Swedish employment terms in writing: what the contract has to say, and when

The key terms must be in writing by the seventh calendar day after the employee starts, and everything else within one month. This two-step deadline comes from § 6 c of the Employment Protection Act (lagen om anställningsskydd, LAS), in force since 30 June 2022 as the Swedish implementation of the EU rules on transparent working conditions.

The information the employer has to give covers the basics a new starter would expect to see in an offer letter:

• The identity of the employer and the employee.
• The workplace, and the job title or a description of the work.
• The form of employment, such as permanent, probationary or a listed fixed-term type.
• Pay and how it is made up.
• Working hours and holiday.
• Notice periods.
• Any collective agreement (kollektivavtal) that applies.

The seven-day clock runs from the first day of work, not from the signing date. Sending a signed anställningsavtal (employment contract) before day one satisfies both steps at once and removes the risk of a missed deadline during a busy onboarding week.

Confirming any later change to these items in writing is good practice as well. Keeping the contract and later amendments together in one file makes it easy to show what was agreed at each point.

Yes. Under LAS § 4 the main rule is tillsvidareanställning, employment that continues until either side ends it with notice. Any other form of employment has to fit one of the exceptions the Act lists, and the contract should say which one applies. Writing the form of employment in plain words at the top of the document avoids any later argument about what was intended.

For a foreign company hiring its first people in Sweden, this changes how an offer is framed. A contract that names no end date and no probationary period is a permanent hire from the first day. Ending it later needs sakliga skäl (objective grounds) and the notice set by LAS, which starts at one month for staff with under two years’ service and rises to six months after ten years.

The exit side is dealt with in our article on LAS dismissal and notice. For drafting, the point is that the form of employment is a deliberate choice written into the document, and leaving it vague defaults to permanent.

That default suits most professional hires, who expect an open-ended role. When an offer does include a probationary or fixed-term clause, explaining why it is there, and what happens when it ends, gives the candidate a clear picture before they sign.

LAS § 6 caps provanställning (probationary employment) at six months, and during that time the employer and the employee each have the right to end it early. If nobody ends it, the employment continues automatically as permanent employment.

The probation clause should state the start date, the length, and what happens at the end. Six months is a ceiling, so a shorter period is possible when the role or the candidate’s track record makes a long trial unnecessary.

Some practical points help probation work as intended:

• Put the review dates in the manager’s calendar at the start, so the decision is taken before the period ends rather than by default.
• Keep brief written notes of feedback conversations during the period.
• Check whether the applicable collective agreement changes notice or process rules for ending probation.

When the probation ends without action, the employee becomes permanent on the terms already agreed. There is no need for a new contract at that point, though a short confirmation letter keeps the record tidy and tells the employee that the trial period is behind them.

Probation is also a period of adjustment for the employee. A clear first-month plan, with named contacts and early goals, gives both sides a fair basis for the decision at the end.

Only in four situations named in LAS § 5: seasonal work, cover for an absent colleague (vikariat), employment of someone aged 69 or over, and särskild visstidsanställning, the special fixed-term form. A fixed-term contract has to say which type it is and when it ends.

Special fixed-term employment is the flexible option, since it needs no particular reason. It comes with a conversion rule introduced by the 2022 reform: once a person has been employed on särskild visstidsanställning for more than 12 months within a five-year period, the employment converts to permanent. For a vikariat the limit is longer, and conversion follows once the substitute has served more than two years in a five-year window. The Swedish government’s questions and answers on the reform summarise the change.

These conversion rules count time across contracts. Two or three short fixed-term engagements with the same employer can add up to the threshold faster than a manager expects, so the employer of record needs to keep an accurate record of each person’s history. Share any earlier engagement you had with the candidate, for example as a contractor or through another arrangement, so the employer of record can judge whether it counts.

If the business need is ongoing, a permanent contract with probation is usually the cleaner route. Fixed-term employment suits a defined project, parental-leave cover or a seasonal peak, where both sides know from the start when the job will end.

The contract should state ordinary hours within the limits of the Working Hours Act (arbetstidslagen 1982:673), which caps ordinary working time at 40 hours a week. Most full-time Swedish contracts are written around that figure or a lower one set by collective agreement.

The Act also limits overtime and protects rest:

• General overtime of up to 48 hours per four weeks or 50 hours per calendar month, and no more than 200 hours a year.
• Up to 150 hours a year of extra overtime on top of that where needed.
• At least 11 consecutive hours of daily rest (dygnsvila) and 36 hours of weekly rest (veckovila).
• A break after no more than five hours of work.

A kollektivavtal can vary these rules, though only as far as the EU working-time directive allows. Managers who decide their own working time are not covered by the Act at all. A senior hire with genuine control over their own time may therefore have a contract that describes hours differently from a standard employee.

For teams spread across time zones, the rest rules deserve attention. Evening calls with a head office elsewhere can cut into the 11-hour daily rest if they are followed by an early start, which is worth checking before a recurring meeting slot is agreed.

Overtime pay is another item to settle in the contract. The document should say whether overtime is paid, taken as time off, or already reflected in a higher salary for a role with flexible hours. Where a collective agreement applies, check its overtime rules first so the contract does not contradict them.

Pay and holiday are written in by reference to statute and, where one applies, the collective agreement. Sweden has no statutory minimum wage, so the pay floor for a role comes from the relevant kollektivavtal, and figures from Medlingsinstitutet put agreement coverage at 88% of employees in 2025 (83% in the private sector).

A clear salary clause states the monthly amount in SEK, the payment date, and how and when pay is reviewed. Where an agreement binds the employer, the clause should not undercut the agreed floor for the job; the way those floors are set is covered in our piece on Swedish pay floors.

Holiday follows semesterlagen (the Annual Leave Act), which entitles employees to 25 days’ leave each year. With the same-salary rule (sammalöneregeln), pay continues as normal during leave and the employer adds a semestertillägg worth 0.43% of the monthly salary per paid day taken. Collective agreements may set a higher supplement, so the contract should point to the source that applies rather than restate a figure that could change.

Pension and insurance terms usually come from the agreement too. Where the employer is bound by the white-collar agreement, the ITP1 occupational pension applies; where it is not, the contract should say plainly what pension arrangement, if any, the employer provides.

The employer of record does. With Employer of Record Sweden, the legal employer of your new hire is EOR Sweden, acting as employer of record. Its name therefore appears on the anställningsavtal and it carries the information duty under LAS § 6 c.

You still shape the content. The job description, salary, start date, reporting line and any probation period come from you; the employer of record turns them into a Swedish contract, names any collective agreement it is bound by, and issues the document in time for the seven-day deadline. The order of steps is set out in our Swedish onboarding sequence.

Before you sign a service agreement, ask the provider how it handles fixed-term records, probation reviews and changes to terms once employment is under way. Those points also appear in our checklist for comparing EOR providers. Whatever the contract says, the monthly fee stays at USD 560 per employee; our pricing page explains what that covers.

A contract checklist for the employer of record can be short. Confirm the form of employment, any probation end date, the weekly hours, the salary and review month, the holiday terms, the notice periods and the collective agreement named. If each of these appears in the signed document, the LAS information duty is met in one step and the employee has a single reference point for the terms of the job.

Keep your own copy of every signed contract and any later amendments. If you later move the employee onto your own Swedish company, you will need the full history to carry over service time and agreed terms correctly.

Q01How soon must a Swedish employee receive written terms?+

A.LAS § 6 c allows seven calendar days from the first working day for the key terms, and one month for everything else.

Q02How long can provanställning last?+

A.At most six months. Either side can end it early; if neither does, it becomes permanent employment.

Q03What is särskild visstidsanställning?+

A.A special fixed-term contract that needs no stated reason. It becomes permanent once the person has held it for over 12 months in any five-year period.

Q04Does the contract have to mention a collective agreement?+

A.Yes, if one applies. The applicable collective agreement is one of the items the employer must give in writing.

Q05Who signs the contract when using an employer of record?+

A.The employer of record signs as legal employer. You agree the role, pay and start date, and the employer of record issues the anställningsavtal.