Swedish Vacation Pay

In Sweden, vacation is commonly referred to as holiday or semester and is regulated by the Annual Leave Act (Semesterlag).

The Annual Leave Act

The Annual Leave Act (Semesterlag) covers all employees. The Act differentiates between the right to annual leave and the right to holiday pay. Two concepts are used to establish an employee’s right to take holiday: annual leave year and qualifying year. The annual leave year stretches from 1 April of the first year to 31 March of the following year. The qualifying year is the same period immediately before the annual leave year.

The Annual Leave Act is a so-called discretionary law, which means that it may entirely or partially be replaced by holiday regulations in a collective agreement.

Annual Leave

A person employed on 31 August at the latest in an annual leave year is entitled to five weeks’ annual leave. Annual leave is counted in full (working) days. Saturday and Sunday are not counted as annual leave days if the employee would not have worked on these days and if the leave is shorter than five days. Public holidays are counted as Sundays.

Annual Leave Pay

If a person has worked for some part of the qualifying year, that person is entitled to annual leave pay. Annual leave pay is currently set at 12 per cent of the income during the qualifying year in the Annual Leave Act; however, this rate is often higher in collective agreements. This means that a person who worked full-time during the entire qualifying year will have a somewhat higher rate of pay during the annual leave.

Certain types of absence also qualify for annual leave pay. This applies to such things as sickness, occupational injury, shorter periods of military service, parental leave and, in some cases, studies.

Annual Leave Compensation

A person who leaves his or her employment is entitled to annual leave compensation. She/he is entitled to receive in cash the annual leave pay earned but not utilized.

Determination of Dates of Annual Leave

Unless otherwise agreed, every employee is entitled to at least four weeks’ holiday during the period June – August. It is illegal to agree to waive the right to paid annual leave. As regards when during the year the annual leave is to be taken, the employer is obliged to negotiate with the trade union.

Carrying Over Days of Annual Leave

A person has the right to save five days of annual leave per year for up to five years in order thus to be able to take a longer holiday in one year. In order to save days of annual leave a person must, however, be entitled to more than 20 days holiday.

A person who is entitled to more than 20 days annual leave may, if the employer agrees, work during these days and receive both ordinary pay and annual leave pay