When hiring, it’s essential to understand that there are various employment types to consider, and rules and rights differ depending on the type.
In Sweden, the most common form of employment is full-time permanent employment. Other employment types include:
- Probationary employment
- Part-time employment
- Fixed-term employment
- Temporary agency work
Each of these employment types is subject to statutory protection.
Specifically for fixed-term employment, it is important to note that such employment is conditioned upon the expiry being defined by the type of fixed-term employment being a:
- General fixed-term employment
- Temporary substitute employment
- Seasonal employment
Under certain conditions, a fixed-term employment may convert into a permanent position. In this connection, the main rule is that the employment may become permanent after twelve months.
Your company is generally free to design job advertisements and select candidates at your discretion.
However, the recruitment process is subject to certain restrictions, including rules related to discrimination, data protection, and preferential rights.
As part of preparing for interviews, most companies collect information about the applicant from various sources, including the applicant directly, previous employers, educational institutions, and other third parties.
As a main rule, your company should avoid collecting information relating to:
- Pregnancy
- Age
- Ethnicity
- Health or disability
- Religion or faith
- Political opinions
- Sexual orientation
- Gender identity or expression
- Trade union membership
Depending on the job, certain information may be processed. Such data may relate to health, language skills, or family life.
Many companies conduct background checks as part of the recruitment process. Often, information collected as part of such checks includes:
- Identity
- Education
- Employment
- Credit check
- Criminal records
Your company can conduct background checks, subject to certain limitations. Such limitations, namely, arise from the data protection rules.
The main requirements include that your company must inform job applicants of the circumstances relating to the background check in accordance with Articles 13 and 14 GDPR and secure a lawful basis for each processing activity.
Special considerations apply before obtaining one of the different types of criminal records, which include the following types of records:
- Private use
- Work in a school/preschool
- Work in HVB homes
- Work in insurance distribution
- Work with children in non-school activities
- Work with functionally impaired children
There must be a legal basis for processing such records (e.g., a case for work within the security sector, schools, or the childcare sector). In this connection, it should be stated in the job advertisement that a criminal record is a requirement for the position. Criminal records must be obtained directly by the job applicant and cannot be issued to a third party.
Statutory rules protect employees during their employment. Such rights cover a wide range of areas, including:
- Employment contracts
- Working hours
- Holiday
- Leave
- Temporary employment
- Part-time work
- Non-discrimination
- Information and consultation
- Transfer of undertakings
- Restrictive covenants
Employees are subject to the Employment Protection Act, subject to a few exceptions. The Act provides protection regarding notice periods, preferential rights, compensation for unlawful termination, among other entitlements.
Employees may also be subject to collective agreements (CBAs) that include protections regarding salary, shop stewards, working hours, additional holidays, unjustified termination, pension contributions, and other benefits.
Employees have the right to receive a written notification of all material terms of employment.
Information must be provided as soon as possible, but no later than seven or 30 days after the commencement of employment, depending on the type of information.
As a minimum, the written notification must include details relating to the following categories:
- Name and address of the parties
- Workplace
- Details of the tasks and designation or title
- Type of employment
- Start date
- Duration, if not permanent
- User company, if agency worker
- Details on trial period, if any
- Holiday rights
- Rules on termination
- Compensation, time, and form of payment
- Daily or weekly working hours
- Unpredictable work patterns, if any
- Training entitlement, if any
- Social security
- Collective agreement, if any
Other material terms and conditions of employment must also be listed. Implied terms apply subject to statutory protection, including, for example, the duty of loyalty and the duty of confidentiality.
Additional information must be provided to posted employees and to employees stationed abroad for longer than four consecutive weeks.
The process for introducing a unilateral change depends on whether the change is material or not.
Whether a change is material and objectively justified must be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Depending on the circumstances, examples may include changes negatively affecting:
- Salary
- Workplace
- Bonus or incentives
- Holidays
- Area of responsibility
Unilateral material changes to the terms and conditions of employment constitute a constructive termination. Consequently, your company will need to follow the statutory termination process to implement the changes.
That process may include consultation with the employee’s union, a formal notice of termination, and an offer of employment on new terms. Employees who decline the change can consider themselves terminated, and depending on whether the material change was objectively justified, may be entitled to compensation for unjustified termination.
Changes that are not material can be introduced without notice, or with reasonable notice, depending on the circumstances.
There is no statutory minimum salary. However, collective agreements often include regulations on minimum salary entitlements and compensation.
That means that there is no obligation to regulate salaries annually. The salary level is subject to individual agreements unless an applicable collective agreement states otherwise.
Salary levels must always be set in accordance with the Swedish Discrimination Act, which requires that employees receive the same pay for the same work or work of equal value.
There are no mandatory payment methods.
There is no statutory minimum salary. However, collective agreements often include regulations on minimum salary entitlements and compensation.
That means that there is no obligation to regulate salaries annually. The salary level is subject to individual agreements unless an applicable collective agreement states otherwise.
Salary levels must always be set in accordance with the Swedish Discrimination Act, which requires that employees receive the same pay for the same work or work of equal value.
There are no mandatory payment methods.
The weekly working time must not exceed 40 hours, corresponding to an ordinary daily working time of eight hours.
Average working hours within a seven-day period, as calculated over four weeks, must not exceed 48 hours
Daily rest periods of at least 11 hours must be in place within each 24-hour period.
Weekly rest periods must be at least 36 hours within a seven-day period.
Employees who work more than five hours daily are entitled to a break. The break has no statutory duration, but it must be suitable for its purpose (usually 30 minutes). In addition, the work must be organised so that employees are able to take short pauses during the workday.
Working time registration obligations apply, which entail reporting of overtime and on-call hours in a system. Your company can choose how to set up the reporting system. Employees must have access to their own information.
Employees are entitled to 25 days of statutory holiday each year, corresponding to five weeks of holiday.
Holidays are to be taken during the holiday year, from 1 April to 31 March. Special holiday conditions apply to employees who start their employment after 31 August.
Paid holiday rights are accrued during the accrual year, from 1 April to 31 March in the year before the holiday year.
Paid holiday can either take the form of (1) holidays where employees receive their salary as usual and a holiday supplement or (2) holidays with holiday allowance corresponding to 12 % of the annual salary.
The scheduling of holidays is subject to discussion, but your company has the final decision. That said, employees can require 20 consecutive days to be taken between 1 June and 31 August with two months’ notice. Employees can also require that the remaining holidays be taken as consecutive days with two months’ notice or, exceptionally, with one month’s notice.
Special terms and conditions apply to accrued, untaken holidays at the end of the holiday year, as well as in connection with the termination of employment.
It is common to offer five additional days of holiday, especially if the employee is not entitled to overtime payment.
Employees have statutory rights to flexible working arrangements under various Swedish laws, subject to specific conditions.
Parents with one or more children under the age of eight, or children who have not yet completed their first year of school, may request flexible working arrangements.
Your company must consider this request and respond within a reasonable timeframe. Generally, the request should be approved unless the arrangement will result in significant inconvenience.
Flexible working entitlements also apply to employees who are:
- Caregivers
- Assisting a member of their household with a serious medical condition
Each flexible working entitlement is subject to underlying conditions.
Employees are entitled to sick leave during their employment.
However, paid sick leave rights depend on the duration of the sick leave:
- 80 % of the salary during the first 14 days
- After that, sick leave benefits
Sick leave benefits to other employees are paid directly by the Swedish Social Insurance Agency , subject to certain conditions.
Your company may need to comply with certain statutory obligations during an employee’s sick leave, including:
- Report continued sickness to the Swedish Social Insurance Agency from day 15
- Assessing possible work adjustments
- Rehabilitation plan (60+ days of sickness)
Note that when employees receive their salary during sick leave beyond the employer period, your company may be eligible for reimbursement. Conditions include that the employee must have been sick for 14 consecutive days (“employer period”). When applicable, your company will receive the sickness benefits that the employee otherwise would have received.
Employees have the right to parental leave and benefits related to childbirth and adoption, subject to specific conditions.
In connection with childbirth, the employee giving birth is entitled to leave for seven weeks prior to the expected date of birth (pregnancy leave).
In connection with adoption, the employee adopting is entitled to leave when they assume care of the child.
After childbirth or adoption, employees are entitled to 480 days of leave per child, of which 390 days are at the sickness benefit level. Employees have statutory rights to extend their parental leave full-time until the child reaches 18 months, or part-time leave until the child turns eight or completes the first year of school.
Notification requirements apply to both sides in connection with planning the parental leave.
Employees have leave rights, depending on their circumstances, and are subject to certain conditions.
Besides parental leave and sick leave, such statutory leave rights include:
- Extended parental leave
- Leave for urgent family reasons
- Carers leave
- Caregiving leave
Many companies may also offer such leave, either in full or in part, with pay, subject to reimbursement. Other leave that companies often offer in practice also includes the right to leave in connection with:
- Moving
- Wedding
- Exams
- Funeral
- Non-statutory holidays
Many companies want to include a non-competition and/or non-solicitation of customers clause in the employment contract.
The Swedish Contracts Act governs restrictive covenants.
Non-solicitation of customer clauses can be enforced for customers with whom the employee has had business-related contact. There is no defined statutory period that determines what customers are covered by the clause
Non-competition clauses can be agreed upon for employees where the clause is necessary to safeguard the company’s business interests. Different elements, including their position, will play into the assessment of whether that is the case.
Each clause must have a reasonable duration, which may vary from anywhere from six to 18 months in practice. Special circumstances may justify a longer duration.
Although offering compensation is not a statutory requirement for a non-competition clause, it may be necessary for it to be valid in practice. Usually, compensation corresponds to 60% of the salary, with the option to set it off if the employee obtains other suitable employment during the period in which the clause is in force.
No-hire clauses (also known as “non-poaching” or non-solicitation of employees” clauses) are not regulated by law.
When your company needs to terminate an employee, the process is subject to certain notice periods and procedural rules.
Minimum statutory notice periods apply, subject to seniority:
- Under 2 years: 1 month’s notice
- Up to 4 years: 2 months’ notice
- Up to 6 years: 3 months’ notice
- Up to 8 years: 4 months’ notice
- Up to 10 years: 5 months’ notice
- Over 10 years: 6 months
Your company can either terminate an employee for reasons related to your business (e.g., redundancy or restructuring) or reasons related to the employee (e.g., performance or misconduct).
Depending on the circumstances, employees may submit a claim for compensation due to unjustified termination.
Statutory termination entitlements vary, and different rights apply depending on whether the employee is subject to a collective agreement or has special individually agreed-upon terms.
Establishing a whistleblower scheme is required when your company has 50 or more employees.
Pursuant to the Swedish Whistleblower Act, such internal whistleblower schemes must allow for written, verbal, or both forms of reporting. When verbal access is available, a physical meeting must be possible upon request within a reasonable time.
Under the internal scheme, your company must, among other things, appoint an impartial individual or department to:
- Receive reports and have contact
- Follow-up on reports
- Give feedback to the whistleblower
Each obligation is subject to deadlines and underlying requirements.
Such tasks can be handled by a third-party or an affiliated entity.
Whistleblowers must have access to report on defined matters under the internal scheme:
- Defined breaches of EU law
- Breaches of law
- Matters of general interest
Employees who report under the scheme are protected against retaliation.
Employees can also report via external whistleblower schemes.
Different circumstances in your company may require you to facilitate the election of employee representatives in practice.
When your company is not subject to a collective agreement, certain duties to inform the employees of developments within the business apply under the Swedish Co-Determination Act.
When your company has an average of 25 employees, employee representatives can be elected to the board at the initiative of the employees.
When your company has five or more employees, health and safety representatives must be elected for the work environment organisation.
When your company has 1,000 or more employees across the EU/EEA and a minimum of 150 employees in two or more EU/EEA countries, you may be required to establish a European Works Council.
Pursuant to the Swedish Employment
Protection Act, a transfer of an undertaking occurs when a company or part of a company transfers to a new employer but retains its identity after the transfer.
Employees covered by the transfer have the right to transfer with the business to the new employer (“transferee”). The transferee, therefore, becomes liable towards the employees who transfer.
Information and consultation requirements apply in connection with such a transfer, including an obligation upon the company that transfers (“transferor”) to notify employees of:
- Transfer date (or suggested date)
- Reason for the transfer
- Legal, economic, and social consequences
- Measures towards the employees, if any
Terminations due to a transfer of an undertaking are not reasonably justified in your company’s circumstances unless they are due to economic, technical, or organisational reasons that directly affect the workforce.
Special requirements apply when collective agreements are in place, including the ability for the transferee to renounce the transferor’s collective agreement within 30 days of receiving notice of the transfer.
Employee representatives generally retain their title in connection with a transfer.
Pursuant to the Swedish Act concerning certain Measures to Promote Employment, your company must follow a statutory process when terminations may affect:.
- Five or more employees
- 20 or more employees over a 90-day period
Note that exits via severance agreements may count in the threshold, subject to certain conditions.
Obligations include a duty to consult with employees or employee representatives to attempt to reach an agreement that avoids or limits potential mass redundancy and minimises the consequences for those affected.
In this connection, information must be shared in writing on the circumstances surrounding the mass redundancy. Information must be shared concurrently with the Public Employment Service.
If the intention remains to complete the terminations after the consultation process, the Public Employment Service must be notified.
Termination in connection with mass redundancy will take effect no earlier than after notice of collective redundancies has been given to the Public Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen) and in any case no earlier than between two, four, and six months, depending on whether the number of affected employees is 25 or more or less than 100.
Collective agreements are agreements that outline the working conditions applicable to a specific company or industry.
The parties to collective agreements are usually a trade union on one side and a company or an employers’ organisation on the other.
There is no statutory requirement to comply with or conclude a collective agreement, except for collective agreements that are generally applicable.
Collective agreements contain different terms and conditions, providing a framework for the rights and obligations. Terms usually relate to working time, pay, overtime, holidays, and pension. Other conditions may relate to the work environment and dispute resolution.
Supplementary rules also form part of such agreements. Those supplementary rules provide an additional basic framework for cooperation under the collective agreement, with additional obligations that your company must comply with.
Companies without a collective agreement can expect to be approached by a union with the aim of entering into a collective agreement. Your company can then negotiate on an individual basis or join an employers’ organisation, which will negotiate on your company’s behalf