Understanding Advanced Vacation in Sweden

In Sweden, employees are entitled to a minimum of 25 vacation days per year. The vacation year runs from April 1st of the current year to March 31st of the following year, during which time employees accumulate vacation days. But what happens if you have to take vacation before you accumulated days? Grab a coffee ☕, sit tight 🛋️ and we will cover this for you!

Annual Vacation Entitlement

According to the Annual Leave Act, employees are entitled to 25 full days of vacation every year regardless of your age or type of employment. If you are working irregular hours or part-time, your annual vacation is recalculated to the equivalent of 25 days. According to your contract of employment or collective agreement or both, you may be entitle an additional number of vacation days.

The vacation year runs from April 1st to March 31st of the following year. Interestingly, the April to March vacation year in Sweden is a product of historical, practical, and administrative considerations. It allows for better financial planning for companies, aligns well with the climatic conditions of the country, and provides flexibility for employees to plan their vacations effectively. But that's content for another day!

For your first year of employment, without the advanced vacation benefit, vacation days would be unpaid, because you haven't accumulated enough vacation days. After your first year, you receive your full 25 days of paid vacation. But hang in there and you will learn something cool!

Accumulating Paid Vacation Days

Vacation days are accumulated based on your employment duration within a year. For example:

• If you are entitled to 25 days of paid vacation and started your employment on January 1, 2023, you will have accumulated about 7 days of paid vacation by March 31, 2023 (25 days divided by 12 months, times 3 months = 7 days).
• These 7 days can be used between April 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024.

Advanced Vacation Explained

Advanced vacation allows employees to take vacation days before they have accumulated enough paid vacation days without affecting your salary. That way you can take the vacation that is mandatory to the client and still get paid and still get the vacations next year just as fine! Here's how it works:

• Example: If you start a new job and haven't accumulated any vacation days yet but want to take a vacation, you can request advanced vacation days. Your employer may allow you to take these days off without deducting from your salary.
• Repayment: The days you take as advanced vacation are considered a debt. If you choose to leave the company in less than 5 years, you will need to repay this debt with accumulated vacation days or deduction from your last salary.
• Debt Forgiveness: The debt from advanced vacation is written off after 5 years.
• Does not affect next vacation: Its important to note that it does not affect the following year's vacation. This is not about taking next year's vacation early. You don't have to repay these days for as long as you work with Sebratec.

Common Misunderstanding

• Advancing your next year's vacation: A common confusion is the belief that taking advanced vacation means you have to forfeit vacation days in the following year. This is not true. Advanced vacation does not reduce your entitlement to vacation days in subsequent years. Instead, it simply allows you to borrow some vacation from "a bank" and you only repay if you leave the company before 5 years.
• I'm going to pay from pocket when I leave: When an employee is leaving the company, they will always receive a payout of the accumulated vacation days meant for next year (which they will never have a chance to use, since they are leaving). If thre is a "debt", it will in most cases be evened out against the payout of accumulated vacation days meant for the following year. This means that the "debt" is almost never a "debt" in reality, but rather a decrement of that extra money on last payout of accumulated vacation that the employee has the right to receive when leaving the company.

Practical Example

Let's illustrate with an example:

• Scenario: You start a job on January 1, 2023, and you want to take a 10-day vacation in March 2023. You haven't accumulated any paid vacation days yet.
• Solution: You request 10 days of advanced vacation. Your employer agrees, and you take the vacation without any salary deduction.
• Accumulation: By March 31, 2023, you accumulate 7 vacation days.
• Debt: You owe 10 days. This debt will be paid when you either leave the company or forgiven after 5 years.
• Next vacation year: You will be able to take all accumulated vacation days as normal, in this case, 7 days.

Types of Vacation Days

1. Unpaid Vacation: Time off with a salary deduction. This means you take leave but do not receive payment for those days. Happens, for instance, during your first year at the company.

   • If you start before 31st August, you are entitled to 25 days of unpaid vacation to use before April 1st.

   • If you enter into new employment after 31st August then you are only entitled to 5 full days of unpaid vacation until 1 April the following year.

2. Advanced Vacation: Time off without a salary deduction. You receive your regular salary, but you accumulate a debt to your employer, which you will repay if you leave the company.
3. Paid/Accumulated Vacation: Time off paid as vacation days. You accumulate these days during the vacation year and can use them in the following vacation year.

Coordination and Approval

Vacation periods need to be agreed upon with your manager at the client organization and at Sebratec. Pre-approval through email and HaileyHR is required to ensure proper planning and coverage.

Conclusion

Advanced vacation is a flexible benefit that allows you to enjoy time off even if you haven't yet accumulated enough paid vacation days. It's important to understand that while this creates a temporary debt to your employer, it does not impact your future vacation entitlements. Always coordinate with your manager and ensure proper documentation and approval of your vacation days.