Sweden is a Scandinavian country located in Northern Europe along the Baltic Sea, bordering Norway and Finland. Formally neutral through the two world wars and the Cold War, it is part of the European Union but not the euro. The country has gently rolling lowland with mountainous terrain in the west, suitable for agriculture. The country has a small, open, and competitive economy, with extremely high living standards. With a typical Nordic welfare system, it provides universal healthcare and tertiary education for all its people. Sweden also ranks highly in numerous quality of life categories such as education, protection of civil rights, equality, and human development. Its economy is focused on exports with an emphasis on engineering, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, and automotive industries.
About 15% of the county lies above the Arctic Circle, with most of its total land area covered by forests. Swedish is its official language with small minorities speaking Finnish, Sami, Romani, and Yiddish. The majority of Swedes are Lutherans with a culture focused on egalitarianism and humility.
As per Sweden's Employment Protection Act, employment is usually for an indefinite term except as otherwise agreed. Employment contracts that are valid for an indefinite term can be terminated by the employer or the employee, with effect following a certain notice period. Such contracts can also include a probationary period of 6 months. During probation, contracts can be terminated without notice.
In Sweden, a written employment contract is not necessary. Employment contracts can be written or oral, and are not subject to formal requirements.
Employers must provide employees with a written statement of employment particulars within 7 days of work commencement unless the employment lasts less than 3 weeks. The information must contain the following particulars:
Names and addresses of both parties, employment start date
Job description, occupational designation, or title
Fixed or indefinite term of the employment or the applicable probationary period
Pay rate, benefits, and payment schedule
Length of annual leave and the normal working day or working week
Collective bargaining agreement, where applicable and relevant
A non-compete clause in an employment contract must be in writing. The restriction must be reasonable in terms of location and time.
Employees are allowed to hire temporary employees through a temporary staffing agency. A temporary work agency must guarantee the employees the same basic working and employment conditions as those directly employed by the user undertaking the same job. The agency cannot prohibit a temporary worker from accepting a direct employment offer made by a user undertaking. The user undertaking must provide temporary workers access to collective facilities and amenities under the same conditions as directly employed workers.
Company clients of a temporary work agency must offer permanent employment or 2 months' salary to employees placed with it if the employee has worked for the client company for more than 24 months in 36 months. The client company must offer permanent employment or 2 months' compensation within 1 month after the 24 months is reached.
The Employment Protection Act also allows a temporary substitute employment contract, a fixed-term contract concluded to substitute an absent employee.
Probationary periods cannot be longer than 6 months. An employer who intends to end a probationary employment early or prevent it from continuing into indefinite employment must notify the employee at least 2 weeks in advance.
An employer may decide not to offer indefinite-term employment to a worker on probation. In this case, during the probationary period, the employer must provide the employee with at least 2 weeks' notice of the intention not to continue employment on the probation's expiry. In the absence of such notice, upon expiry of the probation period, employment will be for an indefinite term.
In Sweden, the normal working hours of full-time employees are 40 hours per week. If, due to the nature of the activity, an employee must be at the workplace waiting to carry out work as needed, the employee may claim on-call time to a maximum of 48 hours over four weeks or 50 hours per calendar month.
While Sweden does not have a specific legislation regarding remote working in place, the Work Environment Act states that employers are responsible for an employee's work environment even if they are working from home. Employers must do everything necessary to prevent the employee from being exposed to ill health or accidents. In addition to the statutory breaks, employees must be able to take shorter breaks that count towards working time.
Employers must maintain records concerning on-call time, overtime, and additional time in Sweden. Such records must be kept at the workplace during the calendar year to which they relate, and the two following calendar years.
Employees are entitled to 25 days of paid annual leave per year, starting from the first year of employment. A worker may carry over 5 days of annual leave per year for up to 5 years to take a longer holiday in a given year.
Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays are not counted towards annual leave days unless the employee usually works on weekends and leave is shorter than 5 days.
Annual leave pay depends on how an employee is compensated. The same-pay rule applies with certain exceptions for employees paid weekly or monthly. The holiday supplement for weekly-paid employees is 1.82% of weekly pay. The holiday supplement for monthly-paid employees is 0.43% of monthly pay. If the employee has variable pay components, the holiday pay is 12% of the employee's aggregate variable pay that fell due during the annual leave year.
Employees absent from work due to sickness are entitled to sick pay for the first 14 days of sickness except for the first day, known as the "waiting day." The employer is required by law to pay sick pay to the employees during days 2 to 14 of illness. After 2 weeks, employees can apply for sickness benefits from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan). The maximum benefit is SEK 1,259 (Swedish krona) per day. If an employee is on sick leave for more than a year, their benefits are reduced to 75% of the income. In case of serious illness, benefits continue to be 80% of the income.
It is possible to be on part-time sick leave if the ability to work is only partially reduced. Effective March 1, 2026, Sweden introduced a work trial measure that allows employees on full sick leave to test their capacity to return to work, with no normal productivity expectations. There can be up to 2 trials within 12 months, each lasting a maximum of 14 consecutive days. Trials can be stopped if health conditions do not permit continuation. Trials are voluntary, and arranged as per an agreement between the employee and the employer. They must notify the Swedish Social Insurance Agency before the work trial begins.
Female employees are entitled to full leave in connection with their child's birth during a continuous period of at least 7 weeks before the estimated time for delivery and seven weeks after the delivery. An employer is not under an obligation to pay employees during maternity leave, in which case the Swedish Social Insurance Agency covers maternity benefits. Benefits are paid as 80% of income, up to a maximum of SEK 944 (Swedish krona) per day, up to the eleventh day before the expected delivery date.
Employees can also request to start the benefits 60 days before their estimated delivery date if they cannot carry out the job and cannot be transferred to any other job. If the employer has banned an employee from continuing work due to risks in the work environment, she can receive pregnancy benefits from the day the ban applies.
Both parents may receive parental benefit payments simultaneously for 60 days for the same child within 15 months of the birth or equivalent date. Parents may also transfer certain parental leave benefits to a family member, friend, or other caretaker who is insured for the benefit.
In Sweden, the non-pregnant partner can take a temporary leave of ten working days in connection with childbirth or adoption of a child under 10 years of age. The leave is doubled for twins and tripled for three kids, and so on. This leave can be used anytime during the first 90 days after childbirth or placement. Paternity leave is paid at 80% of the income. Payments come from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency.
Employees can also reduce their working hours, claim compensation for 25%, 50%, or 75% of their regular working hours, and increase the leave duration from 10 to 20 days.
Both parents may receive parental benefit payments simultaneously for 60 days for the same child within 15 months of the birth or equivalent date. Parents may also transfer certain parental leave benefits to a family member, friend, or other caretaker who is insured for the benefit.
The notice period for indefinite-term employees is calculated as follows:
0-2 years of employment: 1 month's notice
2-4 years of employment: 2 months' notice
4-6 years of employment: 3 months' notice
6-8 years of employment: 4 months' notice
8-10 years of employment: 5 months' notice
More than 10 years of employment: 6 months' notice
The notice must be given in writing, given personally to the employee, and contain certain formalities (particularly, the reason for termination and how the employee should proceed if they wish to challenge the termination).
In the case of fixed-term employment contracts, when the contract of an employee employed for at least 12 months in the last 3 years ends and will not be renewed, the employer must provide at least 1 month's notice before the contract's expiry.
Sweden has no statutory severance pay requirements for employers. Severance pay is usually stipulated in individual employment contracts and collective agreements.
The collective bargaining foundation, TRR Trygghetsrådet, assists employees whose employment has been terminated due to a shortage of work or illness.
AGE provides 70% of the previous salary, including compensation from the unemployment insurance fund. Depending on the employee's age, AGE is payable 6 to 18 months after cessation of employment.
