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Pay and working conditions in European countries

Sweden

Country: Sweden

No statutory minimum wage – pay is set in collective agreements or negotiated with your employer – and at least 25 days of paid holiday a year. Employers are short of staff in health care, IT, education and installation and maintenance jobs, more often in northern Sweden. Find out where to look, how to apply and how to get your personal identity number (personnummer).

No statutory minimum wage. Many collective agreements (kollektivavtal) set minimum pay, often as hourly rates. Individual pay negotiation is common – new employees usually negotiate their starting salary, and pay is normally reviewed once a year. Trade unions help their members; about 70% of employees belong to one.
Working time: normally at most 40 hours a week. Overtime is limited to 48 hours over 4 weeks or 50 hours in a month, and to 200 hours in a year.
Holidays: at least 25 days of paid leave a year, including at least 4 weeks in a row in June–August. Some collective agreements give more.
Payslip: your employer must give you a written statement showing your salary and deductions.
Contract: it can be oral or written, but your employer must give you written information on the main terms – job, pay, working hours, overtime, holidays, notice periods and the collective agreement, if there is one. A probationary period can last up to 6 months.
Notice: if you resign, the notice period is at least 1 month; an employer needs objective grounds to dismiss you.

published: 2014-09-04
last modification: 2026-10-03

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Key figures: Eurostat (population on 1 January 2026; unemployment and employment rates 2025; minimum wages July 2026); for the United Kingdom – Office for National Statistics; for Liechtenstein – national statistics. Country information: EURES – Living and working conditions, public employment services and the official government websites listed under each country. Rules, thresholds and amounts can change – check the official sources before you move. Updated: October 2026.

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