The amount of sick leave being taken in Sweden is on the decline, continuing a trend for this year according to new figures from the country’s Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan).
For the fifth year in a row, the number of people taking time off work due to stress has gone up in Sweden, according to a report by the Swedish Work Environment Authority (Arbetsmiljöverkets).
Several Swedish cabinet ministers have failed to report being off sick, even as one tweeted about 40C fever. The oversight has allowed them to avoid the first-day-off reduction in salary that all Swedes face when feeling too poorly to work.
Swedish mothers stay home with sick children more often than fathers, leading to a huge gap in leave days and prompting a government inquiry to be carried out by the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan).
The Swedish Social Insurance Agency has reported a record year in its hunt for benefit cheats, reclaiming 930 million kronor ($130 million) in stolen and saved benefits.
Each February, Swedish parents take an estimated 600,000 paid leave days to take care of sick children, according to new Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) statistics.
The established picture of the Swedes being the population with the highest incidence of sick leave in the world has been shaken. Sweden is now close to the European average, according to a report by Sveriges Radio (SR).
Swedes spent less time on long-term sick leave and more returned to work as a result of new sick leave rules introduced in 2008, according to a new report.
Stress at work is a more common reason for women taking early retirement than illness according to a new study. The study, conducted on 300 women in Stockholm by the public health institute at Karolinska Institute, shows that less than half of healthy working women actually work up to the age of 65.
Folkpartiet leader, Lars Leijonborg, stands by his demand that sick pay rates stay at their current level under a conservative government. He's prepared to change that policy if large savings aren't made via other means within two years.
Sweden is struggling to pay the bills for the tens of thousands of workers on long-term disability and an expanding group of young people leaving the workforce altogether on so-called "early retirement."
The state should subsidize new jobs for people who have become unemployed after a long period of sick leave. That is according to a new proposal from employment minister Hans Karlsson.
