How to request action

• Is your request about working hours?

  This form is only for requesting action on extra overtime, extra hours or emergency overtime under Section 19a of the Working Hours Act (Arbetstidslagen).

  We cannot, therefore, examine matters or queries about e.g. the following

  • Breaks, rest pauses, timetables and other working hours issues
  • Cooperation issues under Ch. 6 of the Work Environment Act
  • Union issues and the interpretation of collective agreements

  If your request concerns deficiencies in the work environment rather than working hours, it is better for you to make request for action under Ch. 6, Section 6 of the Work Environment Act (Arbetsmiljölagen).

  Request for action – work environment deficiencies (6:6a)

• Before you begin

  Your request needs to fulfil certain requirements before we can examine the matters.   

  If your answer to all the questions below is ”yes”, you fulfil those requirements.

  • Note! If you are a regional health and safety representative you can only make a request under Section 19a of the Working Hours Act if there is no health and safety committee or work environment committee at the workplace in question, and the federation that appointed you has at least one member in that workplace.

  • Are you a health and safety representative?

  • Do you lack a collective agreement or do you have one that does not regulate the matters you are requesting action on?
  • Have you requested that the employer act?
  • Has the employer still not acted on everything in your request?
  • Do you have all the documentation we need?

  You have to send us the following documents

  • The request you made to the employer
  • The employer’s reply or a comment on why you are not including it, e.g. because the employer has not replied
  • The items that the employer has still not acted on

  Request to the employer

  Before you send us your request you need to contact the employer, by letter or email is best. Remember that you are making a formal request (demanding action), and not asking questions.

  Your request must include

  • The deficiencies present with respect to your working hours
  • The actions you are demanding that the employer take
  • ”I am using my prerogative as a health and safety representative under Section 19a of the Working Hours Act”
  • A final date for responding. Give the employer sufficient time to respond or to take action

  Be as clear and to the point as you can in your description of the problems you are demanding that the employer act on.

  It is a good idea to ask for a confirmation of receipt if you send your request by email. If you send it by post, ask the employer to sign a confirmation of receipt.

• Your request is a public document

  Remember that your request for action (19a) becomes a public document when you send it to us.

  We may therefore have to disclose your request in accordance with the principle of public access to official documents. Before any such disclosure we will make a confidentiality assessment of the matter your request concerns.

  You can find more information about how we process your personal data at the bottom of the page or pages about our processing of personal data.

  Processing of personal data by the Swedish Work Environment Authority

• If you need to add anything

  You will be given a chance to add information to your request if there is something we are missing. If you don’t add the requested information before the end of the specified response time, we will reject your request.

• We examine your request

  When we have a complete request, we will examine the matters it concerns. This means that we usually carry out an inspection.

  We will only examine the matters you describe in your request.

  You can choose to withdraw your request at any time during the process. In that case we will issue a decision of cancellation.

• We reach a decision

  We may reach any of the following decisions

  • Requiring that the employer act to remedy the deficiencies (order).
  • Banning the employer from continuing the work in question (ban).
  • Not requiring the employer to carry out any action (rejection or refusal).

• You can appeal

  You can appeal our decision. The employer can also appeal it.

  Our decision will include instructions for how to appeal it. 

  If you have a principal health and safety representative the appeal has to be made by them.

• Any questions?

  Contact our information service by phone

  010-730 90 00