”

The plan explicitly demands that the waiting period in sickness insurance be abolished and that sickness insurance be changed so that it provides better security when on sick leave. A more comprehensive reform of the waiting period deduction and sick pay, motivated by the fact that the deduction hits hardest against manual workers, is directly in line with this and with the plan's distributive profile. An internal proposal that does not address the injustice is therefore not sufficient according to the plan.

• abolished waiting perioddecisive»slopa karensdagen i sjukförsäkringen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“abolish the waiting period in sickness insurance.”
• more secure sickness insurance»förändra sjukförsäkringen så den ger bättre trygghet vid sjukskrivning och se till att människor inte bollas mellan myndigheter när de behöver samhällets stöd.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“change sickness insurance so it provides better security when on sick leave and see to it that people are not passed between authorities when they need society's support.”
• basic economic security»Alla har rätt till grundläggande ekonomisk« (party programme ↗)“Everyone has the right to basic economic”
• raised minimum levels for illness»höja den lägsta nivån i sjuk- och aktivitetsersättningarna.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“raise the lowest level in sickness and activity benefits.”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The plan does not address the waiting period deduction. Its bearing labour market commitments are that it should become cheaper and easier to hire and that the work line shall be protected, which speaks against a more comprehensive reform of waiting periods and sickness benefit that places additional costs on employers. The plan at the same time wants to make sickness leave more flexible, which pulls the other way, so the position is uncertain.

• cheaper to hiredecisive»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 who are far from the labour market.”
• protected work line»Arbetslinjen måste värnas, och den som kan jobba ska inte leva på skattebetalarnas pengar.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The work line must be protected, and the person who can work should not live on taxpayers' money.”
• more flexible sickness leave»Vi vill förbättra rehabiliteringen och göra sjukskrivningen mer flexibel.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to improve rehabilitation and make sickness leave more flexible.”

The plan explicitly accepts that there must always be a self-payment in social insurance, which is exactly the waiting period the counter-proposal wants to reform away. The plan's own direction on sick leave is instead to lift the burden from businesses by abolishing the second week of sick leave, not to redistribute the waiting period among occupational groups. At the same time the plan wants sickness insurance to provide financial security during illness, which gives some but not decisive support to the counter-proposal.

• self-payment in social insurancedecisive»Även om det alltid behöver finnas en självrisk ska« (party programme ↗)“Even though there must always be a self-payment”
• abolished second week of sick leave»I första hand bör ett avskaffande av den andra sjuklöneveckan prioriteras.« (party programme ↗)“First and foremost, abolition of the second week of sick leave should be prioritized.”
• link between benefit and premium»Det ska finnas ett tydligt samband mellan förmåner och inbetalade premier.« (party programme ↗)“There shall be a clear link between benefits and paid premiums.”
• security during illness»Sjukförsäkringen ska ge ekonomisk trygghet vid både kortvarig och kronisk sjukdom, och ska vara« (party programme ↗)“Sickness insurance shall provide financial security for both short-term and chronic illness, and shall be”

The party programme requires that compensation levels be designed so that the individual is stimulated to take measures leading to good health and return to work, and that insurance system elements exist to avoid too large a share of tax-financed spending. A more comprehensive reform of waiting periods and sick leave in the direction the counter-proposal indicates goes against that trade-off and places costs on employers. However, the plan's requirement for reasonable security in case of illness points partly in the other direction.

• ersättningar ska stimulera återgångdecisive»Nivåerna på ersättningarna ska utformas så att den enskilde stimuleras att delta i åtgärder som leder till så god hälsa som möjligt och återgång till arbetslivet.« (party programme ↗)“Compensation levels should be designed so that the individual is stimulated to participate in measures leading to as good health as possible and return to work.”
• begränsad skattefinansiering»Inslag av försäkringssystem bör finnas för att undvika alltför stor andel skattefinansierade utgifter.« (party programme ↗)“Insurance system elements should exist to avoid too large a share of tax-financed spending.”
• småföretagarperspektiv»Tillkommande lagar bör prövas ur ett småföretagarperspektiv.« (party programme ↗)“Future laws should be tested from a small business perspective.”
• rimlig trygghet vid sjukdom»Socialförsäkringssystemen ska vara utformade så att alla får en rimlig trygghet vid sjukdom, arbetslöshet, arbetsskada och pension.« (party programme ↗)“Social security systems should be designed so that everyone receives reasonable security in case of illness, unemployment, occupational injury and pension.”

The plan is built on the work requirement shall be re-established and that the welfare commitment shall not be in constant expansion, and that public welfare can never be demand-free. A more comprehensive reform that reduces waiting periods and sick pay weakens the incentive that waiting periods create and expands the commitment. The plan therefore speaks against the counter-proposal's demands.

• no constant expansiondecisive»Ett långsiktigt hot mot den svenska välfärden är föreställningen om att den befinner sig i ett ständigt pågående skede« (party programme ↗)“A long-term threat to Swedish welfare is the idea that it is in a constant stage of expansion”
• welfare with demands»Den offentliga välfärden får aldrig vara kravlös.« (party programme ↗)“Public welfare can never be demand-free.”
• the work requirement»vi ska återupprätta arbetslinjen« (2022 manifesto ↗)“we shall re-establish the work requirement”

The plan wants to abolish the absence deduction for preschool staff and states that it should be possible to stay home when ill instead of working, and that employee economic security should increase. A more comprehensive reform of the absence deduction and sick pay, which corrects the fact that the deduction hits hardest on working-class occupations, aligns with this. The plan also wants to reduce sick pay costs for small businesses.

• abolished absence deductiondecisive»Slopa karensavdraget för förskolepersonal« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Abolish the absence deduction for preschool staff”
• right to be ill»Det ska vara möjligt att stanna hemma då man är sjuk istället för att jobba.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“It should be possible to stay home when ill instead of working.”
• security for employees»Öka den ekonomiska tryggheten för löntagare« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Increase economic security for employees”
• lower sick pay costs»Sänka arbetsgivaravgiften och sjuklönekostnaderna för småföretag« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Lower employer contributions and sick pay costs for small businesses”

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.