PAYROLL REGULATIONS: SWEDEN

Minimum wage

In Sweden, there is no minimum wage law and there is therefore no special wage level that automatically applies to the posted employees in Sweden. However, wages may be stipulated in Swedish collective agreements that are negotiated by employer- and employee- representative organisations.

In practice, Swedish trade unions can demand the same level of salary from foreign employers for posted employees.

Legal hours

Regular working time may not exceed 40 hours per week.

Where necessary with regard to the nature of the work or the working conditions in general, working time may amount to an average of 40 hours per week for a period of at most four weeks.

When there is a special need to increase the number of hours worked, overtime may be worked up to a maximum of 48 hours per employee over a period of four weeks, or 50 hours over a calendar month, with a maximum of 200 hours over a calendar year(general overtime).

Overtime in excess of general overtime may be worked up to a maximum of 150 hours per employee over a calendar year if there are special grounds for doing so and no other reasonable solution has been possible (extra overtime).

Together, extra overtime and general overtime may not exceed 48 hours per employee over a period of four weeks, or 50 hours over a calendar month.

Minimum number of days/hours off:

• All employees are entitled to a minimum rest period of eleven consecutive hours

in any twenty-four hour period (daily rest period). Derogations may be made on a temporary

basis if this is caused by a special circumstance that the employer could not have foreseen,

provided that the employee is given a corresponding compensatory rest period.

• The daily rest period that all employees are entitled to shall include the hours between

midnight and 05.00. Derogations may be made if the work, in view of its nature, the needs of

the general public or other special circumstances, must be carried out between midnight and

05.00.

• Employees are entitled to a minimum uninterrupted rest period of thirty-six hours

per every seven day period (weekly rest).

Breaks

• Pauses are included in the working time
• Breaks shall be organised so that employees do not perform work for more than five consecutive hours. The number, duration and organisation of breaks must be satisfactory with regard to the working conditions.
• A collective arrangement may include agreements on fewer breaks. But if the employee works for more than 5 ½ hours, he must at least have 15 minutes of break time.

Leave

The posted worker has a right to holiday according to the Annual Leave Act. An employee shall be entitled to 25 days of annual leave in every annual leave year. If the employment commenced after 31 August during the annual leave year, the employee shall only be entitled to 5 days of annual leave.

Further rights for long-term posting

If the posting has lasted for more than 12 months, the posted worker has the right to almost all of the working conditions and terms of employment that apply to employees in Sweden in a corresponding situation.

The time does not apply to one single worker, but different workers’ time shall be counted together if they take over the work from each other and continue to perform the same service at the same place. The employer must inform a worker who replaces another worker of the combined total posting time no later than the date the worker begins the work in Sweden.

The employer may extend the time to 18 months if he or she notifies the extension and provides the reasons for it to the Swedish Work Environment Authority. The employer must do so no later than the date the worker has been posted for 12 months.

Notification requirement

An employer shall notify a posting to Sweden to the Swedish Work Environment Authority no later than when a posted worker begins work in Sweden.

The posting employer must provide the service recipient documentation showing that he or she has reported the posting no later than the date the posted employee begins the work in Sweden. The employer does not have these obligations if the activities in Sweden are intended to continue for at most five days.