Job and Development Guarantee programme

What?

It is a programme that consists of individually designed measures and support, combined with you actively looking for work. The goal is for you to break your unemployment as quickly as possible.

You may also watch a webinar to learn more about the Job and Development Programme.

Webinar on the Job and Development Programme

For whom?

You may have the opportunity to participate in a Job and Development Programme (jobb- och utvecklingsgarantin) if you have been unemployed for an extended period and if you are registered with us as a jobseeker. You must also meet one of the following conditions:

• You have received unemployment benefits for 300 days and do not meet new working conditions. The programme is available to you when you have 20 or fewer compensation days remaining from the unemployment insurance fund (a-kassa).
• You are a single parent with children under 18 years old, work part-time, and have used 60 weeks of unemployment benefits. The programme is available to you from when you have used 56 weeks.
• You have not received unemployment benefits from the unemployment insurance fund in the past 14 months.
• You have participated in the introduction programme (etableringsprogrammet) or Youth Job Programme (jobbgarantin för ungdomar) for the maximum time.
• You have been sentenced to prison and granted a stay outside of prison, or you are on voluntary parole but have not completed a full year of the probationary period.

The Public Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen) offers you a place in the programme. If you are in the target group for the Job and Development Programme and have not been offered a place, you can call us on 0771-416 416.

If you have a company, you are not considered unemployed and cannot participate in the programme. This is the case regardless of the extent of your entrepreneurship.

How it works

When you accept a place in the programme, you will be referred to the programme that begins the same day at the earliest. You and an Employment Officer will subsequently plan which initiatives suit you best in order for you to find a job or start studying as quickly as possible. An interpreter is available if you need one. A few examples of initiatives:

• work experience
• occupational rehabilitation
• employment training
• support and advice if you are considering starting your own business
• education at a municipal adult education (komvux) facility, folk high school (folkhögskola) or college
• matching services.
  

We monitor your progress and give you the support you need.

When you participate in the Job and Development Programme, it is also possible for an employer to employ you with a new start job or an introductory job.

If you have an illness or disability, you may be entitled to extra support

If your health or disability affects your ability to participate in the programme activities, we want you to tell us. We then investigate, together with you, what support you need in order to get involved in the activities.

Support for people with disabilities

Extent of the programme

The programme is normally full time. If you are taking part-time parental leave or are not able to work full time due to a disease or disability, it is possible to participate in the programme on a part-time basis. You are also able to study part time for up to twelve months at the same time as participating part time in the Job and Development Programme.

You are not entitled to holiday time when participating in the Job and Development Programme (jobb- och utvecklingsgarantin), but in some cases, we can give you a maximum of three days off. There is also an option to temporarily pause the programme for a maximum of 20 days in a twelve-month period. The Public Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen) must approve the temporary pause in advance, and you must therefore apply for it. During the pause, you must continue to search for a job and submit your activity report (aktivitetsrapport). Contact the Public Employment Service for an application and rules for temporarily pausing the programme.

Compensation and conditions

When participating in a programme you can apply for compensation from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency.

If you have not previously received unemployment benefits from the unemployment insurance fund, the number of compensation days in the programme is limited to 450. You continue to participate in the programme even after your compensation days run out.

You can read here about how to apply for compensation and what applies when you are registered with Arbetsförmedlingen and participating in one of our programmes.

When participating in a programme

What is expected of you

Participation in the programme is voluntary but if you are involved, you must be active and adhere to the plan we agree upon.

When you are in the programme, you need to take part in the initiatives that we plan together. You must be actively searching for a job and if you are offered a job, you are expected to accept it. You need to do this in order to try to solve your situation, but also to make sure your compensation from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) is not affected.

You need to inform us of any changes, for example if you start working or studying.

We may prompt you to study

Many employers are in need of workers, but struggle to find the right people with the right training. You may need to study first to be eligible for some of the jobs out there, and we encourage you to apply for regular studies.

When we prompt you to study

Report activities

You have to submit an activity report every month. This is important in order for you to be given the right support on your path to work or education, and so as not to affect your compensation from the Social Insurance Agency.

Activity report

If you get ill

If you get ill, you need to notify us on the first day you are ill, otherwise you lose your compensation for the entire period you are ill. If you are ill for a long time, we try to adapt the content of your programme to enable you to still take part. You are signed off the programme if you are ill full time for more than 30 days and the programme cannot be adapted.

Report absence due to illness

If you are looking after a sick child

If you need to be at home to look after a child, you have to notify us of this.

Report absence to look after a child (parental leave)

How long can you be in the programme?

You can be involved in the Job and Development Programme until

• you start working or studying full time outside of the Job and Development Programme
• you start taking full-time parental leave
• you fall ill on a full-time basis for more than one month and the programme cannot be adapted
• the month before you reach the age of guarantee pension
  
• you fulfil a new condition for obtaining unemployment insurance.
  

You can read more here about what is required in order to receive compensation from unemployment insurance:

Compensation from unemployment insurance

You may have the opportunity to return to the programme

You can return to the programme if you were on sick leave, parental leave, or studying. If you become unemployed again, you may not have been gone for more than 12 months, and for some studies, no more than 3 years. If you were working and became unemployed, you can return to the programme if you are not entitled to the unemployment insurance fund again. Read more under the heading How to return to the programme (Så kommer du tillbaka till programmet).

If Arbetsförmedlingen terminates your programme

Arbetsförmedlingen is able to withdraw your programme. This means that it is terminated and that you are no longer entitled to participate in the programme. You may lose your entitlement to participate in the programme if you are non-compliant or disrupt the activities. There are also specific reasons that allow Arbetsförmedlingen to withdraw your programme, for example if you are no longer able or willing to participate in the programme.

If you are no longer entitled to compensation after 450 days in the Job and Development Programme, you can also lose your place if you:

• decline any measure within the programme or any other labour market policy measure
• decline a suitable job without acceptable reasons
• do not report your activities
• do not contact the Public Employment Service as agreed.

If your programme ends, then your compensation and the initiatives you had in the programme end.

Once your programme has been terminated

If your right to participate in the programme was revoked, it may be possible to participate again after 45 qualifying days (karensdagar). Qualifying days must be completed consecutively and you need to continue to be registered as a jobseeker.

If you choose to deregister from the Public Employment Service on the same day that your programme ends, you must register as a jobseeker within 60 days in order for the qualifying days to begin.

If your programme has been recalled due to specific reasons, it is not possible to return to the programme.

How to return to the programme

The earliest your programme can start again is the same day we make a plan together. You need to contact Arbetsförmedlingen yourself.

If you have been deregistered from Arbetsförmedlingen, you need to register again as a jobseeker on Arbetsförmedlingen’s website. We will then phone you within two hours in order to begin processing your case.

• If it is after 15:00 we will phone you the next working day between 9:00 and 11:00.
• If you are unable to answer or do not hear from us, call us on +46 771-416 416.

It is important that you answer when we phone you.

If you are still registered with Arbetsförmedlingen, you need to phone us on +46 771-416 416 in order to start the processing of your case. Tell us that your case is about a potential return to the programme.