Laws and agreements
The Swedish Working Hours Act
The Swedish Working Hours Act came into force in 1982. Since then, it has been amended several times, most recently in 2015. Much of it is non-binding, which means that it is possible to regulate matters in collective agreements. The Act regulates and limits working hours, which may not exceed 40 hours per week. In the central collective agreement that is applicable in the state sector, (Terms and Conditions Agreement T), weekly working time is 39 hours and 45 minutes. Teachers in higher education have annual working hours that are calculated on this basis. If you are not sure about what applies in your case and at your higher education institution, please refer to your local working time agreement.
The Act also regulates issues such as daily and weekly rest periods, night work, breaks, on-call duty and contingency arrangements.
Links
The full text of the Swedish Working Hours Act can be found on the Swedish Parliament website (in Swedish).
Information regarding working time can be found on the Swedish Work Environment Authority website.
You can find the local working time agreements that we have access to here. Search for arbetstidsavtal, working time agreements (in Swedish).
Villkorsavtal-T (terms and conditions agreement), Appendix 5
Appendix 5 of Villkorsavtal-T contains specific provisions regarding working time for teachers in higher education, for example on annual working hours. Section 3 states:
The total annual working hours for teachers are:
1,700 hours for employees with 35 days of annual holiday leave.
1,732 hours for employees with 31 days of annual holiday leave.
1,756 hours for employees with 28 days of annual holiday leave.
The next section of the agreement states that the distribution of these hours is to be regulated in local collective agreements on working time. Read the local working time agreement that covers your particular institution to see what applies to you.
Appendix 5 of the agreement also states that the distribution of work tasks is to occur in a multi-year perspective and that the scope of different tasks may vary during such a period. According to Section 5 of the central agreement, the planning of annual working hours is to take place in consultation with the teacher. This results in a work task plan and is regulated in Section 6. It is the employer who finalises the work task plan, but before the employer confirms its decision on the plan, the local employee organisation is to be informed.
Links
The full text of Villkorsavtal-T can be found on the Swedish Agency for Government Employers’ website (in Swedish).
You can read more about work task planning here.
Local working time agreements
Working hours are regulated in more detail in local working time agreements. Your local agreement states how working hours are regulated for you. If you have questions or thoughts about your employment terms and working time issues, you should start by checking your local working time agreement. You can also contact your local union representatives. Matters that may differ between different local agreements include the proportion of teaching, research, competence development and other tasks and how they are defined, as well as routines for work task plans and overtime procedures.
Links
You can find the local working time agreements that we have access to here. Search for arbetstidsavtal, working time agreements (in Swedish).
Here are the contact details of your local union representatives.
You can read more about work task planning here.