Questions and answers

Traditionally the university teacher, and not the university, owns the copyright to teaching or research material. Consequently the university normally may not use the teacher’s copyright-protected material without permission.

No there is no difference. Copyright, and the intellectual property rights of academic staff, apply to both teachers and researchers in the same way.

There is an intellectual property rights of academic staff stated in the Right to Inventions by Employees Act. However there is also such an exception within copyright. This follows a tradition that has been observed for a very long period of time and is described in several government reports.

Yes. If something is to be protected by copyright it must contain a certain amount of independence and originality, what is termed its level of originality. However, requirements concerning independence and originality are not strict and, in practice, most material that is lectured, written, drawn or created in any other way is protected by copyright.
There may be exceptions, see the question If the teacher is paid to work extra hours to create this course material, does this affect copyright?

Yes, in this situation a department, or the equivalent at a university, may have acquired a certain right of use to the teaching material. This applies only, however, if there is an agreement between the teacher and university that the extra fee is payment so that the university will be entitled to use the material. This must always be assessed in each individual case.

As copyright owner, teachers make their own decisions as to whether presentations or other material is put up on the course webpage. It is necessary that the university has gained the permission of the teacher to store the teaching material digitally. Consequently the university may not transfer digital material in any other manner to the students, for example by e-mail. The teacher’s permission is necessary to do this.

According to the intellectual property rights of academic staff, copyright of lectures belongs to the teacher, and the university must obtain the teacher’s permission to put recorded lectures up on the course webpage.

No. Copyright applies irrespective of the technology used to store the material. Consequently it makes no difference whether the material is on paper or in digital form only – the same preconditions for protection apply. Today material in digital form can be found everywhere, for example on Internet, course websites etc.

Changes, updates, reworking (or similar) of teaching material is only permitted if the owner of the copyright, the teacher, grants approval.

If the university is entitled to use the material for teaching, this does not mean that the university is allowed to make changes to it – the teacher must also be contacted in this case. If there is no permission in place then altering the material is an infringement of the teacher’s copyright.

Students may, according to the private copying regulations in the Copyright Act, record teaching. No permission from the teacher is required. However the right to copy for private use may be limited if the teacher, as a condition of participation in the lecture, states that no recordings may be made. The university may also apply a local recording ban via local regulations.

Students may not then give their recordings to their fellow students or put them up on websites such as Youtube or Facebook. This is the illegal use of the teacher’s copyright-protected lecture and is an infringement of the teacher’s copyright.

The copyright owner, the teacher, determines whether the teaching material is to be copied and who is to receive the copies. However teaching material is normally registered as an official document which means that other teachers or students may request a copy of the course material in accordance with the principal of public access to official documents.

The copyright owner, the teacher, makes all decisions concerning his/her own copyright-protected material. You may hand it over if you wish to but you cannot be compelled to hand over your copyright-protected material to someone else

It is entirely up to you whether you wish to put up your material online. If the university wishes to put the course material online then they must have permission from the copyright owner.

This is not a copyright issue, this is a question of working tasks. Normally a teacher is not duty-bound to allow him/herself to be recorded, however if teachers are employed to supply, for example, distance teaching then there is a duty inherent in their employment conditions.

Please note that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) may also be applicable as this may be an issue of processing of personal data.

SULF recommends that you discuss copyright terms with your employer before recording any lectures or lessons. This may involve such matters as the scope of the university’s right to use the material which is to be used for distance teaching, e.g. recorded lectures, compendia and study assignments, and how the material is to be updated and quality assured. It is SULF’s view that, as a general rule, the intellectual property rights of academic staff apply to materials used in distance education.

If you have any questions regarding copyright and intellectual property issues, please contact the local union representative at your higher education institution.

You can find more information about copyright and the intellectual property rights of academic staff here.

As for anyone else, the Copyright Act is fully applicable for doctoral candidates. If a person has produced material that meets the requirements of originality, that person retains the copyright to the material. The copyright is not affected by the fact that the person who produced the material is a doctoral candidate. What can complicate the issue is copyrighted material may be the result of several people working in collaboration, for example supervisors collaborating with doctoral candidates. If such cases, they share the copyright.

Joint copyright means that copyright holders have rights to the material together. Note that copyright is shared, which means that one party cannot utilise the material unilaterally. A supervisor may not use material which is jointly copyrighted without the approval of the other copyright holders, e.g. doctoral candidates.

Creative Commons is a private, independent and co-financed organisation that claims to be non-profit and to strive for copyright owners to easily access a tool through their licenses that enables them to have a platform and to distribute and share their material without having to give up all the rights that copyright implies. There are four main types of CC licence, whereby the copyright owner allows the use of copyrighted material to varying degrees and for different purposes, depending on the license he or she chooses. If you are considering using a CC licence, you should first ensure that you fully understand the terms and conditions of the licence.

According to the collective agreement for the state sector, (Villkorsavtal-T), you are entitled to leave in order to work at another employer in the state sector for up to two years. This right only applies to a full-time position. Other cases concerning requests for leave of absence for other employment are to be decided on by the employer. My advice is to ask your employer if it would be possible to arrange a 50 per cent leave of absence to pursue this opportunity. Could it perhaps be something your current employer could also benefit from? Try to find good arguments and solutions for how the situation can be resolved in the best way for your current employer too.

You can find more information and advice here.

According to LAS, Section 15, (in Swedish) the employer must give written notice at least one month before the end of your employment period if you have been employed for at least twelve months by the same employer over the past three years. Consequently, you should have received written notice that your employment will be terminated. If you do not receive a new employment contract from your manager as soon as possible, contact your local trade union representative to help you with your situation.

According to the third paragraph of Chapter 5a of the Employment Protection Act (LAS), a special fixed-term employment position automatically becomes a permanent employment position when an employee has been employed on a special fixed-term contract by the employer for a total of more than 12 months during a period, (not limited to five years), when the employee has had fixed-term employment at the same employer in the form of special fixed-term, substitute or seasonal employment and these periods of employment have been consecutive. In order for the periods to be regarded as consecutive, any gap in employment may not be longer than six months.

If an employee has substitute employment with the same employer for a total of more than two years within any five-year period, the position automatically becomes permanent.

Only employment periods in the form of special fixed-term employment or substitute employment are counted as qualifying for automatic conversion to permanent employment. It is not permitted to count both special fixed-term employment or substitute employment periods, nor is it permitted to count periods with other forms of fixed-term employment.

A decision on holiday scheduling is to be regarded as a legal contract with binding force that the employer cannot unilaterally withdraw from without justification. If this does occur, the employer may be liable to pay damages (according to case law in the Labour Court).

Remaining holidays must be paid at a value of 5.09 percent of the monthly salary per holiday day, including holiday salary supplement. The employer cannot schedule holidays retroactively, and saved holidays can never be scheduled without the employee’s consent, even if you know that an employment period is going to end. If the year’s holiday is scheduled without your agreement, this must occur at least two months in advance. In addition, holidays may not be scheduled during a notice period without employee consent if the notice period is a maximum of six months.

If you have a doctoral candidate employment in accordance with the Higher Education Ordinance, you have the same benefits as other employees, (in accordance with Villkorsavtal-T).

Employees who terminate their employment at a university before taking out all paid holiday days are entitled to be paid holiday compensation by the university if they have not been able to take out all holiday days as free time while employed.

My advice is to check with the HR-department so there is no misunderstanding about the number of days you are entitled to and will be compensated for.

Sometimes the employer argues that you should take all your saved holiday days before the expiration of the employment. Here you can read some more advice if this happens.

There are four steps to follow if you wish to claim from the SULF income insurance:

1. Register as a jobseeker at Arbetsförmedlingen, the Public Employment Service.
2. Apply for unemployment benefit from the Akademikernas a-kassa unemployment insurance fund.
3. Check whether you are entitled to supplementary unemployment insurance from Trygghetsstiftelsen, the Job Security Foundation
4. If you are entitled to income-related compensation from the unemployment insurance fund but are not entitled to supplementary unemployment insurance compensation from the Job Security Foundation, you should apply for compensation from the SULF income insurance. Report your unemployment to our insurance partner, Folksam, and apply for compensation from the insurance on their website. Remember to attach confirmation of the decision from the unemployment insurance fund to your application.

You can read about these four steps in more detail here.

Payments from the SULF income insurance are made in arrears, after you have sent in your payment confirmations from the Akademikernas a-kassa unemployment insurance fund.

SULF has compiled information about the transition and security agreements in each collective agreement area on sulf.se.

• If you are employed in the state sector, (including foundation universities), you can find information about the Job Security Foundation and the Transition Agreement here.
• If you are employed in the municipal sector, (including regions and private companies affiliated to the employers’ organisation PACTA), you can find information about the Transition Fund here.
• If you are an employee at Marie Cederschiöld University, Swedish Red Cross University, Stockholm University College of Music Education, University College Stockholm or ALT School of Theology , you can find information about support from the TRS Job Security Council here.

Further reading

Transition agreements in the state sector.
Transition agreements in the municipal sector.
Transition agreements in the private sector.

SULF will recognise your qualifying period in the other union’s income insurance if you switch to SULF without interruption between the membership periods  If you have any questions about your change of union, please contact the SULF members’ support team.

As a dual-affiliated member, you must choose which income insurance scheme applies to you if you become unemployed. You can only receive compensation from one income insurance scheme.

The terms of the income insurance policies differ, so it is important that you decide which income insurance policy you want to apply for compensation from. Conditions that may differ include the number of benefit days payable, the maximum amount you can receive and periods that can be disregarded for qualification. If you have taken out supplementary insurance with your other union, you should choose the income insurance from that union.

The choice of which income insurance to receive compensation from and whether you wish to use the income insurance is made when you become unemployed. You cannot change insurance payer during a period of unemployment.

As a doctoral candidate, you are both an employee and a student, which means that in order to receive compensation from the unemployment insurance fund, you not only need to be without employment but also need to have completed or interrupted your studies. Completed usually means that you have defended your thesis, but the Akademikernas a-kassa unemployment insurance fund may consider your situation to be equivalent to completed studies if, for example, you have finished your thesis and only the defence remains. If you have not completed or interrupted your studies, you are not considered to be available for work and are therefore not entitled to compensation.

The SULF income insurance abides by Akademikernas a-kassa’s assessment of your right to compensation and the compensation level.  Please see here for more about compensation after doctoral candidate employment.

In order to receive compensation from the unemployment insurance fund and the SULF income insurance, you need to qualify for earnings-related unemployment benefits. You can read more about the rules on the Akademikernas a-kassa website. Unfortunately, if you do not fulfil these requirements, you cannot receive compensation. In order to be eligible to receive compensation from the SULF income insurance, you must have been a member of both SULF and the unemployment insurance fund for at least 12 months and also have had an average income above the ceiling level of the unemployment insurance fund for the past year.

If you have been employed as a doctoral candidate, but after the end of your employment have chosen to complete your doctoral studies without employment, the time without employment can be disregarded in the calculation of your qualifying period if you were studying full time. If you then receive compensation from the Akademikernas a-kassa unemployment insurance fund, you can also receive compensation from the SULF income insurance if you have been a member for long enough. You can read more about compensation after employment as a doctoral candidate here.

Yes, if you fulfil the requirement of at least one year’s membership of both SULF and the Akademikernas a-kassa unemployment insurance fund and the latter grants you earnings-related compensation. Time spent on parental leave can be and usually is disregarded in the calculation of qualifying periods for the unemployment insurance fund. This means that the qualifying period for fulfilling the employment condition is extended to the same extent as the disregarded period. In this case, your time spent on parental leave is disregarded and the unemployment insurance fund looks at the previous year to determine whether you are entitled to earnings-related compensation and your compensation level. You can find more information about disregarded time here.

Yes, if you fulfil the requirement of at least one year’s membership of both SULF and the Akademikernas a-kassa unemployment insurance fund and the latter grants you earnings-related compensation. Postdoc periods with full-time scholarship funding can be and usually are disregarded in the calculation of qualifying periods for the unemployment insurance fund. This means that the qualifying period for fulfilling the employment condition is extended to the same extent as the disregarded period. In this case, your two-year postdoc period is disregarded, and the unemployment insurance fund looks at the year before your departure to determine whether you are entitled to earnings-related compensation and your compensation level. You can read more about disregarded postdoc periods here.

If you have worked abroad, you may in some cases be able to receive compensation from both the unemployment insurance fund and the SULF income insurance. If you have worked in another EU country and the Akademikernas a-kassa decides that you can include that period in the calculation of your qualifying period, you can receive income-related unemployment compensation. In addition to the need to be eligible for income-related compensation from Akademikernas a-kassa, all the other conditions of the insurance must also be met. See also Akademikernas a-kassa’s information about what rules apply when you are back in Sweden after working abroad.

Your citizenship does not in itself affect your eligibility to receive unemployment compensation, but you must have the right to work and live in Sweden. If you have a residence and work permit or are exempt from the requirement to have such permits, you can receive compensation from both Akademikernas a-kassa and the Job Security Foundation (Trygghetsstiftelsen) or the SULF income insurance if you fulfil the requirements. You can read more about the eligibility requirements here.

Income insurance is linked to unemployment and the receipt of income-related compensation from the unemployment insurance fund. You cannot therefore receive compensation from the SULF income insurance for loss of income due to illness. If you are on sick leave, you are entitled to supplementary sickness benefit through the collective agreement and any private insurance that you have, (health insurance, life insurance etc.). However, your SULF membership includes health insurance. You can read more about our health insurance on the Folksam website.

You can also choose to further supplement your insurance cover through the special members’ offer from our insurance partner, Folksam. For more information on our supplementary insurances, please see the Folksam website.

No, you can belong to any unemployment fund you choose as long as it is a Swedish unemployment fund that is under the supervision of the Swedish Unemployment Insurance Inspectorate (IAF). However, we recommend membership of Akademikernas a-kassa, which has both low fees and broad knowledge of the conditions of our members. If you are a member of another unemployment insurance fund, switching to Akademikernas a-kassa is easy, and membership of the other fund is included in your qualifying period.

As a member of SULF, you can take out individual supplementary insurance in addition to the insurance included free of charge in your membership. The supplementary insurance provides cover for up to 300 days in total. You must have taken out the supplementary insurance at least 12 months before you become unemployed. The monthly premium varies, depending on your income. For more information about individual supplementary insurance, please see Folksam’s website.

According to our central collective agreement, (Villkorsavtal-T, Chapter 13, Section 1), you are entitled to take leave of absence to try another job that is also covered by the same agreement. This includes a large number of jobs within the state sector. The agreement specifies that you have the right to take leave of absence when you have been permanently employed by an employer for at least twelve months. The job you want leave of absence for must be a time-limited contract position. If you are offered a permanent job that starts with a probationary period of six months, you are also entitled to take leave under the same rule.

You may take leave of absence in this manner for up to two years according to the central agreement. However, if you have been offered a fixed-term contract with reference to the Higher Education Ordinance, you may be entitled to a longer period of leave. Jobs that are regulated in the Higher Education Ordinance include doctoral candidate positions
and assistant professor positions.

If you do not meet the requirements described above, you may still be granted leave for up to six months or more according to Chapter 13, Section 3 if the university considers that there are special reasons for this.

If you are employed by a state agency, the central collective agreement Villkorsavtal-T stipulates that you are entitled to leave of absence to take up any fixed-term employment regulated by the Higher Education Ordinance (in Swedish), for example employment as a doctoral candidate. Therefore, if you have been granted a doctoral candidate position, you are entitled to take leave of absence for the entire period of the fixed-term position as doctoral student.

If your permanent position is not in the state sector, you may still have the right to take leave of absence for doctoral studies under the provisions of the Student Leave Act (in Swedish). SULF’s interpretation is that employment as a doctoral candidate counts as education in accordance with Chapter 5, Sections 1 and 2 of the Act, and that you therefore have the right to take leave of absence for the entire period of the doctoral studies. The right to leave in accordance with the Act applies to employees who at the beginning of the leave have been employed by the employer for the previous six months or for a total of at least twelve months during the previous two years. However, the employer has the right to postpone the leave of absence for up to 6 months.

You have the right to appeal to the Higher Education Appeals Board (ÖNH). Your appeal must be made within three weeks of the announcement of the employment decision. The appeal must be made in writing.

If an employment decision is to be upheld against a possible appeal, the university must be able to show that the factors underlying the decision are the same as those presented in the qualification requirements in the advertisement, and that the qualification requirements are relevant in order to be able to carry out the job adequately. A state sector employer is not permitted to change qualification requirements during a recruitment process.

There is no limit, but in the case of a permanent job the processing period is often longer than for fixed-term employment contracts, and a benchmark is at least three weeks. In the case of job appointments where expert assessment is required, which is necessary for lecturer and professor appointments, the period between the final application date and the decision may be several months.

The first thing you should do is read through your employment contract. It is a binding agreement between both parties and may be oral or written. We recommend that you request a written employment contract so that no confusion or misunderstanding arises afterwards. Do not sign it until you have understood the terms of employment and agreed on the salary. Also, find out when the next salary review will take place and if you will be part of it.

The contract is to be signed by both you and your manager and the following information is to be included: The parties’ names, contact details, starting date, place of employment, form of employment, title, salary and any salary benefits and scope of employment.

Holidays, occupational pensions, working hours, notice periods and other terms of employment are usually regulated in collective agreements. The agreement that applies to your particular workplace may be obtained from your employer or your local trade union representative. Within the state, Villkorsavtal- T (in Swedish) applies. There may also be local collective agreements that regulate things like wellness allowances, doctoral candidate salaries or working hours.

If you are planning to start working in a workplace without a collective agreement, then all your terms of employment must be regulated in writing in your employment contract. Get help from SULF to check the contents of your contract by contacting the SULF Membership Helpline.

The question of employment contracts is regulated in the Employment Protection Act (LAS). An employment contract is valid regardless of form, so an oral contract is also binding. However, according to LAS, Section 6c, the employer must submit written information on any conditions that are material to the employment contract or employment relationship to the employee no more than one month after the employee has commenced work. (if the employment is for longer than three weeks). You must also find out which collective agreement applies at the workplace, as this regulates certain employment conditions such as on any conditions
that are material to the employment contract or employment relationship number of your paid holiday days.

More information

Things to consider when changing job
Employment conditions

When you are offered a position, you are entitled to negotiate your salary. You do this with your salary-setting manager. Prior to this negotiation, prepare yourself by thinking about the salary you will request, the lowest salary you are willing to accept and how to justify your salary request. According to the central salary agreement within the state, (RALS-T), salaries are to be individual and differentiated based on the level of difficulty of the tasks, your skills and expected results/performance and the responsibilities you have in your new job.

In order to obtain information about the salary situation at your university and to receive support in your salary negotiation process, contact your local Saco-S representative. They have an overview of local salary and benefit levels and can help you with things like local salary policies and statistics. Salary statistics for the entire country can be found on Saco Lönesök and in SULF’s salary statistics, which are available to SULF members. Before accepting your new salary, also find out when the next salary review will take place and if you will be included in it.

Information about salary level setting.

It depends on what kind of time-limited employment contract you have, i.e. what it says in your employment contract on the line under “Reasons for time limit” or similar. This determines your rights regarding extension of your employment period. The vast majority of time-limited employment contracts among our members are based on one of the following three regulations:

1. The Higher Education Ordinance, HF
2. The Postdoctoral Agreement, (a collective agreement on employment as a postdoc)
3. The Employment Protection Act, LAS

Example 1: According to HF, a doctoral candidate’s employment is always extended on the basis of parental leave. Assistant professor or equivalent positions may also be extended for a maximum of two years.

Example 2: If you are employed according to the postdoctoral agreement
between Saco-S and the Swedish Agency for Government Employers, (Arbetsgivarverket), you are entitled to an extension for the period of your parental leave.

Example 3: Employment according to LAS does not give the right to extension for parental leave, illness or other circumstances. In these cases, It is therefore up to the employer to extend contracts based on needs and finances.

According to the Parental Leave Act 1995:584, an employer has no right to ask about pregnancy nor planned parental leave. For example, Section 16 of the Act states that it is prohibited to disadvantage an applicant because of pregnancy or parental leave. This means that you do not need to raise this with the employer during a job interview. However, there is an obligation to inform employers at least two months before planned parental leave, as well as to indicate how long you plan to be on leave (Section13).

Parental leave to care for a sick child, as well as any other forms of parental leave, gives you the right to extend your doctoral employment if this is necessary in order to complete your doctoral studies. If the employer chooses to adopt another solution, this may constitute a violation of the prohibition against discrimination provisions in the Parental Leave Act, since you will not enjoy the same conditions as a doctoral candidate who has not taken parental leave. We recommend that you raise this issue with your supervisor and head of department/manager and ensure that it is documented in your study plan.

From 2020, the maximum age specified in the Swedish Employment Act (LAS) that gives the right to retain employment, (known as the LAS age), is 68 years. In 2023, this will be raised to 69 years. After the age of 68, you can keep your job, but the employer has the right to terminate your employment without objective grounds and with a shorter notice period.

Discuss the matter with your employer. If you want to stay on and work, this is entirely possible. You may also request changes in work tasks or you may want to reduce your working hours.

The terms of employment under Villkorsavtal-T do not change because you have reached a certain age. This means that you continue, for example, to be entitled to the same number of holiday days as before as well as all the other benefits contained in the agreement. However, indirect conditions may be affected, for example, sickness benefit supplement payable during sick leave, as opportunities for sickness benefits are dependent on the age of the person concerned.

There are conditions in some other collective agreements that are affected after reaching a certain age. Contact your local Saco-S representative or SULF member’s helpline for more information.

If you would like to leave your job, discuss an appropriate date for this, for example if there are tasks that both you and the employer think should be completed after you have passed the age limit. It may feel better to choose to terminate employment yourself by resigning instead of being terminated at the end of a long working life, which may result from not reaching an agreement. Also, consider applying for the start-up of payment of your retirement pension well in advance if this is the case, as it can take up to three months for your pension to be paid out.

The notice period is one month when the age limit has been passed. Before the age limit, two months’ notice period usually applies. It is also possible to agree a different notice period with your employer.

However, if you are covered by the chefsavtalet, (i.e. you are a manager), or have a position where you personally hold certain authorisations, the notice period is three months after the age limit has been passed unless otherwise agreed. Prior to the age limit, a six-month notice period applies.

If the employer wishes to terminate your employment after you have reached the age of 68, there is no longer any need for a substantive basis for dismissal. However, the employer must notify you in writing at least 14 days before the notice of termination is issued. You, and also your local Saco-S Association may request a consultation with the employer about this notification within a period of one week. During such a consultation, discuss whether there are any other alternatives for the employer. This may, for example, include the opportunities to work with other tasks, reduce your working hours to part-time, resign or switch to employment on a fixed-term contract. However, as mentioned above, this dialogue should have been carried out at an earlier stage. If the employer does not change their opinion after consultations, the employer is entitled to terminate your employment, although no earlier than the day you reach the age of 68, (69 from 2023). The notice period is then one month unless otherwise agreed. If you are covered by the chefsavtalet, the notice period is three months.

If you are in this situation and intend to apply for payment of your retirement pension, act quickly so that, hopefully, your pension payments will begin in conjunction with the termination of your employment.  Processing at the Pensions Agency and the National Government Employee Pensions Board, (SPV), can take up to three months.

Because your employment cannot be terminated with the support of the provisions of the Employment Protection Act, LAS, special termination rules apply at a certain age. The current obligation to resign is in force until the end of 2019, i.e. at the end of the month you become 67. Since the transitional provision contained in LAS for other employees does not apply to you, the age of obligatory retirement is increased to 68, (or a later date notified by the employer), as of 1 January, even if your 67^th birthday falls in January 2020. On 1 January 2023, the obligatory retirement age is increased to 69.

If your employment continues and you wish to terminate your employment after the age of obligatory retirement has passed, you have your own special notice period of three months, unlike the six-month period which otherwise applies to such employees.

A scholarship does not entitle you to receive social security benefits. However, if you have previously been employed in Sweden or within the EU/EEA/Switzerland, you may in some cases be entitled to benefits based on your previous income. This is because there are rules on the protection of your sickness benefit qualifying income. If you have a scholarship, you can usually keep your sickness benefit qualifying income rights for a maximum of one year, provided that your postdoctoral period is regarded as further education within your own professional field, which is normally the case. If you are abroad during your postdoctoral period, there may be restrictions on which social security benefits can be paid, and some benefits, (e.g. sickness benefit), cannot be paid during the time you have the scholarship, only when the scholarship period has ended. Please contact the Social Insurance Agency, Försäkrings­kassan, for more information.

Answer: A scholarship does not qualify the recipient for compensation from the unemployment insurance system. However, if you have previously been employed in Sweden or within the EU/EEA/Switzerland, you may in some cases be entitled to compensation if you become unemployed after your postdoctoral period. In such cases, your scholarship/postdoctoral period must be regarded as studies and the scholarship must be for a full-time position. If the unemployment insurance fund approves the period as studies, up to five years can be disregarded, which means that you can then receive compensation based on the income you had in a previous job before you received the scholarship. Please note that you must continue to be a member of the unemployment insurance fund during the whole of the period of your scholarship. Always contact the Akademikernas a-kassa unemployment insurance fund to find out what applies in your particular case.

If you receive compensation from the unemployment insurance fund, you can also receive supplementary compensation from the SULF income insurance if you fulfil the relevant conditions. You can find out more here.

As you are not covered by the insurances linked to employment, you should investigate thoroughly the need to take out your own insurances, whether they be for compensation in case of medical treatment abroad or insurance cover for you and your possessions. SULF offers good deals on insurance for members through Folksam and Trygg-Hansa, but it is important that you check when and how they apply, not least if you are going abroad. Folksam and Trygg-Hansa can give you advice on your insurance needs. You can find more information here.

Scholarships do not give pension rights, so we strongly recommend that you investigate whether the scholarship provider can instead pay a pension insurance contribution. Some scholarship providers may also take out or pay for supplementary insurances.

In your salary-setting dialogue, you should focus on your achievements and refer back to what you agreed in your development dialogue. Your goals and your performance provide the basis for your salary development. You can read more about how to prepare for your salary dialogue here.

Arguments such as “my electricity bill is really high” or “food prices have gone up so much” are not relevant, as these are not salary criteria that should be part of the basis for your salary review.

The agreements that make up the Swedish salary model are not linked to inflation. This means that during periods of low inflation, you may see better salary growth. In the past 10 years, members of the Saco-S collective, (which includes SULF), have received an average salary increase of 17 per cent above inflation.

You can find more information on inflation and salary growth here (in Swedish).

No, in the Swedish labour market there are no salary agreements linked to inflation.

According to LAS, (the Employment Protection Act), if the employee is terminating the employment, one month’s notice period applies if the employment has lasted a maximum of one year. If you have been employed for more than a year, you have a two-month notice period. If you have had other government employment directly before your current position, then the employment
period includes this period too. If the employer agrees, it is possible to have a shorter notice period.

Read more here.

Here is information about the steps you should take when you become unemployed and the benefits you can receive, such as the SULF income insurance. The most important thing is that you register as a jobseeker with Arbetsförmedlingen, (the Swedish Public Employment Service), on your first unemployed working day.

Unemployment insurance is the basis for your income insurance. If you are not a member of the Akademikernas a-kassa insurance fund, the income insurance is not valid at all. You pay the unemployment insurance fee directly to Akademikernas a-kassa. If you would like to check how long you have been a member, log in to Mina sidor.

If you are not yet a member of the unemployment insurance fund, join Akademikernas a-kassa now.

You should start by talking to your manager. It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that you have a reasonable workload. Your work task plan can help you to plan your working hours. To achieve balance in your work, the plan may need to be revised. If your manager is not very understanding, you can contact your local Saco-S association and/or health and safety representative, who can provide support in your dialogue with the employer.

You should start by bringing the matter up with your manager. You may have colleagues who feel the same way, in which case you can talk to the manager together and raise the importance of getting the necessary training to be able to work with the new program. If your manager does not agree, you can contact your local Saco-S association and/or health and safety representative for support in the matter. See also Routines below.

Tip: To avoid this type of situation, SULF has put together Routines/checklist for new digital tools in order to support local associations and facilitate dialogue with employers on these issues.

The employer needs to have rules and routines for this type of work environment issue. Is there a policy? Is it applied? You should raise the issue with your manager to find out what the rules are. It sounds like you need to discuss IT availability at your workplace so that you have an agreed position on the matter. Feel free to use our tool for accessibility and suggested guidelines. If you don’t see any improvement or if anything is unclear, you can contact you can contact your health and safety representative and/or your local Saco-S association and/or to start a dialogue.

As a manager, you are expected to be aware of the provisions in the Work Environment Act and the work environment rules that apply in your workplace. It is also common for managers to be given specific work environment duties, such as initiating health and safety inspections and administrating other parts of the systematic work environment routines. To be able to take this responsibility and better understand your role, you need to learn more about work environment issues. You should contact your immediate manager to discuss and plan the training you need for your various roles and responsibilities.

The employer is responsible for the work environment, even when you work at home. You should talk to your manager regularly about your work environment. This means not just the physical work environment and your IT environment, but also how you work and how you feel about your collaboration with colleagues and others you have contact with at work. If you feel that something is not working properly, it is important that you inform your manager, your health and safety representative and/or the local Saco-S association or Akademikerförening.

Yes, overtime must be ordered or approved retroactively by your immediate manager. You cannot decide yourself to work overtime and then assume that you will receive compensation afterwards. It is important that you document any requests to work overtime so that there is no disagreement later. Overtime pay is regulated in Villkorsavtal-T, a terms and conditions agreement or your local working time agreement.

The full text of Villkorsavtal-T can be found on the Swedish Agency for Government Employers’ website (in Swedish).

You can find the local working time agreements that we have access to here (in Swedish). Search for arbetstidsavtal.

Additional hours is when a part time employee is asked to work more than he or she normally works. For example, if you work 50 per cent part time and are asked to work more, that is additional hours. Additional hours are reimbursed differently to overtime, so check your local working time agreement or Villkorsavtal-T, a terms and conditions agreement.

The full text of Villkorsavtal-T can be found on the Swedish Agency for Government Employers’ website (in Swedish).

You can find the local working time agreements that we have access to here (in Swedish). Search for arbetstidsavtal.

Contact your local Saco-S association or local SULF association and they will help you try to solve the problem. It is important that you are able to show that you have been ordered to work overtime.

Unregulated working time means that you work towards goals and deadlines rather than working a certain number of hours per day, month or year. Unregulated working time gives you a great deal of freedom to plan your own working hours. However, it does not mean that you can ignore meetings that you are called to teaching you are scheduled for. If you have unregulated working time, you are not entitled to overtime compensation. If your manager wants you to change to unregulated working time, the employer must negotiate this with you.

Contact your local union representative and they will help you with this.

Annual working hours is the most common working time for university teachers. It means that you must work a certain number of hours per year. Annual working hours are often used for positions for which working hours vary between different times of the year. If you have annual working hours, you are entitled to overtime.