Ylva Johansson

The Government has decided to nominate Ylva Johansson, Minister for Employment and one of Sweden’s most experienced ministers, as the new Swedish European Commissioner.

Listen to Minister for Employment Ylva Johansson talk about her continuing role as Minister for Employment, what challenges she sees ahead and which issue she will be addressing first.

On 4–5 April 2019, a Nordic conference on the future of work was held in Reykjavik, Iceland. The conference focused on megatrends affecting the labour market in the future.

On 22 January, the ILO’s centenary was launched in Geneva. The centenary, which will run throughout 2019, focuses on the future of work and forms part of the ILO’s long-term strategy for creating a decent and sustainable working life worldwide.

Here are the contact details for the ministers’ press secretaries.

The Government today appointed 31 state secretaries at the Government Offices. Former state secretaries have been dismissed from their positions. Most of the state secretaries have previously held corresponding positions at the Government Offices.

Minister for Employment and Integration Ylva Johansson will take part in the signing ceremony in Madrid when Spain joins the Global Deal. This makes Spain the 100th partner, and the 20th government, to join the global partnership.

On 19 April 2018, the Government appointed Nader Ahmadi as Director-General and head of SAWEE. Most recently, he was pro vice-chancellor of the University of Gävle. Mr Ahmadi will be the first Director-General of the newly established agency when he takes up his post on 1 June 2018.

Supplying skills to the labour market, and to society at large, has been a recurring issue since the Government’s National Innovation Council started meeting in 2015. When the Council met on 28 May at Harpsund, the meeting opened with the issue of lifelong learning in the workplace.

The Government has decided to present the Government Bill "Contractor liability for wage claims in the construction industry" to the Riksdag. The aim is to strengthen protection for employees and counter corner-cutting and criminal activities, while safeguarding the opportunities for the social partners to regulate contractor liability in collective agreements.

The Government and the social partners have agreed that ‘entry agreements’ should be introduced. The aim is to help newly arrived immigrants and long-term unemployed people to become established in the labour market, and to facilitate future skills provision for employers.

One of the Swedish Government’s gender equality policy sub-goals is that men’s violence against women must stop. With reference to #metoo, the following lists some examples of implemented and forthcoming measures to counteract sexual violence, harassment and assault.

The #metoo movement in Sweden strongly demonstrates that more needs to be done to combat sexual harassment and sexual violence in workplaces and society at large. The Swedish Government requires all employers to take responsibility for a secure work environment. In the area of work environment and discrimination there are already many tools and relevant legislation, but the power and size of the petitions show that there are deficiencies in compliance with the regulations. For this reason, Minister for Employment Ylva Johansson and Minister for Gender Equality Åsa Regnér have met with the labour market and union partners, and several ministers have in recent weeks convened meetings with heads of government agencies and business leaders in order to focus on the responsibility of employers to counteract sexual violence and harassment.

The Prime Minister, together with the EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has invited to a social summit focusing on the promotion of Fair Jobs and growth, in Gothenburg on Friday 17 November. Heads of State and heads of Governments together with other EU-member ministers will be in place.

To strengthen national and international work environment efforts, the Government has today decided to establish a new government agency for work environment awareness. The agency is to be situated in Gävle and will start operations on 1 June 2018.

Everyone who can work should work and contribute to our common welfare. This is why, in the autumn budget, the Government is investing in strengthening labour market measures and the integration of new arrivals. The Government is reforming the system of subsidised employment and introducing a new, uniform supportive measure – introductory jobs. The Government is also strengthening efforts for a sustainable working life by establishing a new agency for work environment awareness and allocating funds for the development of methods to combat unfair competition. Moreover, the Government is investing in measures to continue creating a sustainable reception system and ensuring the effective integration of newly arrived immigrants. The paths to employment will be strengthened through a new regulatory framework for Arbetsförmedlingen (the Swedish public employment service) on the integration of new arrivals and the introduction of an education and training obligation. The Budget Bill for 2018 is based on an agreement between the Government and the Left Party.

The Government has adopted the government bill ‘New posting regulations’. These legislative amendments help create a more effective and efficient system for the protection of the rights of posted workers under the EU Posting of Workers Directive and the Enforcement Directive. The legislative proposal also contains provisions aimed at increasing transparency and predictability when posting workers so that it will be easier for companies that post workers to find out what conditions apply in the Swedish labour market.

On 21–25 November, Minister for Employment and Integration Ylva Johansson will visit Chile, accompanied by representatives of Swedish trade unions and employers. The visit is a follow-up to President Michelle Bachelet’s State Visit to Sweden earlier this year, and the main aim is to exchange experiences on labour market issues and the Swedish model.

In the autumn budget, the Government is investing in an active labour market policy for increased employment, strengthened skills supply in elderly care in particular, and improved unemployment insurance for part-time unemployed people. The Government is also intensifying efforts to better enable new arrivals to quickly become established in working and community life. More investments will be made in early measures for asylum seekers and increased resources for the introduction system. The Government also intends to introduce a new compensation system for the reception of unaccompanied minors and young people. The Budget Bill for 2017 is based on an agreement between the Government and the Left Party.

On Wednesday 7 September, Minister for Employment and Integration Ylva Johansson will be in the UK to take part in a conference on challenges and opportunities in the area of migration. The conference is being organised by the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society at the University of Oxford.