Consultation response: The report Strengthening the position of labor migrants in the labor market (SOU 2016:91)

Status
Answered

From
Ministry of Justice

Reply by
2017-02-20 00:00:00

Strengthening the position of labor migrants in the labor market, SOU 2016:91 (pdf)

IT&Telecom companies, together with Almega, have responded to the report.

Executive summary

The report's ambition to propose measures to strengthen the position of labor migrants is good, but the proposals will rather lead to reduced labor immigration and continued many rejections of extension applications with reference to minor deviations from the conditions.

The position of migrant workers would be strengthened more by a regulatory framework that makes it easy for employers to do the right thing, and that is clear and transparent so that legal uncertainty can be minimized. Almega and IT&Telekomföretagen therefore reject the report's proposals on sham employment and to penalize deviations from the terms and conditions, where imprisonment is the starting point.

The report's proposals will hamper labor migration, while at the same time increasing needs.

  • The inquiry's survey magnifies the problems of refusals due to shortcomings in employment conditions. Only three percent of all permits are refused because of such shortcomings.
  • The proposal for an explicit provision on sham employment is rejected. On the one hand, there are already good opportunities to reject applications on this basis. On the other hand, it is unreasonable to impose prison sentences for assessments of employers' intentions to employ workers on a sham basis.
  • The proposal to introduce criminal liability with imprisonment as the starting point for deviations from promised conditions is rejected. A fine is a more reasonable starting point, as the most common deviations from collective agreements and practices in the profession or industry are usually minor and due to ignorance, misunderstanding or external circumstances. In addition, the legislation needs to provide greater scope for holistic assessments by the Migration Agency and the courts, which requires that the revocation provision in Chapter 7, Section 7 e of the Aliens Act be amended.
  • Give the Swedish Migration Agency the task of working preventively and promotionally with information, support and advice to employers and recipients. According to the one-stop-shop model.
  • Allow for flexibility. For example, assess based on annual salary instead of monthly salary

Read the entire IT&Telecom companies' and Almega's consultation response here.