It is not permissible to sign the contract first and then seal it during the summer.
The main responsibility lies with the individual player who provides incorrect information:
A-kassa is obligated to report all suspected benefit violations to the police, says Anette Ben Naceur, director of insurance at Unionen a-kassa.
In recent years, the majority of Allsvenskan hockey clubs have chosen to sign contracts of only nine months, or in some cases only eight months, with a number of their players. This is the time when the players train and play on the ice.
During the summer months there are big gaps in many teams, but as July turns to August, a host of players are introduced. Each club has the right to specify the duration of the contracts it wants to sign.
But Sportbladet revealed there are contracts already signed in the spring but only being offered in early July/August.
It is not permissible to sign a contract in the spring, effective from August 1, and then seal it during the summer months.
It can be excluded from social insurance
– There are many rulings from administrative courts that if you sign a contract, you are not entitled to unemployment compensation, says Annette Bennacer, at the Unemployment Fund at Unionen.
– So you have restricted yourself and are not at the disposal of the labor market, and then unfortunately you are not allowed to receive compensation. College students, for example, are not entitled to compensation during the summer vacation. During the limited period, it is not considered at the disposal of the labor market, she said.
What happens if you do not provide the correct information?
– After that you can become liable for the reimbursement and also be subject to penalties such as exclusion and denial of compensation for a certain period of time. There will be an evaluation to see if this action was intentional or gross negligence.
It can be hard to control
How do you see if this is happening systematically?
– What matters to us is that when you sign the contract, the unemployment fund must be notified of this. If there is a systematic way to present misinformation, that is unfortunate, of course. If the applicant knowingly or through gross negligence provides incorrect information to the unemployment insurance fund, this may also be a violation of benefits. Al-Kassan is obligated to report all suspected benefit crimes to the police, says Annette Bennacer.
What resources do you have to control potential fraud?
– Sure, we have the resources to check, but it can be hard to verify because it’s based on one’s data. We don’t have any leverage, which makes it difficult to get the checks done.
What is the employer’s responsibility to inform you?
It is the duty of the individual to provide correct information. The employer is obligated to share the employer’s completed certificates, but otherwise, it is the responsibility of the individual concerned to provide the correct information, says Annette Bennacer.