Collective agreements in Sweden for posted crews

Swedish law (utstationeringslagen, SFS 1999:678) still applies from day one: rules on working time, minimum holiday, work environment, discrimination and equal treatment. Pay is the gap: without an agreement nothing in law sets a figure. That gap is filled by the unions' right to demand an agreement, see the next question.

The terms a union may demand (utstationeringslagen §§ 15–16) are: pay, allowances for travel, food and lodging, accommodation conditions, and minimum terms on holiday, work environment, working time and discrimination. The union must have filed these conditions with Arbetsmiljöverket, which publishes them, so you can read in advance exactly what can be demanded. These limits apply to employers established in the EEA or Switzerland (§ 2). For postings over 12 months a wider set of terms can be demanded.

Both routes give you a valid agreement. With a hängavtal you deal with the union yourself; as a member you get advice and negotiation support from the employer organisation but pay membership fees. Unions such as Byggnads and Elektrikerna describe their signing process and the insurance that comes with the agreement on their own sites. A posted-worker agreement under lex Laval is narrower than a full agreement: it covers only the terms listed in the previous question.

A blockade can stop your work on the site, and your client may be put under pressure too, so a quick and factual response matters. Practical steps: 1) ask which agreement and which conditions the union is demanding; 2) check them against the conditions filed with Arbetsmiljöverket (only those hard-core terms can be enforced by industrial action against an EEA employer); 3) gather payslips, time sheets and contracts showing your terms; 4) decide whether to sign a posted-worker agreement, a hängavtal or join an employer organisation; 5) tell your client early. Arbetsmiljöverket publishes the contact details of the employer and employee organisations for each sector.

Liability falls first on the 'uppdragsgivare' (the contractor that engaged the worker's employer as subcontractor); if they don't pay or can't be reached, the main contractor at the top of the chain is liable. Payment liability starts seven working days after the contractor receives written notice of the wage claim from the worker or their union. It covers the wage actually agreed between employer and worker, and the payer can recover the money from the employer. Employers, uppdragsgivare and main contractors must give workers certain information, and a collective agreement may regulate the liability instead of the law.

The notification is made in Arbetsmiljöverket's e-service 'Anmäl utstationering', and changes must be reported there too. The contact person receives official documents on the employer's behalf and is the link to authorities and unions. If the client (tjänstemottagaren) has not received documentation of the notification by the first working day, the client must email Arbetsmiljöverket no later than three days after work started; that does not replace the employer's own duty. Staffing agencies posting hired-out workers must also give them at least the terms they would have had if employed directly by the client company. Over 12 months nearly all Swedish employment terms apply; the employer can extend the limit to 18 months by notifying reasons before the 12 months have passed, and replacement workers on the same task count towards the total.

Personalliggare: the client (byggherre) must register the construction site with Skatteverket before work starts; every contractor must log who works on the site each day. The duties don't apply where total labour and material costs are expected to be at most four price base amounts: SEK 236,800 excl. VAT for 2026. The client can transfer its duties to a contractor in a written agreement. ID06: cards are issued through ID06's system and require identity validation; check ID06's own pages for the current document requirements for EU workers.

Since 2021 Sweden applies the 'economic employer' concept, so the 183-day rule often does not protect hired-out workers from Swedish tax; Skatteverket explains when Swedish tax applies to foreign labour. A foreign company working in Sweden normally registers with Skatteverket and may apply for F-skatt approval; if it lacks F-skatt, the Swedish payer must withhold tax from the payment. SINK is applied for per worker, renewed every year, and with a SINK decision no Swedish tax return is needed. Without SINK the worker is taxed under ordinary rules (A-skatt). The employer reports withholding in the employer declaration (arbetsgivardeklaration). Social security contributions are not payable in Sweden if the worker has an A1 certificate.

Working time and minimum holiday are among the terms that apply to posted workers by law (utstationeringslagen § 6). Arbetsmiljöverket's guide to the Working Hours Act (arbetstidslagen) covers ordinary hours, overtime limits and rest periods; an agreement may deviate from parts of the Act. Travel, food and lodging allowances and accommodation conditions are among the hard-core terms a union can demand (§§ 15–16), so their level depends on the agreement's posted-worker conditions. We do not publish rates that an official source does not state.