Swedish legislation and rules about going on holiday in Sweden - Øresunddirekt (2024)

FAQs

What are the holiday laws in Sweden? ›

Holiday rules in Sweden

The law states that all employees are entitled to 25 days off during a holiday year. The law also states that employees shall have the opportunity for 4 weeks of continuous holiday leave during the main period, which is from June to August.

Employees in Sweden are entitled to a statutory minimum of 25 days of vacation. Collective labor agreements offer additional vacation days in many instances. In practice, most companies provide 30 vacation days per year.

Taking holidays in Sweden. In Sweden it is the individual employer who administers the employees' holiday. In principle, all employees are entitled to 25 days holiday a year.

Holiday leave over Christmas and the New Year is fairly long, usually extending a week into January. Once Christmas Eve is over, a series of enjoyable − or, in some cases, dutiful − visits to friends and relatives ensues. It might be Christmas Day with the Anderssons and Boxing Day with the Johanssons.

What is the 183-day rule? In certain circ*mstances, a person living abroad who comes to Sweden to work for a limited period (up to 183 days) may be exempt from paying tax in Sweden. This rule is part of the legislation on special income tax for non-residents (“SINK”).

If want to visit Sweden as a tourist for longer than 90 days you can be granted a residence permit for visits so that your total stay amounts to a maximum of six months. The duration of the permit will be based on the circ*mstances of each individual case.

Your employer pays sick pay for the first two weeks in stead of your regular salary. You must submit a medical certificate to your employer if you are sick for more than a week. If you continue being sick after two weeks you apply for sickness benefit from Försäkringskassan.

Annual leave and vacation are two words often used interchangeably, but they have different meanings. Annual leave is the set amount of time off an employee is entitled to each year. While vacation may be included within the annual leave period, it is not limited to it.

Parental benefit is paid for 480 days for one child. Where there are two parents, each is paid for 240 days. If you have sole custody of the child, you are entitled to all 480 days. For 390 of these days, parental benefit is based on your income.

Under the Annual Leave Act, all employees are entitled to 25 days of annual leave/holiday in a year. Anyone who starts work after 31 August is entitled to five days of unpaid annual leave during the current annual leave year.

Why do the Swedes take such long summer holidays? ›

As most full-time employees are off to a warm place in Southern Europe or Asia or their beloved summer cottages in the countryside, students take their place for the summer months. It's a win-win situation. Employees go on holidays, students work on summer jobs to earn money for their own trips later on.

Country-closing Midsummer Eve, celebrating the longest day of the year, is the big one. Other popular celebrations and holidays is Christmas, Easter and Kräftskiva. Days like cinnamon bun day, waffle day and 'Fettisdagen' (Shrove Tuesday) is also being celebrated throughout the country.

Red days are Sundays and other statutory days on which there is no work, so that citizens can celebrate a religious day or a traditional public holiday. Apart from these public holidays, Saturdays and the day before public holidays may also be days free from work.

Christmas Eve, Midsummer Eve, and New Year's Eve might very well be the single most important holidays during the entire year for the Swedish.

Christmas (Swedish: jul, IPA: [ˈjʉːl]) is celebrated throughout December and traditionally until St. Knut's Day on January 13. The main celebration and the exchange of gifts in many families takes place on Christmas Eve, December 24.

- In Sweden, public holidays are referred to as “red days” as they're traditionally marked in red in the calendar. - Many Swedes like to take a day off between a red day and the weekend to extend their time off. We call it klämdag or a “squeeze day”.

In Sweden, there is a difference between public holidays, which are often called 'red days', and non-working days (free days). There are 13 Swedish public holidays in the year. Employees at most workplaces are generally free on public holidays, but many are free on other days.

Your employer pays sick pay for the first two weeks in stead of your regular salary. You must submit a medical certificate to your employer if you are sick for more than a week. If you continue being sick after two weeks you apply for sickness benefit from Försäkringskassan.