On Thursday, the Director General of the Swedish Work Environment Authority had to answer questions from politicians in the labor market committee after criticism of the culture of silence and testimony about reprisals against whistleblowers at the authority.
Occupational health and safety inspector Jenny Bengtsson reported a head of abusive discrimination after she alerted both internally and to journalists about what she believes was an illegal handling of decisions regarding oral protection for care staff at the Serafen nursing home in Stockholm.
In Assignment review, criticism was also made from a freedom of expression expert about how the authority "advised" employees not to comment on issues that the media reviews.
V: Seriously damaged trust
Ciczie Weidby, Member of Parliament for the Left Party, says that she asked the Director General how she sees the trust in the authority being "seriously damaged".
- How she and the authority will regain trust, I do not feel that we got an answer.
There is now concern about how confidence in the Swedish Work Environment Authority can be saved.
The chairman of the Labor Market Committee, Anna Johansson (S), says that she has a picture of the director general and the management organization taking the criticism very seriously and working to rectify it.
She says that she is surprised by the information that has emerged in the Assignment review of the Swedish Work Environment Authority.
- It is clear that it is extra startling when an authority whose task is to ensure a good working environment itself seems to have these shortcomings.
“Should set an example”
Arman Teimouri from the Liberals also believes that the leadership seems to take what has emerged in Assignment review seriously - but that the authority has a long journey ahead of it to restore trust, both internally and externally.
He says that he looks forward to calling the director general to the committee again when the package of measures promised by Erna Zelmin Ehenhem has been implemented.
- The Swedish Work Environment Authority must set an example for other authorities.
It is an authority that works with precisely these issues in workplaces.
We want to strengthen the protection for whistleblowers.
When they do not set a good example themselves, it is serious.
CEO Erna Zelmin Ekenhem writes in a comment to Assignment review that she takes the signals very seriously, that managers and employees should feel that they can express what they feel and think.