Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Friday
Find out what's going on in Sweden today with The Local's short roundup of the news in less than five minutes.
New rules for quarantining announced
Changes to rules for those quarantining due to infection with Covid-19, as well as those quarantining as household contacts of infected individuals were announced yesterday. Under the new rules, the following groups of symptom-free household contacts are no longer required to stay home from school or work if a member of their household tests positive:
- those who have received a booster vaccination
- those who have been infected with Covid-19 within the last three months
- some key workers, providing that other measures to avoid infection are taken
Those who do not fall into these groups must quarantine for five days, starting from the day when the person in their household first started showing symptoms of Covid-19. This was previously seven days.
For those who are infected with the virus, quarantine has also been shortened to five days, as long as the person in question has been fever free and feeling well for at least the last 48 hours. This also applies to those who have not been able to get tested.
Here is The Local's rundown of the new rules.
Swedish vocabulary: påfyllnadsdos - booster vaccination
Teachers at Internationella Engelska Skolan speak out to The Local
Internationella Engelska Skolan (International English School – IES), the free school chain that made its founder nearly a billion kronor, pays its qualified foreign teachers low wages and gives them duties they have not trained for, several teachers who work for the chain have told The Local.
Six foreign teachers who had worked at or were still working for schools run by IES spoke to The Local about significant discrepancies in salaries between Swedish teachers with local qualifications and the foreign teachers who form a large proportion of the company’s staff.
They also said that even as new graduates, they were asked to teach classes of as many as 32 pupils single-handed, and were also asked to teach subjects and age groups they had not been trained for. Two said they had been given multiple administrative jobs without being given extra time to do them.
Swedish vocabulary: löneskillnaden - discrepancies in salaries
Proposed tax increase on alcohol and tobacco
According to a proposal by the government, tax on alcohol and tobacco products may be increased over the next two years, starting on January 1st 2023.
Tax on tobacco products such as cigarettes and snus would be increased by 3 percent on January 1st 2023 on top of price increases due to changes in the consumer price index (CPI), with a further 1 percent price increase on January 1st 2024, if the proposal is approved.
A tax increase is also proposed for beer, wine, "other yeasted drinks than beer or wine" as well as mellanklassprodukter - drinks such as madeira, sherry or port. If approved, there would be a 5 percent increase on tax for these products from January 1st 2023, with another 7.6 percent increase occuring on January 1st 2024.
Spirits are also included in the proposal, with a 1 percent increase on January 1st 2023 and another 1 percent increase on January 1st 2024.
Swedish vocabulary: jästa drycker - yeasted drinks
Government's electricity rebate clarified
The government's planned electricity rebate, announced earlier this month, was clarified in a press conference on Thursday. The rebate - if passed by parliament - would compensate those using at least than 700 kWh per month in December, January or February, with the maximum of 2,000 kronor a month given to those using at least 2,000 kWh.
As compensation is based on usage rather than price of energy bills, those living in areas with cheaper electricity - such as Norrland - may even end up paying less for December 2021 than they did in December 2020, TT reports.
In the two most northerly electricity price areas, the bill for a detached house using 2,000 kWh in December 2021 came out to around 3,825 kronor. In 2020, this was 2,575 kronor, meaning that - with a rebate of 2,000 kronor - their bill for December 2021 would come to 1,825 kronor.
In the south of Sweden - where electricity is more expensive - a bill using 2,000 kWh cost 7,025 kronor in December 2021, and just 3,050 kronor in December 2020, meaning that - even with the rebate - their bill for December 2021 will be more expensive than the year before.
Interested in how much you may be able to get? Here's The Local's guide.
Swedish vocabulary: elprisstödet - electricity rebate
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New rules for quarantining announced
Changes to rules for those quarantining due to infection with Covid-19, as well as those quarantining as household contacts of infected individuals were announced yesterday. Under the new rules, the following groups of symptom-free household contacts are no longer required to stay home from school or work if a member of their household tests positive:
- those who have received a booster vaccination
- those who have been infected with Covid-19 within the last three months
- some key workers, providing that other measures to avoid infection are taken
Those who do not fall into these groups must quarantine for five days, starting from the day when the person in their household first started showing symptoms of Covid-19. This was previously seven days.
For those who are infected with the virus, quarantine has also been shortened to five days, as long as the person in question has been fever free and feeling well for at least the last 48 hours. This also applies to those who have not been able to get tested.
Here is The Local's rundown of the new rules.
Swedish vocabulary: påfyllnadsdos - booster vaccination
Teachers at Internationella Engelska Skolan speak out to The Local
Internationella Engelska Skolan (International English School – IES), the free school chain that made its founder nearly a billion kronor, pays its qualified foreign teachers low wages and gives them duties they have not trained for, several teachers who work for the chain have told The Local.
Six foreign teachers who had worked at or were still working for schools run by IES spoke to The Local about significant discrepancies in salaries between Swedish teachers with local qualifications and the foreign teachers who form a large proportion of the company’s staff.
They also said that even as new graduates, they were asked to teach classes of as many as 32 pupils single-handed, and were also asked to teach subjects and age groups they had not been trained for. Two said they had been given multiple administrative jobs without being given extra time to do them.
Swedish vocabulary: löneskillnaden - discrepancies in salaries
Proposed tax increase on alcohol and tobacco
According to a proposal by the government, tax on alcohol and tobacco products may be increased over the next two years, starting on January 1st 2023.
Tax on tobacco products such as cigarettes and snus would be increased by 3 percent on January 1st 2023 on top of price increases due to changes in the consumer price index (CPI), with a further 1 percent price increase on January 1st 2024, if the proposal is approved.
A tax increase is also proposed for beer, wine, "other yeasted drinks than beer or wine" as well as mellanklassprodukter - drinks such as madeira, sherry or port. If approved, there would be a 5 percent increase on tax for these products from January 1st 2023, with another 7.6 percent increase occuring on January 1st 2024.
Spirits are also included in the proposal, with a 1 percent increase on January 1st 2023 and another 1 percent increase on January 1st 2024.
Swedish vocabulary: jästa drycker - yeasted drinks
Government's electricity rebate clarified
The government's planned electricity rebate, announced earlier this month, was clarified in a press conference on Thursday. The rebate - if passed by parliament - would compensate those using at least than 700 kWh per month in December, January or February, with the maximum of 2,000 kronor a month given to those using at least 2,000 kWh.
As compensation is based on usage rather than price of energy bills, those living in areas with cheaper electricity - such as Norrland - may even end up paying less for December 2021 than they did in December 2020, TT reports.
In the two most northerly electricity price areas, the bill for a detached house using 2,000 kWh in December 2021 came out to around 3,825 kronor. In 2020, this was 2,575 kronor, meaning that - with a rebate of 2,000 kronor - their bill for December 2021 would come to 1,825 kronor.
In the south of Sweden - where electricity is more expensive - a bill using 2,000 kWh cost 7,025 kronor in December 2021, and just 3,050 kronor in December 2020, meaning that - even with the rebate - their bill for December 2021 will be more expensive than the year before.
Interested in how much you may be able to get? Here's The Local's guide.
Swedish vocabulary: elprisstödet - electricity rebate
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