Sick pay and waiting period

The plan requires humane sickness insurance and an end to removal from insurance for the sick, and that those who become ill shall be able to rely on receiving benefits without having to struggle. The waiting period deduction is exactly such an income loss that places the cost of illness on the individual. The plan's requirement for strong, comprehensive insurance that provides security throughout life therefore supports the counter-proposal's requirement that the deduction be abolished.

• humane sickness insurancedecisive»Vänsterpartiet vill se en mänsklig sjukförsäkring och ett slut på utförsäkrandet av sjuka.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The Left Party wants to see humane sickness insurance and an end to removal from insurance for the sick.”
• secure compensation when ill»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 ill or have a baby you shall be able to rely on receiving compensation from the Social Insurance Agency without having to struggle.”
• strong social insurance»Vi vill se starka försäkringar som skapar trygghet för var och en under hela livet.« (party programme ↗)“We want to see strong insurance that creates security for everyone throughout life.”
• comprehensive insurance»Att socialförsäkringarna är allmänna och heltäckande gör dem kostnadseffektiva och bygger upp förtroendet för dem.« (party programme ↗)“That social insurance is universal and comprehensive makes it cost-effective and builds confidence in it.”

The election manifesto promises a billion-reform to change the waiting period and increase justice for everyone who cannot work from home, and describes the waiting period as an economic injustice. The counter-proposal demands that a bill be promptly submitted to abolish the waiting period, which lies in the same direction as the plan's explicit commitment. The party programme moreover requires economic justice for those who cannot work from home and increased security for the sick-listed.

• reform of the waiting perioddecisive»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 term to carry out a billion-reform to change the waiting period and increase justice for everyone who cannot work from home.”
• the waiting period is unjust»Karensavdraget skapar en ekonomisk orättvisa som slår hårt mot LO-förbundens medlemmar och andra som fysiskt måste vara på jobbet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The waiting period creates an economic injustice that hits hard against LO union members and others who physically must be at work.”
• justice for those who cannot work from home»Ekonomisk rättvisa för dem som inte kan eller får arbeta hemifrån.« (party programme ↗)“Economic justice for those who cannot or may not work from home.”
• security in illness»Ökad trygghet för sjukskrivna och arbetsskadade.« (party programme ↗)“Increased security for the sick-listed and work-injured.”

The election manifesto contains an explicit commitment to abolish the waiting period in sickness insurance. The counter-proposal's demand for a bill on abolishing the waiting period deduction is precisely this commitment. The plan furthermore requires a sickness insurance that gives better security during sick leave and benefit levels that suffice for a dignified standard of living.

• 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 during sick leave and ensure that people are not passed between agencies when they need society's support”
• dignified benefit levels»Ersättningarna i trygghetssystemen ska vara tillräckligt höga för att säkerställa en värdig« (party programme ↗)“Benefits in social security systems shall be high enough to ensure a dignified”
• basic economic security»Alla har rätt till en grundläggande ekonomisk trygghet.« (party programme ↗)“Everyone has a right to basic economic security.”

The plan establishes that the employment line must be protected, that politics shall manage taxpayers' money wisely and that more should go to the core of welfare and less to benefits. Abolishing the waiting period deduction is a costly general expansion of compensation that weakens incentives, while the plan's response to sick leave is more flexible sick leave and better rehabilitation. The plan therefore speaks against the requirement.

• protected employment linedecisive»Arbetslinjen måste värnas, och den som kan jobba ska inte leva på skattebetalarnas pengar.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The employment line must be protected, and the person who can work should not live on taxpayers' money.”
• welfare core before benefits»Mer pengar ska läggas på välfärdens kärna, mindre på bidrag.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“More money should go to the core of welfare, less to benefits.”
• wise management of public finances»Politiken ska hushålla med skattebetalarnas pengar.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Politics should manage taxpayers' money wisely.”
• flexible sick leave instead»Vi vill förbättra rehabiliteringen och göra sjukskrivningen mer flexibel.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to improve rehabilitation and make sick leave more flexible.”

The plan's guiding principle for social insurance is that there always needs to be a self-risk, at the same time as the benefit shall cover most of the income loss. The waiting-period deduction is precisely such a self-risk, and a demand to abolish it therefore goes against the plan. The plan wants instead to ease employers' sick-pay responsibility and maintain that it shall always pay to work.

• self-risk in social insurancedecisive»en självrisk ska ersättningen motsvara större delen av inkomstbortfallet, upp till ett takbelopp« (party programme ↗)“a self-risk the benefit shall cover most of the income loss, up to a ceiling amount”
• phased-out sick-pay responsibility»Företagens sjuklöneansvar bör slopas på sikt, samtidigt som arbetsgivarnas incitament att« (party programme ↗)“Employers' sick-pay responsibility should be phased out over time, while employers' incentives to”
• the work line»Det ska alltid löna sig att arbeta.« (party programme ↗)“It shall always pay to work.”
• security in illness»Sjukförsäkringen ska ge ekonomisk trygghet vid både kortvarig och kronisk sjukdom, och ska« (party programme ↗)“Sick insurance shall provide economic security in both short-term and chronic illness, and shall”

The plan wants a solidaristically financed social insurance system, but explicitly requires that replacement levels are designed so that the individual is stimulated towards measures leading to good health and return to work. It also wants that tax and benefit systems counteract benefit dependence and that elements of insurance thinking exist. That the waiting day deduction is abolished removes precisely such an incentive and therefore does not receive support in the plan.

• replacement that stimulates returndecisive»Nivåerna på ersättningarna ska utformas så att den enskilde« (party programme ↗)“The levels of replacements shall be designed so that the individual”
• counteract benefit dependence»Skatte- och bidragssystemen måste utformas så att människors egen kraft och engagemang« (party programme ↗)“Tax and benefit systems must be designed so that people's own effort and engagement”
• insurance elements in security systems»Inslag av försäkringssystem bör« (party programme ↗)“Elements of insurance system should”
• solidaristic social insurance»Ett solidariskt finansierat socialförsäkringssystem ska finnas för att ge ekonomisk trygghet« (party programme ↗)“A solidaristically financed social insurance system shall exist to provide economic security”

The plan establishes that taxes and benefit systems shall follow the work ethic and that compensation must never become so generous that incentives to work are weakened. Abolishing the waiting period deduction raises compensation in absence and pulls in the opposite direction. The plan also requires that new reforms are financed or fit within the surplus target.

• work ethic governs the systemsdecisive»Skatter och bidragssystem ska utgå från arbetslinjen.« (party programme ↗)“Taxes and benefit systems shall follow the work ethic.”
• raised benefits weaken work ethic»Arbetslinjen försvagas ytterligare av att regeringens höjning av a-kassan gjort att även de som nyss blivit arbetslösa tackar nej till jobb.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The work ethic is further weakened by the government's increase in unemployment insurance making even those just becoming unemployed turn down jobs.”
• it must pay to work»De samlade bidragen ska aldrig bli så höga att det inte lönar sig att jobba.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Combined benefits shall never become so high that it does not pay to work.”
• reforms must be financed»Alla nya löften och reformer – som till exempel våra inkomstskattesänkningar – behöver finansieras eller rymmas inom överskottsmålet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“All new promises and reforms – such as our income tax cuts – need to be financed or fit within the surplus target.”

The plan wants to abolish the waiting day deduction, though explicitly for preschool staff, and establishes that it should be possible to stay home when sick. Sick leave insurance should according to the plan be designed so that the sick person can focus on recovery instead of ending up in economic crisis, which is exactly what the counter-proposal cites as the reason for abolishing the waiting day deduction. The plan thus points in the counter-proposal's direction, without demanding a general abolition.

• abolished waiting day deductiondecisive»Slopa karensavdraget för förskolepersonal« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Abolish the waiting day deduction for preschool staff”
• possible to stay home when sick»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 sick instead of working.”
• no economic crisis from illness»Den som drabbas av sjukdom ska kunna lägga sitt fokus på återhämtning istället för att hamna i ekonomisk kris och tampas mot myndigheter.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Those affected by illness should be able to focus on recovery instead of ending up in economic crisis and struggling with authorities.”
• secure sick leave insurance»Verka för en trygg och rättssäker sjukförsäkring« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Work for a secure and legally safe sick leave insurance”

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.