The Posting of Workers Act and Posting of Workers Ordonnance regulate the posting of workers to Sweden, with the aim to strengthen the rights of posted workers and the possibility for companies to offer their services across borders.
The regulations also aim at combatting social dumping, preventing companies from exploiting differences in working and salary conditions to gain competitive advantages.
Sweden’s rules on posting are based on rules that are common for the EU and the EEA. For more information on EU Directives on the matter, take a look at our guide on EU Posted Workers Directives.
Preliminary obligations for employers posting workers to Sweden
Foreign employers posting workers to Sweden must report the assignment to the Swedish Work Environment Authority through the dedicated online service.
Companies must submit the report at the latest on the day of commencement of the work activity in Sweden.
Notification of posting workers to Sweden and any relevant change
The notification of posting to Sweden must include the relevant data about the assignment, including:
- Information about the sending company;
- Receiving entity;
- Posted workers;
- Appointed contact person.
In addition, the sending company must communicate any changes occurring during the posting amending the posting report.
Appointed representative in Sweden
The appointed representative must be in Sweden during the whole period of the posting. Also, the contact person has the authorisation to receive documents on behalf of the company.
The contact person must also present documents stating the compliance with requirements of the Posting of Workers Act, upon request.
Mandatory obligations for the Swedish recipient of service
The employer is responsible for reporting the posting to the Swedish Work Environment Authority. The posting company must also apply the most favourable working and salary conditions.
On the other hand, the receiving entity must collect copy of the documentation proving the correct report of the posting. If the sending company fails to provide the Swedish recipient with this document, the latter must notify the Swedish Work Environment Authority via e-mail within 3 days of the work beginning.
The recipient of service failing to notify the SWEA may have to pay a sanction fee of SEK 20 000.
However, the receiving company’s notification does not replace the employer’s obligation to submit the posting notification.
Swedish working and salary conditions
The Working Hours Act regulates working hours and rest periods that applies also to posted workers. This Act defines the conditions of daily work, breaks and overtime hours. Nevertheless, collective agreements may derogate from the Act, even though certain minimum requirements on weekly rest, daily rest and total weekly working hours are mandatory.
As for salary conditions, Sweden does not have a statutory minimum wage, therefore no special wage level automatically applies to posted employees in Sweden. Indeed, each sectorial collective agreement set out wage levels that should also apply to posted workers.
Additional fulfilments for long-term posting to Sweden
For posting of workers to Sweden lasting more than 12 months, the employer must provide the posted worker with additional working conditions and terms of employment that apply to employees in Sweden in an equivalent situation. When calculating the 12-month period, all postings involving different workers (also in case of replacement) performing the same activity at the same workplace should be taken into consideration.
The time limit can be extended from 12 up to 18 months. In that case, the foreign employer must report and provide a motivated notification to the Swedish Work Environment Authority no later than the date the 12-month period expires.
To report the extension to 18 months, the employer can contact SWEA by email. The employer has to explain and motivate the reasons of the extension. Eventually, after the 12/18-month period, all the additional conditions in terms of employment apply to the posted workers.
Social Security coordination in Sweden
Any worker posted from a country within the EU/EEA or Switzerland is entitled to keep the social security contributions paid in his/her home country. To this regard, the employer should apply for an A1 Certificate to the competent social security institution. In fact, A1 Certificate shows that the worker keeps paying social contributions in his/her home country.
The worker should keep the A1 Certificate available during and after the posting and be presented to the labour authority upon request.
Penalties for non-compliance
Failing to report the posting or contact person on time may incur a sanction fee of SEK 20,000 per posted worker. The same penalty applies to posting companies that do not timely provide documentation of the report to the recipient of services. In these cases, the foreign employer will receive a sanction fee injunction from the Swedish Work Environment Authority.
The foreign company may oppose to the sanction and provide the competent authority with proof and motivation supporting the objection.
Additionally, if the posting report is incorrect or incomplete, the Swedish labor authority may issue an injunction to correct the deficiencies. This also applies if the foreign company fails to update the reported information or if the contact person does not fulfill their responsibilities according to regulations.