Employment Regulations
> Employment agreement in Sweden
An employment contract is an agreement between an employer and the employee. An employment relationship arises as soon as an agreement on work has been reached. The employment contract can be oral, but the employer must always provide written information about the terms of employment. An employer has to do this no later than one month after the employee has started working. The duty to provide information does not apply to employment shorter than three weeks.
> Collective Agreement
Sometimes the employment contracts are bound to collective agreements. A collective agreement is a written agreement between an employer and a trade union organization and contains rules on, among other things, salary and employment conditions. A collective agreement binds an employer by becoming a member of an employer's organization or signing a so-called suspension agreement. If you are bound by a collective or suspension agreement, you must consider the provisions that are regulated there between employers and employees. Collective agreements contain rules about forms of employment, overtime, salaries, working hours, termination, etc. Collective agreements and suspension agreements are considered part of the personal employment agreement, and you must inform your employees about its content. Collective agreements may contain other rules on which fixed-term employment is permitted. Therefore, do not forget to look in your collective agreement if you have one. The collective agreement among architecture companies is within Arkitekt Union in Sweden (Sveriges Arkitekter), part of the SACO trade union.
Collective agreements are regulated in the Act on Co-determination in Working Life, MBL, which also states all parties' rights and obligations when they sign a collective agreement.
> Different type of employments/contracts
There are two types of employment: permanent employment (fast anställning or tillsvidareanställning) and fixed-term employment (tidsbegränsad).
According to the Employment Protection Act (LAS), the main rule is that employment contracts apply until further notice. This means that an employee is always permanently employed unless you have agreed on something else. If the work is limited in time, it should be stated in a written agreement for it to apply.
> Union
- Trade Unions
An employee has the right to be a member of a trade union. Trade unions have the task of safeguarding employees' interests in working life. An employee has the right to be a member of a trade union. An employer is obliged to negotiate with the union in situations concerning their members. An association of an entire profession is usually called a trade union. An association of different unions within an industry is usually called a trade union. Most unions are, in turn, affiliated with one of the three leading organizations:
LO (National Organization in Sweden)
TCO (Central Organization of Salaried Employees)
SACO (Swedish Academics' Central Organization)
- Sveriges Arkitekter
The union that covers architects in Sweden is Sveriges Arkitekter within SACO trade union
Architects Sweden, Sveriges Arkitekter, is the collective trade union and professional organization for all architects in Sweden. In Sweden, architecture is not a licensed profession; anyhow Sveriges arkitekter gives membership titles to the union members. Therefore being part of the union is essential.
Refer to Before you arrive for more details on the membership titles. Information can be found as well on Sweden architects webpage.
> Permanent Employment
Permanent employment is the most common form of employment in the Swedish labor market. Permanent employment is characterized by the fact that you are not employed for a specific time.
Many companies have a routine of always initiating an employment relationship with probationary time. According to law, the probationary period may not exceed six months unless the employer is bound by a collective agreement that entails a shorter or longer probationary employment agreement. The purpose of probationary employment should be transferred to permanent employment when the probationary period ends.
Probationary employment is a good way for both the company and the employee to get to know each other. If the employment is terminated within the probationary time, no notice period is needed, but they must be notified that the probationary period will end 14 days in advance.
> Fixed term employment
The following fixed-term forms of employment are permitted under the Employment Protection Act: general fixed-term employment, temporary employment, seasonal employment, and probationary employment.
- Temporary employment (Tidsbegränsade)
In the case of fixed-term employment, the employment is limited in time through the employment contract. It must be stated in the employment contract that it is a question of fixed-term employment. The agreement should therefore be in writing.
- Pending the appointment of a permanent post (I avvaktan på att en fast tjänst tillsätts)
A substitute can also be hired to fill a vacancy while waiting for the position to be filled permanently. Here, the employment contract must state which vacancy applies. This type of temporary position must also be fixed-term, either with a date or that the employment ends when the position is filled.
- General fixed-term employment (Visstidsanställning)
General fixed-term employment is permitted for 24 months over five years. Suppose an employee has had one or more general fixed-term employment, and these have lasted for a more extended period than a total of 24 months. In that case, the employment is transferred to a permanent job with the same conditions as the general fixed-term employment.
After 12 months over the past three years, the employee has a preferential right to re-employment, provided that the person has sufficient qualifications for the new job.
- Substitute (Vikariat)
You can hire a substitute when someone in the regular staff is away from work, for example, due to disease/ semester/ leave of absence/ military service/ parental leave/ studies. It must be stated in the agreement for whom the substitute is acting. The temporary position must also be fixed in some way. An employee who has held a temporary position with the same employer for a total of more than two years within a five-year period automatically becomes a permanent employee.
- Seasonal employment (Säsongsanställning)
Seasonal work is work that, due to the changing of the seasons, can only be performed during a certain time of the year. The season can be different lengths in different years, for example depending on the weather. A seasonal job simply ends when the season is over. A seasonal employee has a preferential right to re-employment if at the end of the season he has been employed for more than six months during the past two years. If you cannot offer re-employment next season, you must notify us in writing at least one month before the start of the new season.
> Freelancer/consultant
If you lack the skills to perform a particular task, you can enlist the help of a freelancer/consultant. If the freelancer owns a company, you pay for the assignment he performs. As a client, you do not have to make tax deductions or pay employer contributions. Freelancers are available in many different professional categories, and you can find them, for example, via various networks or by searching the internet in the area you need help.
> Part-time employment
If you only need help a few hours a week, you can hire a person part-time. This means that the employee works, for example, 25 percent of a full-time job. A person can be employed part-time during both permanent employment and fixed-term employment.
> Hourly employment
Hourly employment is not a form of employment. Having hourly employees only means that you pay the employees per hour. The employment itself must be permanent employment or fixed-term employment.
> Opening your own private practice
Anyone can establish a private architecture practice in Sweden, as long as they comply with applicable national laws and regulations.
Architects Sweden has a service – FöretagarService (business service)– for self-employed architects and owners of architecture firms. We provide services in matters of contracts, tenders, fees, public procurement, liability insurance, copyright, et cetera. To get this service, you have to be a member of Architects Sweden and affiliated with FöretagarService.
> Leave for employees
Employees are entitled to time off work for various reasons. The most common forms of leave are holidays, parental leave, and leave of absence, but there is also other statutory leave. You do not normally pay compensation to your employees for holidays other than regular holidays. However, you can choose to pay a certain percentage of the salary to an employee who, for example, is on parental leave.
- Holiday (Semester)
Pay for employees must be paid in connection with their holiday. By law, holiday pay must be calculated either through the joint pay rule or the percentage rule. All employees are entitled to 25 days' holiday per year. If the company is covered by a suspension or collective agreement, you must always follow the rules in the agreement, for example when calculating holiday pay.
- Parental leave (Föräldraledighet)
Parents have the right to parental leave when they have or adopt a child. If your employee wants to take parental leave, they must notify you as an employer at least two months before the start of the leave. Employees who have sick children have the right to be free from work with temporary parental benefits (vab).
- Sick Leave (Sjukskriven)
An employee becomes ill and he or she cannot work, an employer must pay sick pay for the first fourteen days. From the sick pay, you must make a qualifying period deduction. The deduction must be 20 percent of the sick pay that your employees are expected to receive during an average calendar week.
If an employee is away for more than 14 days, it is time to report sick leave to the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. From day 1 to 14 the employee reports illness to the employer. On day 8 the employee must submit a medical certificate to receive continued sick pay. On day 15 the employer reports to the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) if the employee continues to be ill.
When you care about your employees' health and actively prevent causes of illness, such as stress, you get a healthier, more pleasant and more efficient workplace. You can take the help of occupational health care to see what can be done at your workplace, and give your employees wellness opportunities.
> Termination and notice period
An employment is usually terminated when the employee himself changes employer. But an employer can also terminate an employment if he/she has a factual basis for it.
- Employees resignation
If an employee resigns, the notice period agreed on primarily applies. According to the Employment Protection Act (LAS), an employee otherwise has a one-month notice period.
- Company resignation
A company can fire employees for two reasons: lack of work and personal reasons
Termination for personal reasons: the employer must have a factual basis for the claims. The employee must have misbehaved in a way that caused damage to the company, or risk of injury.
Lack of work: If there is a shortage of work the employer can fire/cut employees. The employer does not have to prove it. Lack of work may be that there are no work assignments or that the company does not have money for the business and salaries. The company must negotiate with the union and if more than five people will be laid off, you must make a notice to the Swedish Public Employment Service.
> Unemployment & Income insurance
- Unemployment insurance
Everyone working in Sweden with a general work permit is covered by unemployment insurance. A-kassa members have the opportunity to receive payments based on their income. If you are not a member you can still be eligible for unemployment benefit but at a basic rate.
- Benefits based on your income
Benefit rates are based on your previous income at a maximum of SEK 1,200 per day before taxes (SEK 26,400 a month). In order to receive income-related benefit, the following criteria need to be met:
You need to be unemployed and registered at Arbetsförmedlingen.
You need to have fulfilled the work requirement, in other words have worked a minimum of 60 hours per month for 6 months.
You need to have been a member of an a-kassa during at least 12 months.
If you have been a member during at least 12 months and have fulfilled the work requirement, you may apply for the income-related benefit based on your previous income.
The highest rate per day is SEK 1,200 before taxes. If your average income is less than SEK 33,000, you will receive 80 percent of your average income during the first 100 out of 300 days. After that the highest rate per day is SEK 1,000 . From day 101 to 200, you will receive a maximum of 1,000 SEK. From day 201, the compensation level is 70 percent of your previous income. The highest daily rate is SEK 1,000.