What happened
Employees in municipalities and regions who reduce their working hours before retirement can lose thousands of kronor. The newspaper Arbetet reports this, citing a thesis at Umeå universitet by Henrik Johansson. The cause of the loss of income is a rule in the collective agreement between the trade unions and the employers' organisation Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner (SKR). In the thesis, the rule is sharply criticised, and the author believes that those affected should receive financial compensation.
Our analysis
The decision lies with Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner (SKR) and the trade union parties, who jointly negotiated the collective agreement. The rule means that individual assistant nurses lose thousands of kronor in pension after a long working life in the welfare sector. Many who support elderly care and healthcare are new Swedes who already work in a profession with low wages and tight margins. However, the reporting does not show how many employees in total have been affected or how much money the municipalities and regions have saved through the rule. If the loss is to be stopped, SKR and the unions must renegotiate the terms, but the parties have not yet provided any update regarding either compensation or amended rules.
Explained
A collective agreement is a binding agreement between an employers' organisation and trade unions that sets rules for wages, working hours, and pensions.