If you wish to work in Scandinavia and, particularly, in Sweden, then you should know how the social security system works in this country, as well as the labor laws and labor market.
The social security system in Sweden:
Every worker in Sweden is subjected to the compulsory welfare from the moment he started a job. You will have to join in person the local office of insurances by indicating the amount of your salary and the address of your workplace.
The national insurance runs 25 head offices and about 400 local offices, and you can find their addresses and phone numbers in the directory called Almänna Försäkringskassa. Any person over 16 years has to have an insurance and this applies to the employees as well as for independents.
Social insurance in Sweden is financed by the tax system and the compulsory contributions, where the employers pay the biggest share. Your contributions include:
- The right for the health insurance, which includes disease allowances and partial refund of medicine.
- The pensions, from the age of 65.
- The disability insurance.
- The partial payments for the education.
- Rent allowances and special allowances for families with children or for disabled people.
* For questions concerning the unemployment insurance,you can get in touch with the labor-union representation of your workplace or the local agency of employment.
The labor market and the labor laws in Sweden:
In Sweden, about 4,3 million people occupy a paid job, that is more than 49 % of the population and about 80 % of all the inhabitants from 16 to 64 years old. Women represented 48 % of the working population in 1997. The unemployment rate in Sweden is at present 5,4 percent.
The labor union in Sweden has a long story behind it and preserves a big influence. About 88 % of the workers in Sweden are affiliated to a labor union. The biggest organization being the Swedish Federation of labor unions, LO, which has 2,18 million members, which is 85 % of the working population. The second biggest organization is TCO, the union of the industrial workers, which counts 1,23 million members, which corresponds to 70 % of the employees and the state employees.
The good cooperation between employers and labor unions in Sweden brought a considerable sum of rights favorable to the workers. These rights include:
1- Benefit from a six-month trial period.
2- Protection against the redundancy: the employees, who are less than 25 years old, benefit from an advanced notice period of one month, then gradually achieve six months for the employees of more than 45 years old.
3- The working environment law: the weekly protected working time is 40 hours, and the health and safety protection at work place is assured by special agents in charge of the safety and security.
4- The equality of rights law: equal salary for an equal work, equality of work opportunities, equality of opportunity of promotion, hiring, training and education for all the employees.
5- The right in the co-determination at the level of the branch and of the group.
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