Working in Sweden, and why it works that way

Pay and holidays

• Most employers pay once a month, usually around the 25th. The weekend after is lönehelg, payday weekend.
• Everyone has the right to at least 25 days of paid holiday a year, on top of public holidays, and to four weeks in a row in the summer. Many take most of July.
• Tax is taken off your pay every month, and your tax return arrives pre-filled every spring.

Sick days

If you are ill you tell your employer. A karensavdrag, about one day of sick pay, is deducted first; after that your employer pays about 80 percent of your pay for the first two weeks. From day 8 you need a doctor's note. Försäkringskassan, the social insurance agency, takes over longer illnesses.

Collective agreements, not a minimum wage

Sweden has no minimum wage in law. Instead, unions and employers negotiate collective agreements for whole sectors, setting pay floors, overtime, extra holiday and insurance. Most employees work under one, and the agreement's terms apply on top of the law.

Why: the Swedish model leaves wages to the people who know each sector, with the state stepping back. It depends on many people being union members, which is why joining a union is common.

Parents and the workday

Parents share 480 days of paid parental leave per child, with 90 days reserved for each parent, usable until the child is about 12. Leaving at four to pick up children from preschool is normal, for dads too.

Workplaces are flat: you call your boss by their first name, decisions take time because people are consulted, and fika breaks are where much of the talking happens.

Questions and answers

More about life in Sweden

• What it's like to live in Sweden
• How the bostadskö works
• What is fika?
• The tvättstuga and the arga lappar
• The personnummer, and why you need one
• SFI: learning Swedish for free
• The dark winter and the light summer
• Swedish holidays through the year