Penalty charges

The plan requires a strengthened labour law with higher demands on working conditions and particularly points out that stress-related illnesses and mental ill-health are increasing without working conditions changing. According to the plan, legislation should strengthen protection and unions' influence over working conditions. That penalty fees should also be able to target deficiencies in systematic as well as organisational and social working environment work follows from this.

• higher demands on working environmentdecisive»tryggare anställningar, högre krav på arbetsmiljön och en starkare« (party programme ↗)“more secure employment, higher demands on working conditions and stronger”
• organisational working environment neglected»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 ill-health is increasing particularly among women and young people without leading to expanded care or changed working conditions.”
• legal support for working environment work»Lagen ska stärka fackens inflytande« (party programme ↗)“The law should strengthen unions' influence”
• sustainable working life»Trygghet på arbetsmarknaden är också att alla ska orka jobba hela vägen fram till pensionen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Security in the labour market is also that everyone should be able to work all the way through to retirement.”

The election manifesto establishes that it should never be profitable to gain competitive advantages by neglecting employees' right to a safe working environment, and demands action against labour crime. The party programme counts psychologically demanding working environments as a serious problem and demands strong labour law legislation. Extending penalty fees to systematic work environment initiatives and the organizational and social working environment follows from this, even though the form of sanctions is not mentioned.

• sanctions against poor working environmentdecisive»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 should never be profitable to commit crimes or gain competitive advantages by neglecting employees' right to a safe working environment.”
• psychosocial working environment counts»hälsa i fysiskt eller psykiskt pressande arbetsmiljöer.« (party programme ↗)“health in physically or psychologically demanding working environments.”
• statutory protection for employees»arbetsrättslig lagstiftning behövs som skydd för de anställda.« (party programme ↗)“labour law legislation is needed as protection for employees.”
• action against labour crime»Krafttag mot arbetslivskriminaliteten.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Action against labour crime.”

The plan gives everyone the right to good physical and psychosocial working conditions and thereby equates organizational and social deficiencies with physical ones. It is also based on the principle that what is harmful should be expensive and that economic instruments and supervision are needed for rules to have effect. Expanding the penalty fee to cover systematic workplace health work and the organizational and social working environment is therefore in line with the plan.

• psychosocial working environment equateddecisive»god fysisk och psykosocial arbetsmiljö.« (party programme ↗)“good physical and psychosocial working conditions.”
• the harmful should cost»ska vara billigt, det som är dåligt ska vara dyrt och« (party programme ↗)“should be cheap, what is bad should be expensive and”
• effective supervision»All verksamhet ska vara underställd tillsyn av en offentlig myndighet« (party programme ↗)“All activities shall be subject to supervision by a public authority”
• strong labour law»Vi vill värna en fungerande arbetsrätt« (party programme ↗)“We want to protect functioning labour law”

The plan lacks commitments on expanded sanction fees and points instead to rule simplification and lower costs for hiring as the way forward. A new fee sanction for deficiencies in systematic and organizational workplace safety work increases the regulatory burden for employers. The plan wants employers to take greater responsibility for preventive measures, but through self-responsibility and rehabilitation rather than sanctions.

• reduced regulatory hassledecisive»Rensa upp i regelträsket för entreprenörer, stora som små.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Clean up the rule jungle 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 from the labour market.”
• employer's preventive responsibility»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 requires that employers' incentives to prevent work-related injuries and illnesses become clearer and that work against harassment in the labour market is purposeful. A penalty fee that also covers shortcomings in systematic and organisational and social work environment efforts sharpens precisely those incentives. The plan simultaneously wants to reduce regulatory burden for small businesses, and it does not mention penalty fees, so the conclusion is uncertain.

• clearer preventive responsibilitydecisive»arbetsrelaterade skador och sjukdomar och bidra till rehabilitering av anställda ska bli tydligare.« (party programme ↗)“work-related injuries and illnesses and contribute to rehabilitation of employees should become clearer.”
• purposeful work on the labour market»målmedvetet arbete för att motverka diskriminering inom samhällsområden såsom arbetsmarknad, utbildning« (party programme ↗)“purposeful work to counter discrimination in areas of society such as labour market, education”
• reduced regulatory burden»Regelbördan för små företag ska minska« (party programme ↗)“Regulatory burden for small businesses should decrease”

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 requires that occupational safety consider both physical and mental health and that a high level of ambition characterizes legislation in the occupational health area. That sanctions can be used even for shortcomings in systematic, organizational and social occupational health work follows from the fact that protection should not be weaker for psychosocial shortcomings. The plan also requires that bullying be actively combated, but wants new rules to be tested from a small business perspective.

• occupational health including mental healthdecisive»arbetsmiljö ska ta hänsyn till såväl fysisk som psykisk« (party programme ↗)“occupational environment shall consider both physical and mental”
• high ambition in occupational health laws»En hög ambitionsnivå ska prägla lagar och« (party programme ↗)“A high level of ambition shall characterize laws and”
• harassment is combated»Mobbning på arbetsplatsen måste aktivt bekämpas.« (party programme ↗)“Bullying at work must be actively combated.”
• small business perspective on 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 commits to removing a third of companies' administrative costs and regulatory red tape and states that bureaucracy impedes innovation and growth. Extended sanction fees for shortcomings in systematic and organizational health and safety work, on the other hand, add a new sanction risk for employers in difficult-to-assess matters, which the programme sees as inappropriate detailed control. Sanction fees are not explicitly addressed in the documents.

• reduced regulatory burdendecisive»Ta bort en tredjedel av företagens administrationskostnader och en tredjedel av regelkrånglet« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Remove a third of companies' administrative costs and a third of regulatory red tape”
• bureaucracy impedes growth»höga skatter, krångliga tillståndsprocesser och byråkrati sätter käppar i hjulet för innovation och tillväxt« (2022 manifesto ↗)“high taxes, complicated licensing processes and bureaucracy impede innovation and growth”
• no political detailed control»att detaljstyra och överpröva en så komplicerad process.« (party programme ↗)“to exert detailed control and overrule such a complex process.”

The plan states that every Swedish workplace should have adequate occupational health work and that security and safety in working life should increase, and highlights mental illness as the major health challenge of our time. A penalty fee that also applies to shortcomings in systematic as well as organizational and social occupational health work gives these commitments effect. The plan's demand for cost-effective regulations simultaneously speaks for restraint, so support is weak.

• adequate occupational health workdecisive»Varje svensk arbetsplats ska ha ett fullgott arbetsmiljöarbete som skapar trygghet för medarbetarna.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Every Swedish workplace should have adequate occupational health work that creates security for employees.”
• security in working life»Öka tryggheten och säkerheten i arbetslivet« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Increase security and safety in working life”
• mental health prioritized»Arbetet med att stärka den psykiska hälsan måste prioriteras.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The work to strengthen mental health must be prioritized.”
• cost-effective regulations»Nya regler ska vara kostnadseffektiva och befintliga regler behöver ses över.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“New regulations should be cost-effective and existing regulations need to be reviewed.”

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.