Foreign workers can gain access to societally critical industrial facilities in Sweden without the authorities knowing who they are. This is what the Swedish Police Authority warns about after 20 people without the right to work in the country were discovered during an industrial inspection in Oxelösund. Now the police are demanding stricter rules and better control over foreign labor.

In a new security warning published on Tuesday, the Police Authority raises the alarm about serious shortcomings in Sweden’s regulations for posted workers. According to the authority, the system can be abused by foreign companies that send workers to Swedish industries, without anyone being able to verify their identities.

The problem has come to the fore following a joint government inspection at a major industrial facility in Oxelösund, where a large number of subcontractors are working in connection with a shutdown and new construction. During the inspection, 20 foreign nationals were found who, according to the police, lacked the right to reside and work in Sweden. The individuals were detained, and the police stated that they would be deported with a re-entry ban.

But the police’s concern is not only about illegal labor and unfair competition. The authority also points to the risk that people gaining access to sensitive industries could use their presence to map operations, gather information, or obtain valuable technology and knowledge.

“We do not know which workers we have at societally critical facilities or what they are doing there,” says Helena Lans, coordinator against labor market crime at the Police Authority.

Authorities lack crucial personal data

Posting means that a company in another country temporarily sends employees to Sweden to perform work. The rules are based on the EU principle of free movement of services and are used, among other sectors, within the construction and manufacturing industries.

The employer is required to notify the Swedish Work Environment Authority of the posting. But according to the police, the Swedish registry lacks information about the workers’ citizenship and identity documents. There is also a large number of unregistered individuals who are never reported.

This means that authorities, in practice, have to conduct physical workplace inspections to check who is actually present at the facilities.

The police point out that the rules can also be abused to circumvent the requirements for work permits. People from non-EU countries can, under certain circumstances, be exempt from Swedish work permit requirements when sent here by a company in another EEA country. According to the authority, this exemption can be exploited even when the stated posting is not correct.

Similar problems in Gothenburg and Lysekil

Oxelösund is not the first case where Swedish authorities have discovered suspected illegal labor at sensitive operations.

In 2025, similar inspections were carried out at protected objects in the Port of Gothenburg and at Preem’s facility in Lysekil. Posted workers were found in those cases as well, including many third-country nationals deemed to be working illegally in Sweden.

The police warn that these shortcomings can pose risks to both national security and the Swedish labor market. Unscrupulous companies may use the rules to avoid taxes and social fees, exploit workers, and outcompete companies that follow Swedish regulations.

The problem has also grown in scale. According to the police’s summary, nearly 75,000 workers were posted in Sweden during 2025, an increase of around ten percent compared with the previous year. The construction industry still accounts for the largest share, but the manufacturing industry has also seen a sharp increase. The number of posted industrial workers rose by about 3,000 people during 2025.

The police demand stricter regulations

In light of the security risks, the Police Authority wants to see major changes to the regulations. The authority proposes, among other measures, that foreign workers’ nationality and identity information should be registered and that a system for advance notifications should be introduced. This type of system would mean labor must be registered before arriving in Sweden and assigned individual identity numbers.

The police also want to review the exemptions from work permit requirements, introduce stricter demands for foreign companies wishing to establish in Sweden, and investigate the possibility for the Swedish Tax Agency to impose fines on employers using illegal labor.

An additional proposal is that third-country nationals posted to Sweden should be required to apply for a residence permit from their first day in the country.