Sweden: debate over the government’s bill on tougher sanctions in case of non-compliance with working time or working conditions

On April 4, the government presented a bill aiming to introduce more effective sanctions against offenses to regulations governing working time and conditions.  Since this bill indirectly amends several other laws, it should only come into force on July 1, 2014.  (Ref.  130301)
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Why the reform? Currently, the system punishing offenses in the field of working time and professional environment is based on penal sanctions, which means that evidence is required to prove that the employer was negligent. Yet, it isn’t always easy to bring proof and, most of the time, the procedure is long and rarely amounts to anything, be it with the Work Environment Authority (Arbetsmiljöverket) or the police or even the public prosecution. Indeed, only about 1 in 3 cases leads to a san

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