Work placements in another Nordic country
National labour market rules can make it difficult to carry out a work placement in another Nordic country, as the rules are largely based on placements taking place in the participant's country of residence. This issue is related to access to work placements for people from other Nordic countries.
Border Issue Status: Closed
The Freedom of Movement Council has through its Danish representative re-prioritised this issue in 2020. Investigations on whether there is a possibility to find a solution to the closed border issue are ongoing.
Description of the problem
Rules on work placements vary between the Nordic countries and are primarily designed for placements within each country. The national employment services determine who is eligible for a work placement.
In Sweden, the rules allow work placements to be carried out in another country provided that the organiser is a Swedish legal entity. There are also rules allowing placements in areas close to Sweden. These include countries that share a border with Sweden and countries bordering the Baltic Sea.
Employment service programmes, including work placements, must always be justified by the needs of the labour market.
There are several reasons for the Swedish restrictions. Public authorities must be able to assess the organiser and the conditions at the placement. If the organiser is not a Swedish legal entity and operates abroad, the authorities have limited opportunities to carry out the necessary checks.
Another reason is that insurance cover, including accident insurance, has not been adapted to cover work placements abroad.
In Sweden, state insurance covers potential injuries to participants during a work placement as well as damage caused by participants to the business where the placement takes place.
Under certain circumstances, the Swedish employment service can withdraw a work placement assignment or suspend a person's entitlement to unemployment benefits. If the placement takes place with a non-Swedish organiser in another country, the employment service has limited opportunities to monitor it.
In Denmark, individuals cannot generally receive benefits for work placements carried out in another country unless special circumstances apply. The only group permitted to carry out a work placement in another country are people who are entitled to receive sickness benefits while abroad.
This restriction exists because the Danish authorities must be able to ensure that the conditions of the placement comply with Danish labour law and that the placement does not give the business an unfair competitive advantage.
Suggested resolution
In the report Nord 2012:002, a Nordic group of experts concluded that changes to national rules would be required in all Nordic countries to make cross-border work placements easier. Any changes to the rules would also need to address issues relating to monitoring, follow-up and insurance cover.
For work placements offered to people seeking employment from another country, the national employment services would also need to clarify how the rules should be applied.
As part of its work, the expert group assessed the implications of changing the rules, including issues relating to monitoring, follow-up and insurance cover. Based on this assessment, the group decided not to pursue a solution to this border issue.
