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Working hours

Working time

When we talk about working time, it is not just a matter of how many hours you work each week or year. It is also about what you do in your working time and the boundaries between working time and other time. 

Working time is closely linked to your work environment, and a good work-life balance is important if you are to avoid stress and negative impacts on your health. Working too much can affect both your well-being and your productivity. You can read more about work environment here. Below, you can read about what you can do if you feel you are working too much from a working time perspective. 

Different ways to regulate working time 

Working time is regulated in different ways, and it can vary depending on where you work. Different collective agreements regulate working time depending on whether you work in the state, municipal or private sector. You can read more about what applies generally to each sector below. 

If you have questions about your working time, start by checking your local collective agreement or contacting your local union representatives. 

The Swedish Working Hours Act 

The Working Hours Act first came into force in 1982 and has been amended several times, most recently in 2015. The law is largely non-binding, which means that employers and trade unions can agree on the rules in collective agreements. The law sets a maximum limit for working time of 40 hours per week. 

The law also regulates issues such as daily and weekly rest periods, nighttime work, breaks, on-call time and standby time. 

  • Daily rest period: You are entitled to at least 11 hours of uninterrupted rest in each 24-hour period. 
  • Weekly rest period: You are entitled to at least 36 hours of uninterrupted rest in each 7-day period. 

This means that you cannot work too much without getting sufficient rest between working time. 

You can read the full text of the Working Hours Act (1982: 673) here (in Swedish).

Advice on heavy workloads and overtime 

If you feel you are working too much 

  1. Talk to your manager 

It is important to have a continuous dialogue with your manager about your workload. Make sure your work task plan is up to date so that you can monitor it and ensure that your workload does not exceed what you have agreed. If you feel that your workload is too great and you cannot manage to do everything within your agreed working time, you need to report it so that you do not decide yourself to work overtime. Excessive workload is a work environment problem that needs to be addressed. 

  1. Contact your workplace health and safety representative 

If you have spoken to your manager but have not been able to reach a solution that you are satisfied with, contact your health and safety representative. They can help you by referring your manager to the rules on psychosocial work environment and workload. Excessive workloads are to be treated as a work environment problem. 

  1. Talk to the trade union 

If you do not get help from your manager or your health and safety representative, the next step is to contact your local Saco-S association. They can look into whether the employer is breaking any local or central collective agreements. Is the employer following your work task plan? Are you working more than the permitted annual working hours? Is the employer refusing to pay overtime? If so, your local Saco-S association may need to request a formal negotiation to resolve the problems.