SD Proposal to Ban Prayer During Working Hours Rejected

At Örebro Municipal Council’s meeting on March 25, a motion from the Sweden Democrats (SD) proposing a ban on prayer during paid working hours was discussed. It was deemed unnecessary and the motion was rejected. During the debate, Markus Allard from the Örebro Party also shared his thoughts.

The motion from the SD trio — Helena Ståhl, Bo Ammer, and Christer Johansson — which called for self-initiated breaks for prayer during working hours to be discontinued, was submitted to the municipal council as early as May 2025. The municipal executive board handled the issue in October, and the council postponed the matter during its meetings the same month, and again in November, December, January, and February.

The motion includes three points:

That clear directives be given to all responsible managers within the Örebro municipality organization regarding their responsibility to ensure compliance with workplace rules and routines, including those related to breaks and fair distribution of work.

That recurring checks be established and conducted to ensure that rules regarding breaks are actually observed and do not lead to overburdening certain staff members.

That recurring follow-ups be conducted to ensure that the workload is evenly distributed among staff, regardless of background or religious affiliation.

Rejected

The rejection was justified by the argument that current rules are sufficient:

As an employer, Örebro municipality follows the legislation in effect, and every manager is required to actively engage in systematic work environment management. At staff meetings (APT), employees can raise issues and risks, including those concerning uneven workload. The current responsibility, control, and follow-up by managers are deemed sufficient, and introducing additional measures is considered cost-driving. Therefore, the proposal is to reject the motion in its entirety.

An SD motion for a guarantee against honor culture in preschool and school was also rejected with roughly the same reasoning — that current laws and rules are sufficient.

Allard

Örebro also has the local Örebro Party, led by Markus Allard, who frequently makes headlines. During the debate on the SD motion, he also commented on the proposal, noting that Islam wasn’t even mentioned and that a ban would cover all religions — but that issues specifically relating to Islam are issues which, time and again, people manage to evade directly addressing.

– This is about setting requirements. Either you can meet them, or you are not fit to work within Örebro municipality, said Allard.