Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

Employment Promotion and Protection against Unemployment Convention, 1988 (No. 168) - Sweden (Ratification: 1990)

Article 15, paragraph 1(a), of the Convention. The report states that the daily unemployment benefit payable by the income loss insurance depends on the beneficiary’s earnings prior to unemployment, subject to a maximum of SEK680 per day (SEK730 per day during the first 100 days) and a minimum of SEK320 per day. Unemployment benefit is paid for five days per week and is taxable. The Committee notes that the earnings-related unemployment benefit in Sweden is subjected to both types of limitation permitted under Article 15(1)(a) of the Convention as to the maximum for the amount of the benefit itself, as well as for the earnings taken into account for the calculation of the amount of the benefit. It recalls in this respect that the said maximums should be related, for example, to the wage of a skilled manual employee so as to ensure that the replacement level of the benefit attains at least 50 per cent of previous earnings for this category of workers. In order to assess that this is indeed the case, the Committee would like the Government to indicate the maximum amounts of previous earnings taken into account for the calculation of the level of daily unemployment benefit in relation to the wage of a skilled manual employee. It observes that, calculated on a monthly basis, the maximum amount of the unemployment benefit itself is fixed much below the monthly earnings of a skilled manual employee (SEK22,840 in 2006) given by the Government in its latest report on Convention No. 102. It therefore asks the Government to calculate on a monthly basis the real replacement level of the earnings-related unemployment benefit paid to a skilled manual employee after 100 days of compensation, taking into account the provisions of Article 15(3) of the Convention, if appropriate. Please indicate also cases in which the income loss insurance pays out only the minimum benefit of SEK320 per day.

Article 15, paragraph 1(b). According to the report, unemployment benefits in the obligatory basic insurance are paid at a basic rate of SEK320 per day. Please indicate whether this basic rate attains the level prescribed by the Convention in respect of benefits which are not based on contributions or previous earnings.

Article 20(b), (c) and (e). The report indicates that the entitlement to benefit shall be suspended if the applicant has left work without valid cause or owing to improper conduct, or denied if the applicant deliberately or by gross negligence has provided incorrect or misleading information concerning his or her entitlement. Taking into account numerous amendments of the legislation during the period covered by the report (1998–2006), the Committee would like the Government to indicate any changes that might have occurred in the definitions of the abovementioned concepts of “valid cause”, “improper conduct” and “gross negligence”, in the light of the corresponding provisions of this Article of the Convention.

Article 21 of the Convention (in relation to Article 19, paragraph 3). The report indicates that the daily unemployment benefit will be reduced if an applicant has rejected an offer of suitable work without acceptable reasons. For the first refusal, the benefit is reduced by 25 per cent for the period of 40 days of compensation; for the second refusal, the reduction will amount to 50 per cent for the next 40 days; and in case of the third refusal, the entitlement to the benefit is terminated. In determining the suitability of the work offered on such conditions, reasonable consideration shall be given to the applicant’s capacity for the work and other personal circumstances. The kind of work a jobseeker must seek and accept and the limitations applicable thereto are further specified in the regulations on suitable work (IAFFS 2004:3) issued by the Swedish Unemployment Insurance Board, which entered into force on 1 September 2004. It appears in particular that a jobseeker, after 100 days on unemployment benefit, must accept any suitable job even if it was outside the previous profession and training of the jobseeker. The benefit being paid for five days per week, the Committee understands that 100 days of payment of unemployment benefit would correspond to the period of 20 calendar weeks. It would therefore like the Government to explain to what extent, in assessing the suitability of employment offered during the initial period of protection of not less than 26 calendar weeks prescribed in Article 19(3) of the Convention, account is taken of such criteria mentioned in its Article 21(2) as the length of service of unemployed persons in their previous occupation, their acquired experience and the current labour market situation in their place of residence. In this respect, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the fact that, in the six weeks following the first 100 days of unemployment benefit, applying sanctions for refusal to accept a job offer which, in terms of the said criteria, could not be considered suitable might come in contradiction with the said Articles of the Convention, which aim at protecting the professional and social status of jobseekers during the prescribed period of unemployment. In order to be able to assess the practical impact of the above regulations on suitable work, the Committee would like the Government to provide detailed statistical data since their entry into force in 2004, on the number of cases in which sanctions were applied for refusal of “suitable” work offers before and after the first 100 days of compensation, as well as on the number of appeals lodged and upheld against these decisions. Please provide a copy of these regulations and of any additional guidelines for the deciding officers determining the suitability of the work offered, the limitations applicable thereto and the reasons for refusing it which might be deemed acceptable according to the established practice.

Article 26. Taking into account that the report does not contain any information on the application of this Article of the Convention for the whole period under review (1998–2006), the Committee hopes that the Government would provide such information for examination at its next session in November 2008.

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2008.]