Sweden: 2025, Looking Ahead

Below are the changes in labour laws in Sweden expected to modify the employment landscape this year:

Obligation to offer indefinite-term employment to long-term temporary agency workers

On 1 October 2022, an amendment to the Agency Work Act (Sw. Lagen (2012:854) om uthyrning av arbetstagare) regarding long-term temporary agency workers entered into force. The amendment stipulates an obligation for customer companies to offer indefinite-term employment to a temporary agency worker who has been assigned to the same operating unit at the customer company for a duration exceeding 24 months within a 36-month period. The offer must be made not later than one month after the 24-month time limit has expired. As an alternative to offering an indefinite-term employment, the customer company can choose to remunerate the employee with compensation equivalent to two months’ salary. On 1 October 2024, 24 months had passed since the amendment entered into force, and, consequently, the described obligation for customer companies is now applicable in relation to temporary agency workers.

A new structure for the statutes issued by the Swedish Work Environment Authority aims to clarify work environment responsibilities

On 1 January 2025, a new structure for the statutes issued by the Swedish Work Environment Authority entered into force. The new structure is intended to make the work environment responsibilities of employers clearer and more manageable by combining the Authority’s existing statutes and recommendations in a more compact and simple structure while keeping the same level of protection and obligations for employees and employers. For builders (Sw. byggherrar), designers (Sw. projektörer) and building work environment coordinators (Sw. byggarbetsmiljösamordnare), new rules and requirements have been introduced that clarify responsibilities and tasks in the work environment management.

A new Unemployment Insurance Act introduces significant changes to the Swedish unemployment insurance system

In October 2025, a new Unemployment Insurance Act will take effect, introducing several new principles to the Swedish unemployment insurance system. One of the most significant changes is that the qualification for unemployment insurance benefits will be based on income from work instead of hours worked, which is expected to result in more people qualifying for unemployment benefits. Another key change is that the length of an applicant’s membership in an unemployment insurance fund (Sw. A-kassa) will influence the level of compensation the applicant can receive. Under the current regulation, membership in an unemployment insurance fund only affects the level of compensation if the applicant has been a member for at least 12 months. Applicants who have been members for less than 12 months receive unemployment benefits at the same base level as applicants with no membership periods at all. The new regulation introduces an intermediate compensation level for applicants who have been members of an unemployment insurance fund for at least six months, but less than 12 months. The new regulation will apply to decisions on unemployment benefits from 1 October 2025, but those who are already receiving unemployment benefits at this time will remain under the current regulation.

The 2025 collective bargaining process: renegotiation of numerous collective bargaining agreements

In 2025, around 500 central-level collective bargaining agreements on wages and employment conditions will be renegotiated, most of which expire in March and April 2025, affecting just over 3.4 million employees. New collective bargaining agreements may introduce new and revised regulations that employers bound by these agreements need to be aware of and comply with.