A woman, who was employed by a Swedish employer, moved with her family to South Africa. After the move, with her employer's approval, she carried out her work remotely from there.
The woman applied for temporary parental benefit for the care of a sick child. The Swedish Social Insurance Agency rejected the application stating that she was not covered by the work-based insurance in Sweden since she worked in South Africa.
The question in the Supreme Administrative Court was whether a person who works remotely from another country is covered by the Swedish work-based social insurance. For this to be the case, the work must be considered "gainful employment in operations in Sweden", which according to the Supreme Administrative Court must be answered on the basis of the circumstances in each individual case. Where the work is purely physically carried out is consequently a circumstance which should be considered, but other circumstances such as the character of the work, the employer's operations in Sweden and where the employee is employed should also be considered in the assessment. The fact that a person works remotely from abroad over an extended period of time accordingly does not exclude that, depending on the circumstances in general, it may be a question of work in operations here in the country.
The Supreme Administrative Court found that the woman in the current case was employed to work in her employer's business in Sweden. Nothing had come to light other than that the character of her work duties on behalf of the Swedish operation was that she could perform them remotely from South Africa. Accordingly, notwithstanding that it was not physically performed in Sweden, the work was regarded as gainful employment in operations in Sweden. The woman was thus covered by the Swedish work-based social insurance.
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