Since pregnant women were classified as a risk group, the number of women receiving pregnancy benefit has increased sharply in Sweden.

One of them is Therese, who was banned from working - and sent home without pay.

- I should be able to do something in a municipality.

But I was not even allowed to be inside the office, she tells SVT.

The employer must make a risk assessment, regardless of whether the woman is vaccinated or not.

If there is a risk of becoming infected, the employer must take all measures that are practically possible and reasonable to give the woman other work tasks, in accordance with the Swedish Work Environment Authority's regulations.

But to what extent this is done in reality, no authority knows.

Trade union alarms

SVT Nyheter has been in contact with three unions, Vårdförbundet, Lärarförbundet and Handels, who have all encountered employers banning pregnant women from working without investigating alternative work tasks.

- It is not so much a job to investigate, for example if you can be in another place in the store.

But that is not how it has been done.

It is a work environment problem, says Fritjof Carlsson-Brandt, press secretary at Handels.

The care association, which previously during the pandemic fought for their members who are pregnant to avoid working with covid disease, now has vaccinated members who are not allowed to work at all.

- It is less common to be relocated.

We think this is a bit strange because it is usually large employers, both regions and municipalities, who should have the opportunity to relocate to a higher day, says Ann Johansson, vice chairman of the Healthcare Association.

Requires compensation

The teachers' union has many members who were sent home when they became pregnant.

- We experience that you do not look at the whole municipality, but it ends up with each individual manager, says Anne-Lie Nilsson, chairman of the Teachers' Association in Växjö.

At the same time, she agrees that it can be difficult to find alternative tasks for, for example, preschool teachers.

The Swedish Teachers' Union now wants employers to compensate women who have been banned from working, and has sent a request for negotiations to Sweden's municipalities and regions (SKR).

The employer: "Unsustainable"

SVT has contacted SKR for a comment.

The press service refers to a blog post written by Caroline Olsson, head of the department for employer policy.

This is about the uncertainty about what applies to vaccinated pregnant employees:

“When authorities (the Swedish Public Health Agency and the Swedish Work Environment Authority) issue different and opposite recommendations, it becomes impossible for employers to know what really applies.

At present, it is unclear whether it is risky or not for vaccinated pregnant women to work during the pandemic ", writes Caroline Olsson.