In Sweden, all employees are entitled to vacation according to the Annual Leave Act (semesterlagen). The most common entitlement is 2.08 vacation days per month, with a total of 25 days per year. If you’re newly employed or work part-time, it can be difficult to know exactly how many days you’re entitled to and how they’re calculated each month. Here’s a breakdown of how it works.
How vacation days are calculated
When you start a new job, you earn vacation days during what’s called an “earning year.” A vacation year always starts on April 1 and ends on March 31 the following year. During that period, you earn approximately 2.08 paid vacation days per month if you work full-time, five days a week.
For example, if you start working in July and continue through the rest of the earning year, you’ll earn 19 vacation days:
- From July 1 to March 31, you will have worked 9 months.
- 2.08 × 9 months = 18.72
- Round up 18.72 to 19 days — which is the number of paid vacation days you can take the following year.
The amount of vacation days you earn per month if you work part-time
The Annual Leave Act doesn’t calculate by hours, only by working days per week. You’re still entitled to 25 days of vacation leave, but the number of days is adjusted based on how many days a week you work.
A few examples:
- If you work 4 days a week, you get 80% of 25 days = 20 vacation days per year.
- If you work 3.5 days a week, that’s 70% of 25 = 17.5 days, which is rounded up to 18 days.
You can only take vacation in whole days and only on days you would normally have worked.
If you haven’t worked long enough to earn paid vacation days, you can still take unpaid vacation days. This simply means you have the right to time off, but you won’t receive pay during your leave. Vacation pay or compensation is usually calculated according to collective agreements or a statutory formula.
Do you need legal help?
We have several lawyers who can help you in this area. Book an appointment with one of them in the Kliently app, or contact us to hire one of the lawyers. We recommend: Dlovan Kassab,
Samir Baraka