Organisation of the Ministry of Employment

Political leadership

Minister for Employment and Integration Mats Persson is head of the Ministry. His State Secretaries Sophia Metelius and Adam Alfredsson, and the State Secretary to Minister for Gender Equality and Working Life Paulina Brandberg, Katarina Lundahl, manage the day-to-day work, including the planning, coordination and follow-up of the Ministry’s activities.

The ministers and state secretaries also have political advisers on staff who assist them in policy work, providing background material, political assessments, planning and coordination, and media contacts.

Non-political appointees

Divisions and secretariats

The Ministry has an Office of the Director-General for Administrative Affairs, two secretariats and five divisions, which are led by non-politically appointed officials.

The Director-General for Administrative Affairs, the Director-General for Legal Affairs and the Head of Administration assist the ministers in planning, coordinating and staff management.

The divisions lay the groundwork for government decisions. This involves working on government bills, administrative matters, budget and governance issues in relation to government agencies, and development work in the form of inquiries, remits, etc. EU negotiations and international assignments are also included in the divisions’ work. The secretariats and the Office of the Director-General for Administrative Affairs support the entire Ministry, based on their particular areas of responsibility.

Office of the Director-General for Administrative Affairs
The Office is under the management of the Director-General for Administrative Affairs and is responsible for ensuring that the preparation of the Ministry’s matters is legal, consistent and uniform. 

Legal Secretariat
The Legal Secretariat is under the management of the Director-General for Legal Affairs and is responsible for drafting proposals for referral to the Council on Legislation, government bills and other legislative work. The Secretariat is also involved in drafting other bills and government communications, and is responsible for the coordination and implementation of EU rules, for legal quality assurance and for ensuring that the work of the Ministry is legal, consistent and uniform. The Secretariat also offers advice on legal matters to the Ministry leadership and other divisions.

Operational Support Secretariat
The Operational Support Secretariat is responsible for providing support to the Ministry and coordinating and developing the Ministry’s work on the central government budget, agency governance, operational management, follow-up of activities, reporting and strategic skills and resources planning, as well as overall organisation and staffing policy issues that affect the Ministry and its committees. The Secretariat also includes the Ministry’s analysis function, led by the Head of Analysis.

The Secretariat is also responsible for administrative and development issues concerning the Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.

Labour Market Policy Division
The Labour Market Policy Division is responsible for issues and matters concerning employment services, labour market policy programmes, the entry of new immigrants into the labour market, unemployment insurance, activity support, development allowance and introduction benefits. The Division is also responsible for vocational rehabilitation and other labour market policy issues concerning people with impairments entailing reduced work capacity, and the European Social Fund within the EU’s Structural Funds and the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund.

Included in the Division’s area of responsibility are administrative and development issues concerning the Swedish Public Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen), the Council for the European Social Fund in Sweden (Swedish ESF Council), the Swedish Unemployment Insurance Board and the Arctic Vocational Foundation.

Division for Labour Law and Work Environment
The Division for Labour Law and Work Environment is responsible for issues and matters concerning labour law, work environment and working hours, wage formation, labour immigration, the state wage guarantee in the event of bankruptcy, and developments in the employment field.

The Division’s area of responsibility also includes administrative and development issues concerning the Swedish Work Environment Authority, the Swedish Labour Court, the Swedish National Mediation Office, the National Advisory Board on Patent Rights and Compensation Settlements for Inventions at Work, the Council for Employee Representation on Boards of Directors, the Swedish ILO Committee and the Swedish Agency for Work Environment Expertise.

Integration and Anti-Exclusion Division
The division is responsible for overall coordination and development of the integration and introduction to Swedish society of people who were born abroad. This includes issues concerning the municipal reception of newly arrived immigrants, compensation to municipalities for the reception of refugees who have been granted a residence permit, civic orientation and interpreters and translators.

The division is also responsible for issues concerning exclusion at national, regional and local level.

Gender Equality Division
The Gender Equality Division is responsible for issues and matters concerning coordination and development of gender equality policy issues, including gender mainstreaming and other methods development to implement the Government’s gender equality policy. 

The Division is responsible for administrative and development issues concerning the Swedish Gender Equality Agency. 

Division for Human Rights and Discrimination Issues
The Division is responsible for coordinating and developing human rights issues at national level. It is also responsible for issues concerning discrimination on grounds of sex, transgender identity or expression, ethnic origin, religion or other belief, impairment, sexual orientation or age. The Division’s area of responsibility also includes issues concerning racism and similar forms of hostility. The situation of homosexual, bisexual and transsexual people and people of transgender identity or expression, at national level, and coordination and development of such issues are also included in the Division’s area of responsibility. 

The Division is responsible for administrative and development issues concerning the Equality Ombudsman, the Board against Discrimination and the human rights institute.  

EU and International Affairs Division
The EU and International Affairs Division is responsible for coordinating the Ministry’s EU issues and international work. The Division is also responsible for certain employment issues in the EU, issues and matters concerning the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the European Social Charter and coordination of the Ministry’s work in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Nordic Council of Ministers and other international issues. The Division also takes care of planning, coordinating and implementing international travel and visits for the Ministry leadership. It also provides the Ministry leadership, divisions and secretariats with support and advice on EU and international issues.