Employers and Sickness Insurance
A contribution to the development of social policy in Sweden 1955–2005
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11992048 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Per Gunnar Edebalk (Moscow State University of Technologies and Management named after K.G. Razumovskiy, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 49-68 |
| Publication date | 2008-08-19 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Scandinavian Journal of History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0346-8755 • E-ISSN: 1502-7716 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/03468750802125574 |
| OpenAlex | W1976238801 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 7 |
The Swedish Employers' Confederation (SAF) had already applied in the 1910s a strategy that companies should not compete with social benefits on the labour market. So SAF welcomed the introduction of national sickness insurance in 1955. The system included deductibles, which were seen as necessary in sickness insurance. Before the reform salaried employees had received sick pay from the employer and their compensation was 100%. Their organizations succeeded, in spite of SAF resistance, in getting supplementary contractual sick pay leading to elimination of deductibles. This paved the way for other organizations to negotiate solutions that gave full compensation for loss of earnings while sick. Consequently sickness rates became very high. Up to 1990 SAF was unable to stop the elimination of deductibles. The economic crisis around 1990 made it possible for politicians to introduce deductibles and statutory sick pay. This was in accordance with SAF's views. Increase in long‐term illness from 1997 led to a weakening of SAF's position. According to the unions, long‐term illness was due to bad work environments and measures should be taken to give employers incentives to improve working conditions. Supported by the unions, the social democratic government introduced increased financing responsibility for employers 2005
Business · Compensation (psychology · Earnings · Economics · Government (linguistics · Incentive · Labour economics · Market economy · Negotiation · Political science · Position (finance · Sick leave · Social insurance · Statutory law · Work (physics · Employment and Welfare Studies · Labor Movements and Unions · Law · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Finance
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.09 |
| Citation span | 2015 - 2015 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |