Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

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

Article 10(3) of the Convention. Part-time work. In its previous comments, the Committee referred to observations received from the Swedish Confederation for Professional Employees (TCO) and the Swedish Confederation of Professional Associations (SACO) criticizing the reform of 2008, which reduced the entitlement to unemployment benefits for unemployed persons who agreed to work part time, to 75 days, while continuing to grant fully unemployed persons 300 days of benefits. The Committee asked the Government to reconsider the reform in the light of the social rationale of the Convention and its objective to promote employment, including part-time, by means of social security benefits. The Committee notes that the Government indicates that it is aware of the importance of providing support for part-time workers who seek full-time employment in this respect. The Committee notes with satisfaction, from the 50th annual report on the application by Sweden of the European Code of Social Security, that, from 15 May 2017, the provisions about part-time work have been changed: a person who performs or declares part-time work will, from this date on, be paid unemployment benefit for a total maximum of 60 weeks in a benefit period.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.