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Posting workers to Sweden

An introductory guide on fulfilments and obligations when posting workers to Sweden.

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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. In case the sending company fails to provide the Swedish recipient with this document, the latter must notify by email the Swedish Work Environment Authority of this no later than 3 days after the work has begun.

The recipient of service failing to notify the SWEA may have to pay a sanction fee of SEK 20 000.

Anyway, the notification of the receiving company does not replace the report of posting by the employer, who must submit the notification of posting as previously mentioned.

Swedish working and salary conditions

Working hours and rest periods are regulated by the Working Hours Act, which 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 posted worker is entitled to 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.

This document should be kept available during and after the posting and be presented to the labour authority upon request.

Penalties for non-compliance

Failure to report the posting or contact person in due time can result in a sanction fee of SEK 20 000 per posted worker. The same applies to posting companies which do not provide documentation of the report to the recipient of services on time. 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.

Besides, if the posting report is incorrect or incomplete, the Swedish labour authority may decide upon an injunction, that is an order to correct the deficiencies. The same applies if the foreign company does not update the reported information or in case the contact person does not perform his or her tasks according to the regulations.

Regulatory Framework

Posting of Workers Act

Reference

Posting of Workers Ordonnance

Reference

Working Hours Act

Reference

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Learn more about Posting of Workers to Europe

Have a look at our in-depth guides about Posting of Workers to EU Countries. If you don’t know where to start, you can have a first look at our introduction on Posting of Workers to Europe.

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