Student collective agreement proposal

Swedish universities and colleges have been criticised for failing to prepare students for future work. Inspired by the Danish system, the bargaining union for state employees has suggested a collective agreement to regulate student employment in the sector. The aim of the agreement is to help with the transition between higher education and working life, to improve students’ competitiveness in the labour market and to avoid future skill shortages in the state sector.

Background

Youth unemployment is continually being debated in Sweden (SE1110029I; SE1101019Q; SE1011019I). Swedish universities and colleges have been criticised for not preparing students for the transition from higher education to working life. The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise (SN) has highlighted its concerns in its 2011 report, First step out – Student employees in the Swedish labour market (in Swedish, 419Kb PDF).

According to a 2010 report Getting established in the labour market (in Swedish, 2.99Mb PDF) published by the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education (HSV), one fifth of Swedish university graduates have still to find work one year after graduation.

The bargaining union for state employees (SACO-S) has suggested that a collective agreement for students should be used to regulate student employment in the state sector. The aim of such an agreement would be anticipate future competence shortages. Such shortages could arise unless a large number of graduates are employed in the public sector in the next few years. The agreement also seeks to improve the transition from higher education to working life. In a press release (in Swedish, 77Kb PDF), SACO-S highlighted a further aim of sparking students’ ambition and willingness to pursue a career in the sector.

Danish model revised

Student employment generally concerns students in higher education who work while pursuing their studies. The idea of a student employment system comes from Denmark where 75% of university students work in parallel with their studies. The Danish students’ jobs are often, but not always, of relevance to their studies. For example, according to a report on student employment (in Danish, 10Kb PDF) published by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education, more than 25% of all law students in Denmark work at a law firm or in public administration. On average, 28% of Swedish students in higher education worked at least one hour of the week in 2011, according to Statistics Sweden.

The student employment system in Denmark was initiated in the 1940s when the Danish Union of Commercial and Clerical Employees (HK) bargained for a collective agreement for students working in the state sector. Nowadays, student employment is regulated through both labour market regulations and collective agreements. One argument for a students’ collective agreement is that they may have needs that would not apply to other groups of employees.

SACO-S has requested negotiations with its counterpart, the Swedish Agency for Government Employers (Arbetsgivarverket) In its document on student employee agreements within the state (in Swedish, 68Kb PDF) it suggests that the collective agreement sets a framework for the number of weekly working hours, the duration of a student worker contract, and at what level of education one may be employed as a student worker.

Commentary

In Sweden, the issue of student employment has been overshadowed by issues related to youth employment. As discussed in SE1101019Q, the Liberal Party of Sweden (Folkpartiet liberalerna), rallied behind the Swedish Centre Party (Centerpartiet) when it sought to cut pay for workers aged between 15 and 24 in order to improve their competitiveness in the labour market. While SACO-S suggests that student employment is regulated through collective bargaining, the Swedish Centre Party suggested in 2010 that student employment should be regulated by changing the Employment Protection Act. Even though SACO-S is the first trade union to present such an initiative, other social partners have discussed the issue.

Emilia Johansson, Oxford Research