Restaurant staff shortage following lifted restrictions

Restrictions on opening hours and permitted number of guests have been hard on Sweden’s restaurants. Many had to let staff go during the pandemic in the face of economic uncertainty, meaning that they now have to find new staff to cope with new demand, TT newswire reports.

“Of course, we’re happy that restrictions have been lifted, but the crisis isn’t over. Measures need to be taken to stimulate business again, such as lowered VAT,” Peter Thomelius from employer organisation Visita told TT.

“But one of the biggest challenges now is restaffing businesses after two years of having to close – or partially having to close,” he told the newswire.

Even before the pandemic there was a shortage of chefs and serving staff, but according to Thomelius, the shortage has now spread to other groups of staff such as receptionists and bartenders.

Swedish vocabulary: brist – lack, shortage

Student wins discrimination case over Sweden’s gender-neutral pronoun

A teacher at a school in central Sweden refused to refer to a non-binary student with the Swedish gender-neutral pronoun “hen” for at least one semester, despite the student’s guardians informing both the teacher and a teaching assistant of the student’s correct pronouns.

• SEE ALSO: Hen: What a three-letter word tells us about Swedish culture

Now, the Equality Ombudsman (DO) has investigated the case, and determined that the student was subject to discrimination, meaning that the educational provider will have to pay 150,000 kronor in damages. The educational provider admitted to DO that the student was discriminated against and that the situation went on for too long.

“A situation where a teacher consciously refuses to use the pronouns a student identifies with represents a serious form of harrassment and is something a headteacher must put a stop to. In school, all students should feel safe and respected and not be subject to discrimination. It’s especially important that teachers reflect these values,” Isabelle Arsova from DO said in a press statement.

Swedish vocabulary: trakasserier – harassment

The Tomelilla municipality in southern Sweden has reported a nurse to the Health and Social Care Inspectorate (IVO), after the nurse cut off a diabetic man’s toe with kitchen scissors, local newspaper Ystads Allehanda reports.

The incident occured in July last year, when home healthcare services contacted the nurse to treat the man’s foot, which had a number of serious wounds, including a toe which was in danger of falling off.

The nurse, who wanted to get access to the wounds, chose to cut the man’s toe off with his own kitchen scissors, after checking that he didn’t have any feeling in his foot.

The would then became septic, after which the man’s family reported the nurse to IVO.