Jobskills is a website where newly arrived asylum seekers can enter their skills and get in touch with employers. SVT's review in 2018 showed, among other things, that the service could be used for refugee espionage, and that, despite internal decisions, the Employment Service never investigated whether the service was legal at all - until after SVT's reporting.
When SVT started asking questions, Jobskills was temporarily stopped, and the legal investigation was done. When Jobskills was reopened, there were severe restrictions - among other things, that the service must not be used by ordinary employment agencies.
"Difficult assessment question"The Employment Service also received a notification via its so-called whistle blower system, that the responsible manager Erik Sandström would have broken the law in connection with the launch of Jobskills. Since Erik Sandström holds a top position within the authority, an external law firm has been investigated. That investigation is now complete.
It shows that at launch, Jobskills was not in compliance with the Public and Secrecy Act, because the Employment Service did not consider whether the individual users would be exposed to a risk if their information became known to employers - for example through precisely refugee espionage.
At the same time, according to the law firm, there is a low likelihood of any individual being affected, and also uncertain to what extent the manager's decision to open the service for employers is punishable. For the latter reason, the Swedish Employment Service now chooses to report Erik Sandström to the State Responsibility Committee to have the matter assessed.
- This is a difficult assessment issue where we engaged an external review for the guidance. When they come to the conclusion that it is incompatible with the Public and Secrecy Act and that it is uncertain if it is criminal, it is impossible to exclude reasonable suspicion of a breach of the duty of confidentiality, and then the authority is obliged to report the case, says Employment Director General Mikael Sjöberg in a comment on the authority's site.
"Welcomes an inquiry"Erik Sandström himself states that he welcomes the trial.
- Basically, this case is about whether it has been sufficiently clear to users that their resume is shared with employers. These issues are important and I therefore welcome an inquiry and are happy to tell the committee about how we worked with the launch of Jobskills, says Sandström according to the Employment Service's web.
SVT News has sought a comment from the Employment Service and the persons concerned