Eva Nordmark

Director for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs at the OECD Stefano Scarpetta visited Sweden on Friday to discuss the Government’s reform for improved adaptability in the labour market. During his visit, Mr Scarpetta met with Minister for Employment and Gender Equality Eva Nordmark and representatives of the social partners.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) Governing Body elected Gilbert Houngbo as the ILO’s 11th Director-General on 25 March. Houngbo was most recently President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Prime Minister of Togo and Deputy Director-General of the ILO. Minister for Employment Eva Nordmark and Deputy Minister for Employment Johan Danielsson congratulate the new Director-General.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, the number of people leaving Ukraine has increased rapidly. At a press briefing on 21 March, Minister for Employment Eva Nordmark and Minister for Integration and Migration Anders Ygeman reported on what applies on the Swedish labour market for people covered by the Temporary Protection Directive.

Eva Nordmark. Minister for Employment and Gender Equality. Commission on the Status of Women. New York. 15 March 2022. Check against delivery.

On 14–17 March, Minister for Employment and Gender Equality Eva Nordmark will take part in a session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66). The theme is achieving gender equality in the context of climate change.

On 27 January 2022 the Government decided on a historic transition package to improve flexibility, adaptability and security in the labour market in the long term. The proposals are based on an agreement between the Government and the Centre Party.

Opinion piece by Minister for Education Anna Ekström and Minister for Employment and Gender Equality Eva Nordmark.

Minister for Employment and Gender Equality Eva Nordmark took part in a digital meeting with other EU gender equality ministers on Monday 31 January. At the meeting, Ms Nordmark presented the priorities of the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2023 in this area.

This material provides an overview of main areas of the Government policy on gender equality. It describes current political goals and strategies and gives a brief historical background to important reforms. It also identifies further remaining challenges and explains how the feminist Government is addressing these and what measures are taken in order to initiate change.

Today in the Riksdag, Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson announced the ministers who will serve in the Government. The change of government takes place at a Council of State at the Royal Palace presided over by His Majesty the King. The Council of State begins at 13.00.

In the Budget Bill for 2022, the Government proposes a reinforced jobs policy with new measures so that everyone can participate and take Sweden forward after the pandemic. These measures include providing more people with employment training, counteracting long-term unemployment, giving older jobseekers more time in new start jobs and introducing more unemployed people with disabilities to the working world.

Everyone has a right to a safe and secure work environment. A poor work environment should never provide a competitive advantage. Companies that deliberately contravene laws and regulations to gain competitive advantages create unhealthy competition in the labour market. In the Budget Bill for 2022, the Government proposes three measures to create security in the labour market and curb work-related crime.

On Monday, Minister for EU Affairs Hans Dahlgren and Minister for Employment Eva Nordmark met with French Minister of Labour, Employment and Economic Inclusion Élisabeth Borne and French Minister of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune. The aim of the meeting was to discuss various current issues, with a focus on the EU minimum wage proposal.

Today in the Riksdag, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven announced the ministers who will serve in the Government. The change of government will take place at a Council of State at the Royal Palace presided over by His Majesty The King. The Council of State will begin at 14.15.

The work environment at every workplace has a major bearing on people’s living conditions and is key to a well-functioning and vigorous labour market. The Government has adopted a new work environment strategy with a continued high level of ambition for work environment policy.

At Sweden’s initiative, several EU Member States gathered to discuss the Minimum Wage Directive. The meeting resulted in several Member States joining together to send a letter to the EU Presidency. In the letter, the ministers object to the way the issue has been handled, and suggest that a legally binding directive is not the right approach.

Today, Tuesday, Minister for Employment Eva Nordmark took part in a meeting with ILO Director-General Guy Ryder. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss issues such as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labour market.

Yesterday, the European Commission presented a proposal for a framework for adequate minimum wages across EU Member States. The Government welcomes the fact that the proposal will not impose an obligation on Sweden to introduce a statutory minimum wage or make collective agreements universally applicable.

In the Budget Bill for 2021, the Government proposes a permanent increase of SEK 30 million in the Swedish Work Environment Authority’s administrative appropriation. This will better enable the Swedish Work Environment Authority and other agencies to work in a focused and collaborative manner to continue to fight fraud, regulatory non-compliance and crime in the Swedish labour market. The Government’s proposal is based on an agreement between the government parties, the Centre Party and the Liberal Party.

In the Budget Bill for 2021, the Government proposes labour market initiatives worth more than SEK 9 billion. The Government’s proposals are based on an agreement between the government parties, the Centre Party and the Liberal Party.