Leave

Below you will find information on the different types of leave that may apply to you as an employee. Leave should be planned in consultation between you and your manager.

General information on leave

In some cases, employees may be entitled to leave by law or regulation. This means that the employer cannot refuse leave if the conditions for leave are met. In some cases, employees are also entitled to leave on the basis of collective agreements. In such cases, the employer cannot refuse leave if the conditions for leave are met.

Employers may also grant employees leave for other various purposes, if this can be done in the consideration of the operation.

Leave shall be planned in consultation between the staff member and his/her manager and decided in accordance with the Scheme of Delegation. The President decides on leave longer than one year for professors.

The detailed conditions for leave are generally set out in the provisions of the relevant law, statute or collective agreement. In cases where the employer can decide unilaterally on leave, the conditions for e.g. return to work are agreed between manager and employee.

Most leave is applied for in Primula.

If the leave is concentrated so that the number of working days in a week is less than five, a ‘working time schedule for part-time work’ must be submitted to the Payroll Section.

Arbetstidsschema vid deltidsarbete färre än 5 dagar/vecka Pdf, 209.1 kB.
Working time schedule at part-time work less than 5 days/week. Pdf, 189.6 kB.

Leave is normally unpaid and deductions from salary are made in proportion to the extent of absence. For leave of five working days or less, 4.6 % of the fixed salary is deducted for each working day, and for leave of six working days or more, 3.3 % of the fixed salary is deducted for each calendar day.

In certain cases, the manager may authorise paid leave, in particular for so-called ‘Matters within the family’.

Parental leave

If you are a parent or are about to become a parent, you are entitled to various types of leave to care for your child. The type and amount of leave you are entitled to is regulated in Parental Leave Act.

The Parental Leave Act describes a few different types of parental leave:

  • parental leave in connection with the birth or adoption of a child
  • full leave until the child reaches 18 months
  • full-time leave for children older than 18 months if parental benefit is paid full-time
  • part-time leave
  • reduction of working hours by 1/4 (based on full-time employment) until the child is 8 years old
  • leave for temporary childcare.

For more information on parental leave and allowances, see Försäkringskassan (the Social Insurance Agency).

  • Parental leave should be planned in consultation between you and your manager.
  • As a general rule, the request for leave must be made at least two months in advance.
  • Leave may be split into a maximum of three periods for each calendar year.
  • The application in Primula must state the type of parental leave, the child's date of birth/adoption or expected date of birth, and the percentage of leave.
  • Remember to notify your parental leave to
    Försäkringskassan.

Parental leave with parental benefit from the Social Insurance Agency and holiday cannot be combined on the same day, regardless of the amount of parental benefit.

If you wish to interrupt your current parental leave, you must notify your line manager. If the leave has lasted one month or more, the employer may delay your return to work for a maximum of one month after you have informed them that you wish to return to work.

If you are on leave for the birth or care of an adopted child, you are entitled to parental pay. For adopted children, the time is calculated from the time the child comes to the adoptive parent. Parental pay is 10 per cent of the current calendar day's pay on salary components up to the basic amount ceiling. For salary components above the basic amount ceiling, the parental benefit is 90 per cent of the daily salary..

This applies to parental pay:

  • Parental pay is paid until the child is 36 months old.
  • Parental pay is paid monthly in proportion to the amount of leave and is paid for a maximum of 360 days.
  • Leave with parental pay qualifies for holiday pay in accordance with the Annual Holidays Act and the Terms and Conditions Agreement.

If you are the parent of a child under the age of 12, you may be eligible for reduced working hours as an employee of a public authority. The starting point is that your request to work shorter hours will be granted, unless there are special reasons.

Leave for studies

As an employee, you are entitled to take leave for studies. The training must be in an organised form and be of at least the same duration as the leave. For example, if you are taking a course that has a study rate of 25 per cent, you have the right to take a maximum of 25 per cent leave for studies. You are entitled to take leave for studies regardless of the subject or duration.

The employer has the right to delay the leave until a time other than that requested by you as an employee. Normally, study leave is planned well in advance, in dialogue between you as an employee and your line manager.

Leave of absence for other government employment

If you have a permanent position at the University and have been employed for at least 12 months, you have the right to take a leave of absence to work at another government agency. This applies if you are offered a fixed-term contract or probationary period. You are entitled to a full-time leave of absence for a maximum of two years. You must inform your manager of your intention to take leave at least two months in advance.

If you wish to take part-time leave for other government employment, you and your manager will need to agree whether this is possible and how it will be organised.

An employee who has been informed that they will not be able to continue their employment when their fixed-term employment ends should inform the manager who granted the leave as soon as possible. If an employee wishes to cancel the leave early, the manager must be informed at least two months before the employee wishes to return to work. If the leave relates to a probationary period cancelled by the other employer, the corresponding information must be provided at least two weeks in advance.

Leave to support a longer working life

Employees who, on the basis of the PA 16 pension agreement, have accrued an old-age pension flex can apply for leave of absence to reduce their working hours at the end of their working life in order to achieve a longer working life.

Such leave of absence can be granted at the earliest from the month in which you turn 63. Leave of absence can be granted regardless of whether you have a full-time or part-time job, but you cannot work less than 50 % of full-time. The employer should look favourably on the leave of absence, but an overall assessment of the needs of the operation needs to be made. An application should be handled quickly.

Refusal of requested leave of absence must be handled according to a special procedure, including an obligation to inform your trade union organisation.

Caring for relatives

As an employee, you have the possibility to apply for leave of absence for family care. In these cases, it is the Swedish Social Insurance Agency that decides on family allowance and pays compensation for this. The employer makes a salary deduction in relation to the extent of the absence. The right to leave of absence relates to the time and to the extent that care allowance is received from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. Read more at Försäkringskassan.

Private matters

Employees can apply for leave, with full pay deduction, for what is known as ‘private matters’ (Section 10 b § of the Leave of Absence Ordinance). However, you have no automatic right to take leave for these reasons.

Examples of reasons for leave may be

  • employment in a communal or private organisation
  • longer private travel
  • birthday celebrations
  • moving house of a close relative.

Paid leave

If you are granted leave under the Leave of Absence Ordinance or other legislation, you are in some cases entitled to leave without deduction from your salary. Leave for part of a day always counts as a full day.

Employees at Stockholm University may be granted paid leave for ´Matters within the family´ within their own family or immediate family circle. The basic principle at Stockholm University is that paid leave is granted for one day for each occasion.

Different forms of the family matters for which you can get leave:

  • Serious illness, meaning an illness of a life-threatening nature or an acute illness. A day when the immediate presence of the employee is necessary, for example in the event of an accident/accident of an urgent nature (could not have been foreseen or planned for) or a deathbed vigil. (In the case of illness of a relative, see caring for relatives under leave.)
  • Funerals and burials. One day for the funeral and burial.
  • Estate inventory and succession. A day when attendance is required for the signing of the estate inventory or succession.
  • Deaths. One day in connection with death.

Consideration should also be given to the time spent on any travelling that has to be done during working hours. In practical terms, this means one day for the family matter itself and, if necessary, one day for travelling to and from a place outside the Stockholm region. In total, paid leave for family matters can be granted for a maximum of ten days per calendar year, including travelling time. However, there is no right to take ten days when a family matter arises; the number of days is always based on need. Part-day leave counts as a full day.

There are many other occasions when you may also wish to take leave for a type of family matters. For these, leave can be granted, but with full salary deduction (so-called ‘private matters') or you can use holiday or flex/comp leave. This may include, for example, mourning the death of a loved one, preparing for a funeral, emptying a home, burying a close friend or other commitments to support a close relative (e.g. attending a doctor's appointment, etc.).

The relationships included for it to count as a family matter are

  • spouse/civil partner and registered partner
  • children/bonus children
  • grandchildren
  • parents/bonus parents
  • parents-in-law (parents of spouse/cohabitant/registered partner)
  • grandparents
  • siblings/bonus siblings/nephews
  • uncle, aunt, aunt and uncle
  • daughter-in-law/son-in-law
  • sister-in-law/brother-in-law.

Leave without pay deduction may be granted for medical or dental appointments, etc. in the following cases

  • visits, examinations or treatment by a doctor, physiotherapist, occupational health service, outpatient care, blood donation or for pregnant women at a maternity centre
  • for emergency visits to a dentist or examination/treatment following a referral from a dentist or doctor.

Visiting hours should, as far as possible, be scheduled at the beginning or end of the working day.

If necessary, an employee who is to become a parent, but is not the pregnant woman, may take leave without pay deduction to accompany her to a maternity centre. The right to this leave is valid until parental benefit can be paid for the corresponding visit (60 days before the expected date of birth).

Moving in the event of a change of civil status address may be authorised for one working day at a time.

A maximum of ten working days per year may be granted to central trade union representative assignment.

Other types of leave

Here are other examples of when employees are entitled to leave:

  • public service
  • national defence.

Contact

In the first place, please contact your department.

Last updated: 2024-09-30

Source: Human Resources Office