Sweden
Find out key information relating to Sweden’s leave entitlements
Leave entitlement & working time regulations at a glance
Minimum Holiday Entitlement
25 days
Public Holidays
13 per year
Parental Leave
480 days shared between parents, partially paid
Working Week
40 hours (full time)
Sick Leave Entitlement
14 days paid by the employer; state compensation afterwards
Region
EMEA
ABSENCE & LEAVE
Additional information
Working pattern
A standard working week is 40 hours, with an upper limit of 48 hours per week averaged over a four-month period. Employees cannot work for more than 5 consecutive hours without taking a break. They’re also entitled to an 11-hour break in every 24 hour period, and a minimum of 36 hours continuous rest each week.
Annual leave
Full-time employees receive 25 days of paid annual leave each year, and must complete one year of employment to receive full vacation pay. If an employee joins mid-way through the vacation year (which runs from 1st April to 31st March in any given year), they are entitled to some paid leave, but some annual leave days will be unpaid. If an employee enters into new employment after 31st August in any given year, they are entitled to only 5 days of annual leave until 1st April the following year.
Parental leave
In 1974, Sweden became the first country in the world to replace gender-specific maternity and paternity leave with parental leave.
Parents in Sweden are entitled to 480 days of leave when a child is born or adopted. For couples, this is split into 240 days for each parent, with the pregnant parent able to start their leave up to 60 days prior to the expected due date. A single parent is entitled to the full 480 days.
In terms of compensation, 390 days of parental leave are based upon the individual’s income.
In the case of multiple births (twins, triplets and quadruplets), the parental leave allowance increases to 660, 840 and 1,020 days respectively.
During the child’s first year, both parents can take the same days off work up to a maximum of 30 days.