Equal treatment at work, and what to do

Sweden's Discrimination Act (2008:567) aims to promote equal rights and opportunities regardless of seven characteristics:

1. sex
2. transgender identity or expression
3. ethnicity
4. religion or other belief
5. disability
6. sexual orientation
7. age

In working life, an employer may not discriminate against employees, job applicants, people asking about a job, trainees, or people doing temporary or borrowed work.

For an international applicant, ethnicity is often the ground that matters most. A recruiter rejecting you because of your name, your country of origin or your accent can fall within the law. The same goes for a pay decision or a promotion.

The ban does not stop at the office door. It also applies in education, health care, social services, social insurance, unemployment insurance, student finance, housing, and when businesses sell goods or services, among other areas. DO's overview lists them all.

The law recognises more than open, deliberate unfairness:

• Direct discrimination. You are treated less favourably than someone else in a comparable situation, and the reason is linked to one of the seven grounds.
• Indirect discrimination. A rule or requirement that looks neutral puts people of a certain group at a particular disadvantage. It is allowed only if it serves a legitimate purpose and the means are appropriate and necessary.
• Inadequate accessibility. A person with a disability is disadvantaged because the employer did not take reasonable accessibility measures.
• Harassment. Conduct that violates your dignity and is linked to one of the grounds.
• Sexual harassment. Unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, such as comments, touching or advances.
• Instructions to discriminate. Someone orders a person who depends on them, for example an employee or a contractor, to discriminate.

Indirect discrimination is worth knowing about when you apply for jobs. A requirement such as a degree from a particular country, or a language level the role does not actually need, may be questioned if it shuts out people of a certain ethnicity without a good reason.

Swedish employers have duties beyond simply not discriminating.

Investigate harassment

If your employer learns that you feel harassed or sexually harassed at work, it must look into what happened and take the steps that can reasonably be expected to prevent it in the future. The duty covers harassment that happens in connection with your work.

Work actively to prevent discrimination

Under the rules on active measures, every employer must work continuously in four steps: investigate risks, analyse causes, take measures and follow up. This covers all seven grounds and areas such as pay, recruitment, training and the balance between work and parenthood. The work is done together with employees, often through their unions.

Employers must also:

• carry out a pay survey every year to find and fix unjustified pay gaps between women and men doing equal work or work of equal value,
• have guidelines and routines against harassment, sexual harassment and reprisals,
• document the work in writing if they have 25 or more employees. Employers with 10 to 24 employees must document the pay survey.

No reprisals

Your employer may not punish you for reporting discrimination, taking part in an investigation, or rejecting harassment. Taking away your duties, overloading you or treating you in a degrading way after a complaint are examples of prohibited reprisals.

Parental leave is protected separately. An employer may not disadvantage an applicant or an employee for reasons connected to parental leave.

1. Write it down. Note dates, what was said or done, who was present, and keep emails, job ads or rejection messages.
2. Raise it at work if you can. Tell your manager or HR. Your employer is obliged to investigate harassment once it knows.
3. Contact your union. If you are a member, the union is the first place to go for discrimination cases. Many academics and professionals belong to a Saco union. Read more in our guide to rights and obligations at work.
4. File a complaint with DO. The Equality Ombudsman (Diskrimineringsombudsmannen) accepts complaints through an online form. The form is in Swedish, but you can write in any language. DO cannot investigate every complaint, but it may take a case to court.

You do not need to prove everything yourself. If you show circumstances that suggest discrimination, it is up to the employer to show that it did not happen. A court can order the employer to pay compensation for discrimination.

Time limits for taking a case to court can be as short as two weeks in some situations and four months in others, so do not wait.

If you are studying, or your children go to preschool or school in Sweden, the same seven grounds protect them. Education providers, from preschools to universities, may not discriminate against children, pupils or students.

They carry duties that mirror an employer's:

• Investigate harassment. When a school or university learns that a child, pupil or student feels harassed or sexually harassed in connection with their studies, it must look into it and take reasonable steps to stop it happening again.
• Active measures. Education providers also work in the four steps of investigating, analysing, acting and following up. The work covers admissions, teaching, exams and grading, the study environment, and combining studies with parenthood.
• Guidelines and written records. They must have guidelines and routines against harassment and sexual harassment, and document their active measures in writing every year.

The rules are in chapters 2 and 3 of the Discrimination Act. Complaints go to DO in the same way as for working life.

Sweden's starting point is that women and men have the same rights, obligations and opportunities in every part of life, and that society should be free of discrimination. Part of that is giving equal worth to the work women and men do, paid or unpaid.

In 2006 the Riksdag set the overarching goal: women and men should have the same power to shape society and their own lives. The national policy breaks this into sub-goals:

• Power and influence. An equal say in politics and in decision-making across society.
• Economic equality. The same chances to work, earn and be financially independent throughout life.
• Education. Equal conditions in school and higher education, so that study choices are not steered by gender.
• Unpaid care and housework. Childcare and work at home shared equally.
• Health. The same conditions for good health and access to care on equal terms, including sexual and reproductive health and the right to decide your own sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.
• An end to men's violence against women.
• An end to honour-related violence and oppression.

The right to decide over your own body runs through these goals. Sweden's consent law of 2018 rests on the principle that every person has an unconditional right to decide about their own sex life.

You will notice the policy at work: parental leave is taken by both parents, and employers are expected to make it possible to combine a career with family life. The Swedish Gender Equality Agency coordinates and follows up this work. For your own job search, browse open positions and compare employers on what they say about pay transparency and parental leave.