Working Hours in Sweden

The Working Hours Act

The Working Hours Act guarantees that the employer does not misuse his right to establish the length and disposition of working hours. The Working Hours Act is, however, a so-called discretionary Act, which means that it may be replaced by a collective agreement.

Full-Time vs. Part-Time

The Act – and the collective agreements – differentiate between full-time and part-time. Full time employment may be a maximum of 40 hours a week. In many agreement areas working hours are shorter. This applies to ordinary working hours. For part-time work the ordinary working hours are regulated in the employment contract.

Overtime and Additional Hours

The working hours that exceed ordinary working hours are called overtime for full-time employees and additional hours for part-time employees. The collective agreements contain rules for if, when, and how overtime/additional hours are to be paid for in a higher amount than ordinary working hours and/or with compensatory leave.

A maximum of 48 hours per four-week period and a maximum of 200 hours per year of overtime may be worked. Additional hours may be worked of a maximum of 200 hours during a calendar year. If more overtime work is needed, the employer shall negotiate with the trade union about it. If there is no trade union organization to negotiate with, or if the trade union and the employer cannot agree, then the Swedish Work Environment Authority determines. The additional hours rules are, however, open to negotiation, but there is a certain protection in the practice of the Labor Court of opposing the use of part-time employees as a reserve labor force.

Flextime

Many workplaces apply flexible working hours. This means that the employee is entitled to start work between for example 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. and to go home after the fixed number of working hours for the day, sometime between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Collective agreements on flexible working hours usually include rules concerning “flexibalances”, i.e. the number of plus or minus minutes a person may have per month and be transferred to the next month without any effect on wages.

Rest, Breaks, etc.

The employee has both the right to nightly rest, which should include the hours between midnight and 5 a.m. and to weekly rest, which is to include at least 36 consecutive hours per seven day period.

During work a person has the right to breaks, for example for lunch. During such breaks the employee does not need to stay at the workplace. In addition an employee is entitled to pauses at the workplace.