FAQ
We want to start the Unemployment fund for contract workers so that everyone who works on a contract basis can receive a correct, equal and fair assessment of whether they qualify for benefits from the unemployment insurance fund. We are doing this because Sweden’s unemployment funds are not adapted to a modern job market.
In order to start an unemployment fund, 10 000 people are required to form an association. Then a request is sent to the IAF (The inspection for unemployment funds) which in coordination with the other 25 unemployment funds determine whether the fund should be allowed to start or not.
An application takes roughly one year to be approved or denied. If the Unemployment fund for contract workers is allowed to start it will be managed independently and not by the trade union of Self-employing companies who are behind the initiative.
In this phase we are merely collecting declarations of interest among contract workers. If the Unemployment fund for contract workers becomes a reality, we will contact you with a request that you confirm your interest to discontinue your current membership in a different unemployment fund and instead begin your membership in the Unemployment fund for contract workers. If you declare your interest you are absolutely not obligated to continue the process and change your membership.
A contract worker is an individual who works on a limited-time commission. The common denominator for contract-based work is how the work is organized rather than the area of business.
The Unemployment fund for contract workers will be based on an acknowledgment of the problems concerning lack of clarity and unpredictability that exist today. A realization of the scope of these problems in combination with a strong will to change them, guarantees the move towards a fair, equal and correct unemployment fund. This can enable that an administrative case handler will receive both supplementary education about relevant legislation and be informed about how contract work is typically organized, as well as about self-employment more broadly.
If the initiative to start the Unemployment fund for contract workers fails, we in the The trade union for Self-employing companies will continue to work to improve the position of contract-based workers on the Swedish job market through other initiatives and efforts.