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Be aware of salary deductions for longer periods of sick leave

News

28 February 2025

The State Service Centre (SSC), which was set up to provide information from several Swedish state agencies in one place, has recently changed its systems for calculating sick leave. This has led to the emergence of a number of salary debts caused by overpayments linked to longer periods of sick leave. Employers have handled these debts in different ways, but in many cases completely incorrectly and in breach of the law.

- SULF has received information from local Saco-S organisations that have been contacted by desperate members who have received demands to pay back large amounts following overpayment of salary in connection with long-term sick leave,” says Claudia J Guala, Chief Legal Officer at SULF. For example, there have been cases of offsetting the debt against earned salary without consent. If you have received a claim for a salary debt that you dispute, contact your local Saco-S association and they can help you to ensure that the repayment is handled correctly and in accordance with current legislation.

Salaries in the state sector: For employees in the state sector, preliminary salaries are paid. This means that the employer can correct overpayments the next time salaries are paid, for example if you have been off sick or have been at home with a sick child and have been paid when you should not have been, or if you have received too much money for some other reason. In these cases, you have a salary debt that you need to repay. A salary adjustment should be made as soon as is reasonably possible after the debt was incurred. Offsetting, which is when a debt is deducted against earned salary, can only occur in specific conditions. To begin with, the employee needs to give approval for any offsetting to take place. The employer must also obtain information from the Swedish Enforcement Authority regarding the employee's salary retention level, i.e. the amount that an employee is always entitled to keep each month. The employer may never offset an amount equivalent to an entire month's salary.

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- It is up to you to decide when you want to inform your employer that you are going to become a parent, but you must do so at least two months before the start of your parental leave. SULF recommends that you have a planning dialogue with your immediate manager to plan r your parental leave and how your work is to be covered in your absence. This dialogue should also include a discussion of how you can maintain contact with your workplace during your leave and how the return to work should be organised. It is important that you do not lose skills so that you can continue to have good salary and career development.
  
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  If you are a member of SULF you can log in to My pages. Under the Handböcker tab you will find a pdf entitled Advice for your parental leave.
  
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