On October 19, the Ombudsman, JO, ruled that the background checks of Södertälje municipality’s more than 8,000 employees are illegal and contrary to the constitution.
The controls paused, but the politicians were clear that they wanted to find a way to be able to continue with the controls.
The background checks are now to be resumed, but only for new recruitments. The municipal board will meet during the afternoon and will be informed about this by the city manager.
– What we have been told is that they will do a review, they will introduce background checks for new hires but not continue with the checks that take place on employees. We need to wait and see what the government’s action will be, so that we don’t make a mistake, says Andreas Birgersson (SD) opposition councilor.
During the autumn, SVT reviewed the background checks and was able to show that the responsibility for the background checks was given to an external company and that there was no PUB agreement, that the data protection officers were prevented from reviewing the process and that the municipality did not make any impact assessment before the background checks began.
Since JO made its decision, several trade unions have also demanded damages from the municipality, where negotiations are still ongoing.
In the video below, you get a summary of the background checks in Södertälje municipality.