LAS dismissal and notice in Sweden after the 2022 reform

A dismissal with notice under lagen om anställningsskydd (LAS) requires sakliga skäl, objective grounds. Since the reform that took effect on 1 October 2022, the Act recognises arbetsbrist (redundancy) and grounds tied to the individual employee, and nothing else.

Which of the two applies shapes everything that follows. A redundancy brings in the order of priority, the union negotiation and the re-employment priority; a dismissal for personal reasons turns instead on evidence about one employee. Choosing the wrong label, for example calling a performance problem a redundancy, leaves the dismissal exposed on both fronts.

The requirement applies to permanent employment, tillsvidareanställning, which is the default form of contract in Sweden. An employer cannot end a permanent contract simply by giving notice and paying for the notice period; the reason has to hold up if the employee challenges it.

Summary dismissal, avsked, is a separate route with no notice period. It is reserved for gross breach by the employee and is rarely the right starting point for a foreign employer dealing with an ordinary performance or restructuring question.

Probation works differently. A provanställning can last at most 6 months, and either party may end it before it expires without objective grounds; if nobody ends it, it continues as permanent employment. Many of the hardest Swedish dismissal questions can be avoided by using that window to decide whether a hire is right.

Whatever the ground, give notice in writing. The deadline for the employee to contest the dismissal is 2 weeks from written notice but extends to 1 month where no written notice was given, so a clear, dated letter both starts the notice period and fixes the timetable for any dispute.

Under LAS § 11 the employer’s notice is between 1 and 6 months, fixed by how long the employee has worked for the employer in total. Employees who resign give 1 month, whatever their service. The ladder for the employer is:

• service below 2 years: 1 month
• at 2 years: 2 months
• at 4 years: 3 months
• at 6 years: 4 months
• at 8 years: 5 months
• at 10 years and beyond: 6 months

During notice the employee keeps pay and benefits. An employee with 5 years’ service dismissed for redundancy therefore stays on payroll for 3 more months, with employer contributions of 31.42% continuing throughout, and unused holiday is settled in cash as semesterersättning (holiday pay in lieu) when the job ends.

A worked figure helps with budgeting. For an employee with 3 years’ service on SEK 50,000 a month, notice is 2 months: SEK 100,000 in salary and SEK 31,420 in contributions, a total of SEK 131,420 before holiday pay in lieu and any pension premiums under an agreement.

Collective agreements and individual contracts may give longer notice than the Act. Check both before budgeting an exit, and make sure the notice terms are in the written employment information that LAS § 6 c requires; our post on Swedish employment terms in writing covers what that must contain.

In a redundancy, LAS § 22 sets a turordning, an order of priority, based on length of service: the employee with the shortest service is the first to go. Since 1 October 2022, every employer may exempt 3 employees from that order before applying it, regardless of the size of the business.

The exemptions let an employer protect people it considers essential. For a small team employed in Sweden, 3 exemptions can cover a large share of staff, which gives more room to choose than the pure length-of-service rule would. The government’s 2022 question-and-answer page sets out the reform in plain terms.

Redundancy also brings a negotiation duty. Before deciding, the employer must negotiate under MBL §§ 11–13, and § 13 extends that duty to any union with members at the workplace, agreement or not. The negotiation comes before the decision, so it has to be built into the timetable from the start.

Employees dismissed for redundancy then have a 9-month re-employment priority under LAS § 25. If the employer needs to hire into a similar role within that period, those employees have first claim.

Put together, a Swedish redundancy usually follows this order:

• define the change in the business and the roles affected
• negotiate under MBL before any decision is taken
• choose up to 3 exempt employees, then apply length of service to the rest
• give written notice with the correct period for each person
• track the 9-month re-employment priority before filling similar roles

A personal reason is one rooted in the employee’s own conduct or circumstances rather than in the employer’s need for staff. LAS, as reformed in 2022, treats it as the second category of objective grounds alongside redundancy.

Because the ground depends on facts about one person, the employer carries the task of showing those facts. That makes preparation the main practical issue. Clear expectations, documented feedback and a record of what was said and agreed are what allow the ground to be tested later.

Timing and proportion matter as well. Dismissal is best treated as the end point of a process rather than a reaction to one bad week. Where the problem is serious enough to justify ending employment without notice, avsked is the separate route, with its own higher bar.

Some reasons are ruled out altogether. Under föräldraledighetslagen, less favourable treatment and dismissal because of parental leave are prohibited, so a performance process that coincides with a leave period needs particular care over timing and evidence.

For foreign managers used to a different system, the adjustment is significant. The contrast with American practice is drawn out in at-will versus LAS.

Since the 2022 reform, employment ends when the notice period expires even if the dismissal is being challenged, under LAS § 34, with narrow exceptions. A dispute therefore no longer keeps the employee on the payroll after the notice period, which shortens the employer’s exposure while a case is pending.

The employee must act quickly. To have the dismissal declared invalid, they have 2 weeks from notice to tell the employer, or 1 month if the notice was not in writing (§ 40). For damages the limit is 4 months (§ 41), and a claim raised after its deadline is lost (§ 42).

For the employer, the practical lesson is to keep a dated copy of the notice and a record of when it was handed over. Those two facts decide whether a later claim is in time.

If a court sets the dismissal aside and the employer still declines to reinstate, § 39 sets damages by length of service:

• service below 5 years: 16 months’ salary
• service of 5 to 10 years: 24 months’ salary
• service of 10 years or longer: 32 months’ salary

Those figures show why a weak ground is expensive. For an employee with 6 years’ service on SEK 50,000 a month, refusing reinstatement after an invalid dismissal would cost SEK 1.2 million in § 39 damages alone, before any other claims. The same employee with 11 years’ service would reach the 32-month band, SEK 1.6 million.

LAS § 5 allows only four kinds of fixed-term contract: särskild visstidsanställning (special fixed-term employment), the vikariat or substitute post, seasonal work, and contracts with people aged 69 or over. A fixed-term contract ends on its agreed date without a dismissal, which is why the conversion rules matter.

A särskild visstidsanställning converts into permanent employment once it has lasted more than 12 months within a 5-year period, under § 5 a as reformed in 2022. For a vikariat the trigger is longer, at more than 2 years inside the same 5-year window. After conversion, ending the job needs objective grounds and notice like any other permanent contract.

The counting rule catches repeated short contracts. Several special fixed-term engagements with the same employer, each well under a year, can add up to more than 12 months inside the 5-year window, and the employee is then permanent even though no single contract ran that long. Keeping a running total per employee is the simplest safeguard.

On leaving, employees may also have access to state transition support. Omställningsstudiestöd, a state study support administered by CSN since 2023, is available to people aged 27–60 and covers about 80% of pay. It is funded by the state rather than charged to the employer.

The employer of record gives notice. Through Employer of Record Sweden, we hold your hire’s contract as employer of record, so we serve notice, conduct any MBL negotiation and pay the employee through the notice period. Your company decides the business reason and supplies the facts behind it.

Bring the employer of record in before any conversation with the employee. For redundancy, it will need to confirm how the turordning applies, decide whether to use the 3 exemptions and plan the negotiation. For personal reasons, it will want to see the record that supports the ground. The employer of record describes the steps; it cannot make a weak ground strong.

Budget for the exit in full. The cost is salary and contributions through notice, semesterersättning for untaken leave and any longer notice set by an agreement or the contract. Our services page shows how we handle terminations, and the F-skatt contractor or employee post explains why the same rules can apply to a contractor who is found to be an employee.

Two further points apply to foreign hires. The monthly service fee continues until the last day of employment, notice period included. And if the employee holds a Swedish work permit, the end of the job starts a 3-month period for them to find new work, so a clear end date helps them as well as the employer of record.

Q01How much notice does LAS require from the employer?+

A.Between 1 and 6 months under LAS § 11, depending on length of service: 1 month under 2 years, rising by a month at 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 years. An employee who resigns gives 1 month.

Q02Can an employer choose who to keep in a Swedish redundancy?+

A.Partly. Since 1 October 2022, any employer can set aside 3 people before the LAS § 22 length-of-service order is applied to everyone else.

Q03Does employment continue while a dismissal is disputed?+

A.No, not as a rule. Under LAS § 34 as amended in 2022, the job ends with the notice period, dispute or not, subject to a few narrow exceptions.

Q04How quickly must a dismissed Swedish employee raise a challenge?+

A.Within 2 weeks of notice to seek a ruling that the dismissal is invalid (1 month without written notice), and within 4 months to give notice of a damages claim. A late claim is lost.

Q05Can probation be ended without objective grounds?+

A.Yes. A provanställning of up to 6 months can be ended by either party before it expires. If it is not ended, it continues as permanent employment.