Dozens of ICU workers in Stockholm are being paid 220% of their salary during the coronavirus pandemic, thanks to a 'crisis situation' deal that goes back to long before the outbreak

• Around 100 frontline doctors, nurses and nursing assistants in Stockholm, Sweden, have more than doubled their salary fighting the coronavirus, the country's main medical union told Business Insider.
• This is thanks to a "crisis situation" agreement, struck between various medical unions and employers, which requires staff to potentially work more hours and adapt to location changes in an emergency.
• The deal also offers a 120% "crisis compensation" on top of their existing pay - yielding a 220% pay raise.
• The agreement could be activated elsewhere in Sweden, but it is expensive and is only activated if it's "absolutely necessary." So far, it has just been activated for some 100 ICU medics in Stockholm.
• The majority of Sweden's nearly 11,500 reported cases and 1,000-plus deaths from coronavirus are in Stockholm, according to the country's Public Health Agency.
• The model for the agreement came about after a series of devastating forest fires in 2018, when frontline emergency workers toiled long hours.
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Dozens of medical workers in Stockholm are earning more than double their salary during the coronavirus pandemic, thanks to an existing emergency agreement between country's medical unions and employers.

The pay raise comes under a "crisis situation" agreement that currently applies to around 100 unionized doctors, nurses, and nursing assistants working in intensive care units in Stockholm, the Swedish Medical Association (SMA) told Business Insider. The SMA is Sweden's main medical union.

According to the SMA, the agreement requires medics to work more flexibly, with maximum hours increased from 40 to 48 a week, and to respond to on-demand changes in working location as needs arise in different places.

The deal also offers a 120% "crisis compensation" on top of their existing pay - yielding a 220% pay raise.

An average doctor's annual salary in Sweden prior to the raise is around 1.167 million Swedish kronor, or $116,000, according to the Economic Research Institute, which tracks salaries around the world.

The 220% raise could bring that to nearly 2.567 million kronor, or $256,000.

The agreement was struck between unions and the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR) - the organization representing local government employers - after a series of forest fires ravaged the country and forced emergency personnel to work long hours.

The decision to activate it can only be made in emergencies, and has to be agreed on by the regional government in question and SALAR. These bodies also decide which workers it will apply to.

Activating the crisis agreement is "extremely expensive," SMA spokesman Erik Kjellin told Business Insider, adding: "It is only activated if found absolutely necessary."

Throughout 2019, various unions signed up to the agreement, with the SMA adding its name on March 18, 2020. It has been active for select workers in Stockholm since April 3.

Sweden has taken one of the most relaxed approaches to social distancing during Europe's coronavirus outbreak.

Shops, schools and restaurants remain open, and while the government has recommended social distancing, only gatherings of more than 50 people are banned.

The strategy has been criticized by more than 2,300 scientists who fear a greater spread of the virus.

As of Wednesday, the country has nearly 11,500 reported cases and 1,033 deaths, the majority of which were in Stockholm, according to the country's public health agency.

The crisis situation agreement has its roots in one of the country's biggest emergencies.

In 2018, Sweden experienced its worst-ever forest fires. After an unusually dry summer, a series of wildfires burned across the country - some as far north as the Arctic Circle, The Guardian reported. And Sweden's firefighters were so stretched they called on neighboring countries for help.

Kjellin told Business Insider that the demands on the emergency services at the time spurred SALAR and the unions to develop the model for the crisis agreement, which has been signed up to by different unions throughout 2019 and 2020.

"A number of questions about employment conditions and compensation for workers who worked in connection with the fires were raised," he said.

"It became clear that existing collective agreements are insufficient in these types of situations. SALAR therefore understood that it was necessary to develop a special collective agreement that will apply in crisis situations."

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