The Swedish Trade Union Confederation helps create entry agreements to train and employ migrants

The Landsorganisationen i Sverige (LO-Sweden), or the Swedish Trade Union Confederation, member of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), created a model for labour agreements to facilitate the newly arrived migrants’ entry into the labour market and obtain training.

As LO states, there is a need to develop entry agreements between companies, social partners and the government that would help unemployed people, and especially the newly arrived unemployed, to acquire the knowledge and skills for a permanent employment. The entry agreements should:

• combine job and general education, and be applied in companies that have signed a collective agreement
• target newly arrived immigrants and the long-term unemployed
• those with jobs under entry agreements receive a pay from the employer and an individual state benefit, so that they can have a reasonable disposable income; the disposable income must correspond to an income in line with the collective agreement’s lowest pay
• entry agreements should be full-time and last for a maximum of 2 years
• those with entry agreement jobs will be given the opportunity to take part in language and other short training courses, especially vocational adult education, with more vocational education placements open by the government
• allow for an entry survey of the employees’ skills and knowledge
• lead to the validation of the employee’s newly acquired knowledge and skills after the end of the programme
• should in general lead to a permanent position with the same employer

The model was designed by LO in partnership with the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and the Swedish government.

In its Labour market and integration reforms – Budget Bill for 2024, the Swedish Ministry of Employment notes: ‘In November 2022, the Swedish Trade Union Confederation, the trade union Unionen and the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise signed an agreement on labour market entry agreements. This agreement differs somewhat from the regulations previously adopted. This has resulted in work being done at the Government Offices to allow necessary changes, including analyses of state aid regulations. The Government is now ensuring that labour market entry agreements are put into place. The Government’s aim is for the regulatory changes to enter into force early in 2024.’