sou · H5B3101 · 2017-12-18 00:00:00 — There can also be major differences between sectors of the labour market in terms of what factors are important to allowing working life to be combined with family life, for example issues pertaining to the potential to work flexibly, the hours at which work take place, whether the parent is self-employed, etc. Accordingly, some flexi- bility needs to be retained in order to provide parents with the scope for such variation. A proposal for complete reservation would also result in families consisting of more than two legal guardians being excluded from using parental benefit unless some form of needs assessment is introduced, which is not in line with the rest of the inquiry’s remit. A completely equal distribution would also require major behavioural changes among both men and women, which would be difficult to achieve in the short term. Without the oppor- tunity to gain a comprehensive overview of the long-term conse- quences, it is hard to justify major changes. The inquiry proposes that the number of days for which one parent cannot hand over the right to parental benefit to any other person, i.e. ‘the reserved period’, be increased. For the period up to and including the child’s third year, calculated from the child’s birth or an equivalent point in time, 130 days for each child or for the children together in the event of multiple births or multiple adoptions will be reserved for each parent. For the period subsequent to the child’s third year, calculated from the child’s birth or an equivalent point in time, up until the child’s tenth birthday, three days per year per child or for the children together in the event of multiple births or multiple adoptions will be reserved for each parent. Reservation of days with parental benefit at the basic level The inquiry makes the assessment that days with parental benefit at the basic level are not currently encompassed by the regulation con- cerning the reserved period for each parent and that there is no justifiable reason for this. There are also benefits to be gained by encouraging an equal distribution of parental benefit use between women and men when it comes to the issue of basic level days. This is why the inquiry proposes that these days also be included in the time for which one parent may not hand over their right to parental benefit to anyone else. This proposal means that all parents who take parental benefit are covered by the regulation concerning the re- served period. Additional exemption from the distribution of parental benefit The inquiry proposes one additional exemption from the principal rule of dividing the parental benefit days in half between parents who have joint custody. If one parent is permanently prevented from receiving parental benefit because they are serving a custodial sen- tence, the other parent will have the right to all the days with parental For a parent to be considered permanently prevented, their sentence is required to encompass the entire period during which they are entitled to parental benefit, based on the periods across which parental benefit is distributed in accordance with the proposed new model. Those custodial sentences that will be encompassed by this proposal are thus long, fixed-term sentences and life sentences. Improved opportunities for different family constellations to use parental insurance benefits A parent’s cohabiting partner is to be equated to a parent The inquiry proposes that a parent’s cohabiting partner be equated to a parent when applying the provisions concerning parental benefit without there being a requirement for the parent and the cohabiting partner to have been married to one another or to have or have had children together. The cohabiting partner will also be given the right to parental leave without a requirement for previous marriage or joint children. There are no specific requirements for a parent’s spouse to be equated to a parent, either for the right to parental benefit or the right to parental leave. It is the opinion of the inquiry that this dif- appears to be unjustified. Greater opportunity to transfer parental benefit entitlement The inquiry proposes that a legal guardian be permitted to transfer their parental benefit entitlement to a person who is not the child’s parent or equivalent to a parent. Greater opportunity for a legal guard- ian to transfer some of their own days with parental benefit to another person is deemed to provide single parents with an improved potential to obtain help and relief from the burden of caring for the child from someone close to them. In families where more than two people exercise a parental role, this provides an opportunity for more people to combine parenthood with working life and for the child to benefit from the care and supervision of more parents. Greater oppor- tunity to transfer days to someone other than a parent or equivalent to a parent should also be of value to other family constellations and could simplify people’s everyday lives. The opportunity to transfer entitlement is deemed to have a positive outcome for those children who are encompassed by it and the inquiry believes that it is natural that only someone who has the parents’ trust will be able to take advantage of parental benefit in this way. The inquiry proposes that it be possible to make the transfer to someone who is insured for parental benefit. It will only be possible to transfer those days that are not reserved for each of the parents. Up until the child’s third birthday, it will be possible to transfer up to 60 days for each child. Subsequent to this and up until the child’s tenth birthday, it will instead be possible to transfer a maximum of four days per child per year. A parent who has sole custody of a child will be entitled to transfer all the days. If the parents have joint custody of a child, each of the parents will instead be entitled to transfer half of the days. If the transferred days are not used, it will be possible to reclaim the entitlement to parental benefit for these. The provisions concerning parental benefit will also apply to the person who has received days following a transfer. However, it will not be possible for such a person in their turn to surrender or transfer days to someone else. An employee will be entitled to leave from work in the period during which they are receiving parental benefit as a result of a transfer. The inquiry’s assessment is that the new opportunity for another insured person to take leave with compensation in the form of parental benefit should provide entitlement to holiday pay. The effects that the new opportunity to transfer entitlement may have on the pension should be followed up. Transfer of the entitlement to parental benefit in conjunction with the birth or adoption of a child Based on factors such as the needs that temporary parental benefit in conjunction with birth or adoption of a child is intended to meet and in light of the developments that have taken place in the regulations governing parental benefit and in society since these benefits were introduced, the inquiry makes the assessment that compensation for these purposes should instead be provided within the scope of parental benefit. A transfer of this type also results in an opportunity for reform in terms of prioritising other central changes in the parental insurance system. Consequently, the inquiry proposes that a parent be entitled to parental benefit in conjunction with the birth or adoption of a child. No limit on the number of days is proposed, but it will only be possible to provide parental benefit for the period from delivery up to and including the fourteenth day after the child goes home following delivery. The calculation of the time period for with- drawing parental benefit in the event of adoption, as is the case under the current law, is based on the time at which the parents have taken the child into their care. The period during which it will be possible to provide parental benefit means that largely the same com- pensation level can be achieved as through the current compensation provided by temporary parental benefit. No additional days with parental benefit are proposed as a result of the transfer. Instead the entitlement to compensation will be encompassed by the entitlement to parental benefit as a whole, with the opportunities and limitations this involves. Days with parental benefit for these purposes will be deducted from the parent’s reserved period. It will also be possible to provide parental benefit to a parent who does not have custody of the child, for example to allow a non-birth parent to be present during delivery. Because the aim of this compensation is to make it possible for more than one parent to be present at the child’s arrival and early days in the family, it will be possible to provide this compensation to a parent for the same period during which parental benefit is provided to another parent for the same child. The transfer of compensation entitlement has some conse- quences due to differences between the systems for parental benefit and temporary parental benefit. Nonetheless, it is the inquiry’s assess- ment that this does not mean that the compensation entitlement should remain within the temporary parental benefit system. If the purposes of the compensation are considered to belong more to the parental benefit system, it is logical that the entire systems of these benefits apply to the entitlement to compensation. The provisions in the Parental Leave Act (1995:584) concerning the number of periods of leave and the time for the employee to notify their employer of leave differ between parental benefit and temporary parental benefit. However, the inquiry believes that no amendments to the Parental Leave Act’s provisions are required as a result of compensation for the purposes in question being moved over to parental benefit. Removal of the speed premium The inquiry’s assessment is that the protection for sickness benefit qualifying income when caring for children and the possibility to keep the same level of parental benefit for the period prior to the child’s second birthday should not be altered. The need for parental benefit and parental leave, on full or part-time basis, is great during the first two years of the child’s life, which is why the inquiry is of the opinion that it is reasonable to provide extensive protection for parental benefit and sickness benefit qualifying income in this period. However, the inquiry proposes that possibility to extended protec- tion for parental benefit in the event of new pregnancy and adoption (the ‘speed premium’) be removed. The assessment is that removing this could lead to women working full-time more frequently be- tween pregnancies, resulting in a more gender equal distribution between paid and unpaid work and an increase in women’s financial independence. Change to the 240-day condition Because the inquiry is proposing that the minimum level of parental benefit be scrapped, the qualification condition for entitlement to compensation at the sickness benefit level should also be changed. Compensation at the minimum level is currently equivalent to per day. The inquiry therefore proposes that the condition be changed so that the parent will have been entitled to sickness benefit that exceeds per day throughout the entire qualifi- cation period, instead of sickness benefit that exceeds the minimum level for parental benefit. This change will mean that the condition is the same as prior to the change. Entrepreneurs’ conditions and opportunities to use parental insurance It can be concluded that parents who are entrepreneurs, i.e. people who run companies of any form, generally take out less of compen- sation from the parental insurance system than employees, despite the fact that they may have the same basic entitlement to such compensation and in spite of the fact that they want to make use of parental insurance. If this results in the children of entrepreneurs having less access to their parents than they need, this is of course not a satisfactory situation from the child’s perspective. A large part of the problem with using parental insurance de- scribed by entrepreneurs relates to the regulations concerning sickness benefit qualifying income. The search for solutions within the regulations requires a broader and more in-depth review of the provisions concerning sickness benefit qualifying income than the inquiry’s remit allows. In spite of this, the inquiry makes the assess- ment that there is need for a protective provision for sickness benefit qualifying income during the phase of a company, not just for those who are self-employed, who already have such protection under the current regulations, but also for people who run limited companies. Because the Government has announced in the budget bill for 2018 that it intends to publish a government bill concerning financial protection during the phase that covers all entrepreneurs, regardless of what legal form their enter- prise takes, the inquiry is not issuing any proposals concerning such changes. Within the scope of the general proposals the inquiry is issuing concerning changes within the parental benefit system, serious con- sideration has been given to the fact that parent’s circumstances vary in terms of taking parental leave and parental benefit. In particular, the proposal to provide greater opportunity to transfer parental bene- fit entitlement to another person should make it easier for entrepre- neurs to combine family and working life. In general, it is difficult to see how changes to the conditions within the parental insurance system would solve the problems described, in any case without com- pletely abandoning certain basic principles of the social insurance systems. The inquiry should therefore not issue any proposals con- cerning such changes that only have an entrepreneur’s perspective. Students’ conditions and opportunities to use parental insurance The inquiry’s assessment is that the general proposals being issued by the inquiry concerning changes to the parental insurance system will also benefit students. No changes that only have a student’s per- spective should be made to the conditions for parental insurance benefits. should the calculation of sickness benefit qualifying income for parental benefit and temporary parental benefit be altered only for students. Nevertheless, the inquiry agrees with the proposals that have been published in the memorandum Stärkt skydd av sjukpenninggrundande inkomst för studerande [Greater protection for sickness benefit qualifying income for students] concerning expanding the general protection for sickness benefit qualifying income for students to also encompass the period in which a person is studying without student aid. The inquiry’s assessment is also that there should be an investi- gation in another context into whether it should be possible to provide student aid in the form of a supplementary benefit for students when both parents are studying or the entitlement to such a benefit should be structured in an alternative in order to encourage gender equal parenting for parents who study. There should also be an investigation as to whether it should be possible to retain student aid during pregnancy for students who have risks in their study environment, for example during work placement periods, and where it is not feasible to adapt the work environment or duties or to relocate the student. Greater protection for women receiving pregnancy benefit Extension of the period with pregnancy benefit The longest pregnancy benefit is currently provided up to and including the day prior to the estimated delivery date. However, the circumstances that give a woman an entitlement to pregnancy benefit do not expire simply because there are ten days remaining until the expected delivery date Consequently, the inquiry proposes that entitlement to pregnancy benefit is altered so that it can be provided up to and including the day prior to the expected delivery date, i.e. ten days longer than is currently the case. The inquiry’s assessment is that it is desirable to further expand entitlement to pregnancy benefit to better align it with the needs of pregnant women. One appropriate expansion could be to make pregnancy benefit general so that it covers all pregnant women for the final ten days prior to the estimated delivery date. inquiry has neither the time nor the financial resources to undertake the deliberations required in order to issue its own proposal. Exten- sive analysis must be carried out of what needs pregnant women actually have in terms of compensation for loss of earnings due to their work capacity being reduced as a result of pregnancy and these needs should be the decisive factors in the future design of preg- nancy benefit. An inquiry of this type should primarily be conducted by the authorities that have specific knowledge of this area. Raising the income ceiling used when calculating sickness benefit qualifying income There is a proposal in the budget bill for 2018 to increase the income ceiling used when calculating sickness benefit qualifying income from 7.5 to 8.0 price base amounts as of 1 2018. There is an explicit exemption to this increase for benefits including pregnancy benefit. The inquiry is of the opinion that there is also justification for increasing the ceiling for pregnancy benefit. The inquiry pro- poses that the income ceiling used when calculating sickness benefit qualifying income for pregnancy benefit be the same as that used within the sickness insurance system and thus be increased from 7.5 to 8.0 price base amounts. Raising the income ceiling used when calculating sickness benefit qualifying income There is a proposal in the budget bill for 2018 to increase the income ceiling used when calculating sickness benefit qualifying income for the majority of sickness insurance benefits from 7.5 to 8.0 price base amounts as of 1 2018. There is an explicit exemption to this increase for benefits including temporary parental benefit. The in- quiry is of the opinion that there is also justification for increasing the ceiling for temporary parental benefit. The inquiry proposes that the income ceiling used when calculating sickness benefit qualifying income for temporary parental benefit be the same as that used within the sickness insurance system and thus be increased from 7.5 to 8.0 price base amounts. A need to review the regulations concerning temporary parental benefit The regulations pertaining to temporary parental benefit are com- plicated and there are established problems with respect to where to the boundaries lie between this benefit and other support systems. The inquiry’s assessment is that there needs to be a comprehensive review of the regulations in order to simplify and make these easier to interpret. However, there is not the scope to conduct such a review as part of the inquiry’s work. The inquiry proposes some minor amendments to various statutes including the Social Insurance Code and the Parental Leave Act. For example, we propose a codification of the regulation that has been established in case law that a parent may reclaim parental benefit entitlement that has been transferred to another parent for days that have not been used and amendments to the provisions concerning deducting foreign benefits that correspond to parental benefit as a result of a child’s birth. Greater knowledge about parental insurance, parental leave and parental benefit supplement and follow-up of the proposals The inquiry proposes that the Government task (the ) with developing opportu- nities for parents to make a clear plan for their parental leave based on the new model for the parental insurance system. In addition, and the will be tasked with continuing the work of disseminating information about the long and short-term consequences of distributing parental benefit and parental leave in a gender equal . In particular, entre- preneurs’ need for guidance with respect to matters such as calcu- lation of sickness benefit qualifying income needs to be met. Campaigns and other initiatives to encourage gender equal use of parental insurance benefits should be evaluated. The inquiry’s assessment is that the social partners should be encouraged to continue providing good advice and information about existing parental benefit supplement and parental salary. The inquiry’s assessment is that a follow-up should be conducted of the consequences of the proposals being issued. Entry into force and transitional provisions The inquiry proposes that all statutory amendments enter into force on 1 January 2019, with some transitional provisions. For example, the current model for parental benefit will apply with respect to children born prior to 1 January 2019 or, in the event of adoption, when adoptive parents have gained custody of the child prior to this date. Consequences of the inquiry’s proposals The inquiry’s assessment is that the proposals will contribute all in all to a more equal distribution of parental benefit, temporary paren- tal benefit and parental leave. It is also deemed that these proposals will contribute to achieving the gender equality policy target of financial gender equality and an equal distribution of unpaid domes- tic and care work. The inquiry’s basic premise throughout is that children benefit from an early and close connection with their parents. The proposals that the inquiry is issuing are intended to result in a more equal distribution of parental leave and parental benefit between the child’s parents and are also expected to result in a more equal distribution of childcare, which encourages good contact between the child and more than one of their parents. The inquiry makes the assessment that its proposals together lead to savings for the central government in the initial years after they enter into force, but that they involve somewhat increased expen- diture once they are completely phased in. However, the period of this forecast is long and there is thus a high degree of uncertainty. lag om ändring i socialförsäkringsbalken Härigenom föreskrivs i fråga om socialförsäkringsbalken1 dels att 12 kap. 13, 15 a, 15 b, 19, 20, 24, 29, 34 a, 41 a–46 §§ samt 13 kap. 10–15 §§ ska upphöra att gälla, dels att rubrikerna närmast före 11 kap. 4 och 5 §§ samt 12 kap. 16 §, rubrikerna närmast efter 12 kap. 23 och 28 §§, de åtta rubri- kerna närmast efter 12 kap. 41 § och de fyra rubrikerna närmast efter 13 kap. 9 § ska utgå, dels att nuvarande 12 kap. 12 a § ska betecknas 12 kap. 13 §, dels att 5 kap. 9 §, 10 kap. 8, 10 och 11 §§, 11 kap. 1, 4–6 och 10 §§, 12 kap. 1, 4, 4 a, 8, 9, 12, 15–18, 30, 33–35, 39–41 §§, 13 kap. 1, 2, 3, 31 a och 33 §§, 110 kap. 5 a § samt rubrikerna närmast före 11 kap. 4 § och 12 kap. 17 § ska ha följande lydelse, dels att det ska införas fem nya paragrafer, 12 kap. 5 a, 12 a, 12 b, 17 a och 17 b §§, och närmast före 11 kap. 6 §, 12 kap. 5 a, 12, 12 a och 12 b §§ nya rubriker av följande lydelse, dels att det närmast före 12 kap. 13 § ska införas en ny rubrik som ska lyda ”Föräldrapenning för tid före ansökan”. 1 Senaste lydelse av 12 kap. 12 a § 2013:999 12 kap. 41 e § 2013:999 12 kap. 13 § 2013:999 12 kap. 41 f § 2013:999 12 kap. 15 a § 2013:999 12 kap. § 2015:674 12 kap. 15 b § 2013:999 12 kap. 41 h § 2013:999 12 kap. 20 § 2013:999 12 kap. 45 a § 2017:559 12 kap. 34 a § 2013:999 12 kap. 46 § 2013:999 12 kap. 41 a § 2013:999 13 kap. 11 § 2011:486 12 kap. 41 b § 2013:999 rubriken närmast före 12 kap. 41 a § 2013:999 12 kap. 41 c § 2013:999 rubriken närmast före 12 kap. 45 a § 2017:559 12 kap. 41 d § 2013:999 rubriken närmast före 12 kap. 46 § 2013:999. Den som är bosatt i är försäkrad för följande förmåner: 1. föräldrapenning på lägstanivå och (11 och 12 kap.)