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Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.

Factsheet for measure SE-2016-14/1154 – measures in Sweden

Practical support for employers and employee representatives to ensure a healthy working life

Suntarbetsliv

Country Sweden , applies nationwide
Time period Open ended, started on 01 April 2016
Context COVID-19
Type Other initiatives or policies
Category Protection of workers, adaptation of workplace
– Well-being of workers
Author Anna-Karin Gustafsson (Oxford Research) and Eurofound
Measure added 17 September 2020 (updated 23 September 2020)

Background information

Suntarbetsliv (healthy working life) is a bipartite project which was created as a result of the last round of collective agreement negotiations, in 2016, when the social partners asked for more focus on sustainable working conditions. The partners are all employer organisations and trade unions with members in the public sector, more specifically in the municipal and regional sector.

The purpose of Suntarbetsliv is to work for sustainable working conditions and long-term good health. This is done by gathering knowledge about preventive, health-promoting and rehabilitative measures against occupational injuries and by making the knowledge available to everyone in the municipal and regional sector.

Content of measure

During the pandemic Suntarbetsliv have focused on the work environment of the employees and the impact of COVID-19. The project is offering support to employers and employees in how to best tackle the pandemic, via checklists, research, tips, articles that shares knowledge etc. An example is how to conduct a risk assessment of COVID-19, where a checklist is used to examine the impact of COVID-19 on the work environment. The checklist contains questions about how the employer handles:

  • COVID-19 disease in and out of the workplace
  • Risk of infection
  • Communication
  • Teleworking
  • Knowledge and concerns

The checklist is produced by the non-profit organisation Prevent, which is owned jointly by the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, Swedish Trade Union Confederation LO and the Council for Negotiation and Cooperation PTK.

Use of measure

Over one million workers and some 1,500 employees are covered by the initiative Suntarbetsliv .

Target groups

Workers Businesses Citizens
Other groups of workers
Other businesses
Applies to all citizens

Actors and funding

Actors Funding
Trade unions
Employers' organisations
Employer
Trade union

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

Trade unions Employers' organisations
Role Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative
Form Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

  • Social partners jointly
  • Main level of involvement: Sectoral or branch level

Involvement

Suntarbetsliv is a bipartite project which was created as result of the last round of collective agreement negotiations, in 2016, when the social partners asked for more focus on sustainable working conditions. The partners are all employer organisations and trade unions with members in the public sector, more specifically in the municipal and regional sector.

Views and reactions

The social partner's views on the measure is supportive.

Sources

Citation

Eurofound (2020), Practical support for employers and employee representatives to ensure a healthy working life, measure SE-2016-14/1154 (measures in Sweden), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/SE-2016-14_1154.html

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Disclaimer: This information has not been subject to the full Eurofound evaluation, editorial and publication process.