Annual leave
Under the Swedish Annual Leave Act, employees are entitled to at least 25 days of annual leave each year. However, as a state employee, your collective agreement gives you additional days of annual leave and entitles you to paid annual leave from your very first year of employment. How many days of annual leave you are entitled to depends on your age:
28 days Up to age 29
31 days Ages 30–39
35 days Ages 40 and above
The number of days of annual leave is based on your being employed for the entire calendar year.
As far as possible, you should take all your annual leave during the year in which it is accrued. You may only carry forward annual leave if you have taken at least 20 days of your annual leave for that year. This means that if you start your employment late in the year, or for any other reason do not accrue more than 20 days of annual leave, you must take all the annual leave you have accrued during that year. The purpose of allowing employees to carry forward annual leave is to enable them to take a longer period of leave in a subsequent year. You may carry forward a maximum of 30 days of annual leave. If you wish to take saved annual leave together with your main annual leave, you must apply for permission to do so when annual leave for the year is being planned. If you have more than 30 days of saved annual leave on 31 December, the excess days will be paid out with your February salary the following year.
If you leave your employment before the end of the year, you won't accrue your full annual leave entitlement for the year; if you have taken more paid annual leave than you have accrued, a deduction will be made from your salary. Also note that absence may reduce the number of paid days of annual leave you're entitled to.
If you become ill during your annual leave
If you become ill during your annual leave, you must report sickness absence on the first day of absence in order to convert your annual leave to sick leave. Notify your manager and register your sickness absence in Primula.
More information about illness and rehabilitation
Factors that may affect the number of annual leave days accrued
To accrue the full annual leave entitlement for the year, you must be employed for the entire calendar year. If your employment ends during the year, repayment will be required if you've already taken that year's full annual leave entitlement. Leave of absence, parental leave and long-term sick leave may also affect the number of annual leave days you accrue.
Parental leave
If you're on partial parental leave, you should take your annual leave as usual; your parental leave will not be paused. If you're on full-time parental leave, on the other hand, you must pause it in order to take annual leave. Please note that you must take at least 20 days of annual leave to be able to carry forward annual leave, unless you're on full-time parental leave throughout the year. Being on parental leave during the summer doesn't mean that you can carry forward annual leave unless you've taken at least 20 days of annual leave.
More information about parental leave
Sick leave
If you're on partial sick leave, you should take your annual leave as usual. If you're on full-time sick leave, you may take annual leave, with holiday pay and holiday supplement, at the same time as you continue to receive sickness benefit from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. If you wish to do this, you need to contact your payroll specialist. If you're on sick leave for part of the year, your annual leave will normally be taken during the year, and your work schedule will be planned accordingly. Please note that long-term sick leave may affect how many days of annual leave you accrue. For more information, please contact your payroll specialist.
Leave of absence
Full-time leave of absence doesn't normally qualify for holiday pay. This means that it affects the number of annual leave days you accrue. If you're planning to take leave of absence during the autumn, you should inform your manager and payroll specialist before your annual leave is scheduled in order to avoid having to make a repayment.
Annual leave for teaching staff* and doctoral students
For teaching staff and doctoral students, the default is that all annual leave is scheduled by the payroll specialists in the Office of Human Resources, and is set for a single continuous period starting on the Monday after Midsummer and continuing for the number of annual leave days that you're entitled to. If you begin your employment during the autumn semester, your leave will instead be scheduled as a continuous period in December.
Exception to the default
If you have summer courses, conferences or other work during the default period, meaning that your annual leave cannot be scheduled during that period, you must consult your head of department and workload planner, and submit your annual leave request yourself in Primula, no later than 22 April.
If you don't include all your annual leave days in the request that you submit by 22 April, your payroll specialist will schedule the remaining days during the default annual leave period. This is because your workload plan is based on the assumption that you will take all your annual leave for the year.
Saving annual leave
In some cases, you may save annual leave under a written agreement with your head of department. In such cases, you must have written approval. For each day of annual leave you save, your workload must be increased by eight hours (for full-time employees; proportionally for part-time employees). Please remember that you must also consult your workload planner if you intend to save annual leave, as this will affect your workload plan. You may only save annual leave if you've taken at least 20 days of your annual leave entitlement for the year.
To save annual leave, you must complete the form below and send it, signed by you and your head of department, to your payroll specialist in the Office of Human Resources no later than 22 April. You may save a maximum of 30 days of annual leave.
Taking saved annual leave
If you plan to take saved annual leave during the year, you must plan this with your head of department. For each day of saved annual leave you take, your workload must be reduced by eight hours (for full-time employees; proportionally for part-time employees). Please remember to contact your workload planner so that your workload plan can be adjusted.
To take saved annual leave, you must complete the form below and send it, signed by you and your head of department, to your payroll specialist in the Office of Human Resources no later than 22 April.
*The category of teaching staff includes professors, senior lecturers, lecturers (including visiting and adjunct appointments in all three categories), adjunct teachers, research associates, associate senior lecturer, postdoctoral researchers and post-retirement professors.
Doctoral students, student assistants and student research assistants must take their annual leave during their period of employment.
Annual leave for professional, technical and operational (PTO) staff
Annual leave should be planned well in advance and with regard to the needs of the organisation. Submit your annual leave request as far in advance as possible so it can be accommodated in work planning and approved by your manager. Your manager decides when you may take your annual leave, in consultation with you. Your manager is responsible for ensuring that you take annual leave; if you can't agree on when, the employer will decide, but they still need to take your wishes into account. When your main annual leave is being planned, you should also report any parental leave so it can be included in the planning.
As a member of the PTO staff, you register your preferred annual leave in Primula after discussing it with your manager.
The number of annual leave days you accrue is the same whether you work full-time or part-time. If you work compressed hours, annual leave is deducted using a leave quota based on the average number of days you work each week. If you have any questions about this, please contact your payroll specialist.