Annual Leave Act
The Annual Leave Act (1977:480) governs the right to holiday in Sweden. It gives at least 25 holiday days per holiday year, defines the holiday year as 1 April to 31 March, and sets the rules for paid days, saved days and holiday pay.
Updated
- Category
Holiday
- Also known as
semesterlagen · semesterlagen 1977:480
- Sources
Semesterlagen (1977:480), the Annual Leave Act
The Act is minimum legislation. A collective agreement may give more days and different rules, but not worse terms than the Act.
The sections that come up most often in practice:
- Section 4 gives the right to 25 holiday days per holiday year.
- Section 7 governs how many of those days are paid, based on time employed during the qualifying year.
- Section 12 gives the right to four consecutive weeks of holiday between June and August.
- Sections 18 to 20 govern the right to save days, and for how long.
The distinction between the holiday year and the qualifying year is the one that causes most confusion. Days are earned in one year and taken in the next.
How Timply handles it
Timply follows the structure of the Act: 25 days by default under section 4, a holiday year starting in April, and saved days entered per year. Both the number of days and the start of the holiday year can be changed if your agreement says otherwise.
Related terms
Saved holiday days
Saved holiday days are paid holiday days carried over to a later holiday year instead of being taken. The Annual Leave Act gives the right to save days beyond the twenty that must be taken during the holiday year, and saved days may not be saved for longer than five years.
Holiday compensation
Holiday compensation is money paid instead of holiday, usually when employment ends and the employee has earned days that were never taken. It should not be confused with holiday pay, which is the pay received during holiday that is actually taken.
Collective agreement
A collective agreement is a written agreement between an employers' organisation or employer and a trade union on pay and terms of employment. In practice it decides premium levels, overtime pay, the number of holiday days and departures from the Working Hours Act.
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