HR Services in Sweden

Only if you agree one. Probation can last up to 6 months, unless a collective agreement sets another length within EU rules, and either side can end it early unless the contract rules that out. To end it, the employer gives 2 weeks’ notice and tells the union if the employee is a member. If no one ends it, it becomes open-ended. We make sure your contracts reflect these rules.

Non-wage costs, such as employer social contributions, add about 46% on top of gross wages (Eurostat, 2025). The statutory employer contribution alone is 31.42% of gross pay in 2026, and the employer also pays sick pay for the first 14 days of illness. Our Compensation & Benefits Strategy builds a reward framework aligned with Swedish law, market data and internal equity.

Up to 40 ordinary hours a week. Overtime is capped at 200 hours a year, plus up to 150 for special reasons, and total working time at 48 hours a week, averaged over up to 4 months. Staff get 11 hours’ daily and 36 hours’ weekly rest. Collective agreements can set other limits within EU rules; senior managers and staff who set their own hours are outside these rules. We structure work schedules that comply and still leave room for flexibility.

The employer pays sick pay for the first 14 days: 80% of pay, minus a qualifying deduction of 20% of a week’s average sick pay. After 7 calendar days, the employee needs a doctor’s certificate. If the illness continues past day 14, you report it to the Social Insurance Agency within 7 days, and the employee can claim sickness benefit from it. We put clear sick leave policies in place.

25 days of annual leave each holiday year (5 if the job starts after August 31), paid once earned through work in the previous year, and, as a rule, 4 weeks in a row in June to August. Public holidays don’t count as leave days, and collective agreements usually set which of them are days off. We keep you compliant with leave entitlements and help you offer a competitive benefits package.

It’s strict, not impossible. Dismissal needs objective grounds (redundancy or reasons tied to the employee), and written notice runs from 1 month to 6 months after 10 years’ service. In redundancies, you can exempt up to 3 key employees, then longer service has priority. Without objective grounds, a dismissal is declared invalid if the employee challenges it in time. Senior managers and staff aged 69 or over have less protection. We guide you through every step.

Not indefinitely. Special fixed-term employment (särskild visstidsanställning) needs no stated reason, but it becomes open-ended after more than 12 months with you in five years. The other fixed terms the law allows are a substitute post, which becomes open-ended after more than 2 years in five, seasonal work and probation. A collective agreement can set other rules for both limits. We make sure every fixed-term contract meets these rules.

If you’re bound by one, yes. You’re bound when you join an employers’ organization or sign an agreement with a union, and then you can’t agree conflicting terms with employees. Agreements covered 88% of employees in 2025, but 44% in firms with fewer than 10 employees (National Mediation Office), and they set minimum pay, since Sweden has no statutory minimum wage. We keep you compliant with any agreement that applies, with as much flexibility as it allows.

Workplaces need a safety representative from 5 employees and a safety committee from 50. If you’re bound by a collective agreement, you negotiate with the union before major changes, and without one, with the unions concerned before redundancies or a business transfer. In companies with 25 or more employees, a union bound by an agreement can claim 2 board seats. We guide you in working with employee representatives.

The EU Pay Transparency Directive was due by June 7, 2026, but in March 2026 the government said it would not, for now, put a bill on it to parliament and would push to delay and renegotiate it at EU level. Already, every employer must survey and analyze pay differences between women and men each year, in writing from 10 employees. Our Compensation & Benefits Strategy covers EU Pay Transparency readiness.

The Work Environment Authority (Arbetsmiljöverket) supervises the Working Hours Act. Breaking its limits on ordinary hours, overtime or rest without a collective agreement costs a sanction fee of 1% of the price base amount per unlawful hour and employee: SEK 592 in 2026, SEK 596 from January 1, 2027. Separately, the Tax Agency (Skatteverket) charges SEK 12,500 plus SEK 2,500 per unrecorded person where a required staff register is missing, such as in a restaurant. We conduct regular compliance audits so your documentation is ready for inspection.