Employment 2025

SWEDEN Law and Practice Contributed by: Robert Stromberg, Advokatfirman Cederquist KB

1. Employment Terms 1.1 Employee Status

In Sweden, an employment agreement does not have to take any specific form to be valid. However, Sweden has implemented Directive 2019/1152 on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions in the European Union. An employer must provide certain information in writing to the employee concerning the principal terms of the employment, most of which shall be pro - vided within one week of the commencement of the employment. Failure to do so can result in an obliga - tion to pay damages to the employee concerned. The requisite information includes, inter alia, the name and address of the employer and the employee, the commencement date, the place of work, duties and title, whether employment is fixed or for an indefinite term, the length of the probationary period, periods of notice, payment and other employment benefits, the length of paid annual leave, the length of the typical working day or working week, and information on the applicable CBAs. 1.3 Working Hours The maximum regular working hours are 40 hours per week. The Working Hours Act sets forth rules con - cerning overtime work as well as daily and weekly rest for employees. Employees are entitled to a minimum rest period of 11 consecutive hours in any 24 hours (“daily rest”), and to a rest period of 36 consecutive hours per seven-day period (“weekly rest”). Deviations from certain regulations in the Working Hours Act can be made by a CBA, but not in individual employment agreements. For part-time employees, the equivalent of overtime is called additional time, which comprises the work - ing hours in excess of the employee’s regular work - ing hours and on-call time. In cases where there is a special need to increase the number of hours worked, an employee may work an additional maximum of 200 hours over a calendar year (general additional time). When there are special grounds, additional time beyond the general allowance may be worked, up to a maximum of 150 hours per employee over a calendar year. Together, extra additional time and general additional time may not exceed 48 hours per employee over a period of four weeks, or 50 hours over a calendar month.

In Sweden, there are no statutory definitions of white- and blue-collar workers. Instead, these groups are defined by the applicable trade unions of which the workers are members and, therefore, different collec - tive bargaining agreements (CBA) apply to these two groups. In some labour market areas, the CBA regula - tions are uniform, and a categorisation of these two groups of workers is not necessary. The general regulations for employment protection are outlined in the Employment Protection Act. In Sweden, specific terms for employees in the public sector are governed by the Public Employment Act. However, the core rules for employee protection are similar for both private and public sector employees, with the Public Employment Act containing only a few specific provisions for public employees. 1.2 Employment Contracts The general rule is that an employment agreement is for an indefinite period, unless agreed otherwise. The Employment Protection Act allows for special fixed- term employment when the employer needs fixed-term employees. A fixed-term employment agreement may also be concluded for temporary substitute employ - ment and seasonal employment. An employee who has been employed for a special fixed-term employ - ment for an aggregate of more than 12 months, or as a substitute for an aggregate of more than two years, during the past five years will have their employment converted into indefinite-term employment. A special fixed-term employment may also be converted into an indefinite-term employment if the employee has been employed in different consecutive fixed-term employments. A special fixed-term employment or a temporary substitute employment will not convert into an indefinite-term employment if the employee has reached the age of 68, or the age of 69 if the employee was employed after 1 January 2023. Note that CBAs may contain regulations deviating from the statutory rules governing fixed-term employ - ment.

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