According to a new ruling, the Swedish state must pay 42 teachers damages for discrimination as well as back pay, after they received insufficient compensation when forced to take leave due to infection risks during the coronavirus pandemic.
In August 2025, the Swedish Labour Court (AD) ruled that two municipalities must pay both wages and damages for discrimination to two employees who were not able to work while they were pregnant during the pandemic because of the risks to their own and their unborn babies’ health and safety.
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The pregnancy benefit they had received from the Swedish Social Security Agency was too low, according to the Pregnant Workers Directive, and their employers were therefore ordered to pay the difference.
That ruling only applied to two people. But since the AD, as the court of final instance, completely rejected Sweden’s way of implementing the Pregnant Workers Directive, it was immediately clear that this would have consequences for many more people.
Large numbers of women who had had to settle for pregnancy benefits would be able to demand the difference between it and what they were actually due. In addition, they could demand compensation for having been discriminated against on the grounds of sex.
And now, the fallout from the AD ruling is becoming clearer. In January, the Stockholm District Court delivered a judgment in a case involving 96 teachers. Rather than suing their employers, they brought their claims against the state.
The District Court ordered the state to pay wages and damages for discrimination to 42 of the teachers, plus interest and legal costs. The remaining 54 teachers’ claims were found to be time-barred.
The matter is not fully settled yet. The ruling can be appealed. Although the state appears to have the odds stacked against it, the teachers’ trade union organisations are considering appealing those parts of the ruling in which the claims were deemed time-barred.
The Swedish legislature will also need to consider how Sweden can comply with the requirements of the Pregnant Workers Directive in the future.
