Operating a Business

Sweden: Operating a Business

In this page: Legal Forms of Companies | The Active Population in Figures | Working Conditions | The Cost of Labour | Management of Human Resources

Legal Forms of Companies

The Aktiebolag or AB (private limited company): Number of partners: One or more.
Capital (max/min): Minimum SEK 25,000.
Shareholders and liability: Liability is limited to the amount of capital contributed.
Public limited company: Number of partners: At least three directors
Capital (max/min): Minimum SEK 500,000
Shareholders and liability: Liability is limited to the amount of capital contributed.
The Enskild naringsidkare (individual company): Number of partners: Only one.
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital.
Shareholders and liability: Liability is unlimited.
The Handelsbolag or HB (partnership): Number of partners: 2 partners minimum.
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital.
Shareholders and liability: Liability is joint and unlimited regarding third parties.
The Kommanditbolag (limited partnership): Number of partners: 2 partners minimum.
Capital (max/min): No minimum capital.
Shareholders and liability: Unlimited for active partners, limited for sleeping partners.

Business Setup Procedures

Setting Up a Company	Sweden	OECD
Procedures (number)	4.00	5.21
Time (days)	7.50	9.47

Source: Doing Business - Latest available data.

The Competent Organisation: Swedish Companies Registration Office.
For Further Information: Consult Doing Business Website, to know about procedures to start a Business in Sweden.
Swedish Companies Registration Office – Bolagsverket

Financial Information Directories

Dun & Bradstreet - Worldwide directory with financial information on businesses

Kompass - Swedish business directory

Recovery Procedures

Principle: Any recovery procedure begins with an injunction, by registered post, addressed to the debtor reminding him of his obligation to pay.

The creditor resorts to the accelerated procedure of the injunction to pay (Betalningsföreläggande) conducted by the Office of Seizures and can thus obtain a proof of debt rapidly, within about four months.
For further information, click here.

Insolvency can be declared by the debtor or the creditor. The court declares the insolvency and appoints an administrator. The decision must be published in the Official Gazette and in one or more newspapers circulating in the region.

Companies which appear to be viable in the long term but are in financial difficulty, can be reorganized. The application is made by the company itself and the court appoints an administrator to come to an arrangement with the creditors.

Debt restructuring means that all debts covered by the procedure are reduced or eliminated altogether. The creditors must be given the opportunity to comment on the proposal. The deciding authority will determine the proportion of the debt the debtor must pay and the repayment schedule (generally spread over 5 years).

For further information, consult the European Commission website.
Bankruptcy Laws: Bankruptcy Act (1987:672, Konkurslagen)
Reorganization and Rehabilitation Laws: Company Reorganization Act (1996:764)
Debt Restructuring Act (2006:548)

The Active Population in Figures

	2018	2019	2020
Labour Force	5,399,893	5,455,406	5,477,192

Source: International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT database

	2017	2018	2019
Total activity rate	82.74%	82.97%	83.13%
Men activity rate	84.61%	84.75%	84.95%
Women activity rate	80.80%	81.13%	81.25%

Source: International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT database

Employed Persons, by Occupation (% of Total Labour Force)	2015
Human health and social work activities	15.2%
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles	11.6%
Education	11.4%
Manufacturing	10.4%
Professional, scientific and technical activities	8.5%
Construction	6.5%
Public administration and defence; compulsory social security	6.5%
Transportation and storage	5.1%
Administrative and support service activities	4.7%
Information and communication	4.2%
Accommodation and food service activities	3.5%
Arts, entertainment and recreation	2.4%
Agriculture, forestry and fishing	2.0%
Financial and insurance activities	2.0%
Real estate activities	1.5%
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply	0.6%
Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities	0.5%
Mining and quarrying	0.2%

For Further Statistics: Swedish National Agency for Education
Sweden Statistics
For Further Information About the Labour Market: European Employment Policy Observatory, Functioning of the Swedish job market

Working Conditions

Opening Hours
Legal Weekly Duration: 35 or 40 hours
Maximum Duration: 48 hours (not more than 200 hours by month)

Working Rest Day: Sunday
Paid Annual Vacation: At least 5 weeks of paid vacation a year.
Retirement Age: 65
Child Labour and Minimum Age For Employment: 16

The Cost of Labour

Pay

Minimum Wage: There is no minimum wage in Sweden and instead salaries are negotiated by collective bargaining between trade unions and employers.
Average Wage: According to Statistics Sweden, the average gross monthly wage was about SEK 37,100 in 2021.
Other Forms of Pay
Pay For Overtime: It is quite common for overtime to be paid 50% or 100% of the ordinary hourly rate according to when the overtime is worked.

Social Security Costs

The Areas Covered: Old age pension, health insurance, supplementary pension
Contributions: Contributions Paid By the Employer: Swedish social security contributions for employed personnel are payable by the employer at a rate of 31.42 percent of the gross salary. There are no upper limits in respect of employer contributions.
Contributions Paid By the Employee: Swedish social security contributions are payable by the employee at the rate of 7 percent of the net earned income with a cap at an annual income of SEK 572,970 (maximum contribution SEK 40,100).
Competent Organization: Ministry of Health and Social Affairs
Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Forsakringskassan)

Management of Human Resources

Recruitment

Method of Recruitment: You find work in Sweden essentially through adverts in the major daily papers, local job centers or through personal contacts.
Recruitment Agencies: Public service for employment: AMS - Arbetsmarknadsstyrelsen and AMV - Arbetsmarknadsverket.
Recruitment agency: Juhlergroup, Sikta (in Swedish)
Recruitment Websites: Workinginsweden
Monster Sweden
English Speaking Jobs in Sweden
Expat in Sweden

The Contract

Type of Contract: The work contract is governed by legal measures and to a lesser degree by collective agreements and individual negotiation.
The work contract is generally a permanent contract, but fixed-term contracts may be signed under certain conditions.

Breach of Contracts

Retirement: Retirement is usually at 65.
Dismissals: In Sweden, dismissals may be for reasons of repeated negligence, being incapable of doing the job, being incapable of working with others, repeated drunkenness, refusal to take orders, participation in illegal strikes, etc.
Labour Laws: Labor laws in English
Consult Doing Business Website, to obtain a summary of the labour regulations that apply to local entreprises.

Dispute Settlement

Conciliation Process

Cases of Dispute: Physical violence, moral harassment, sexual harassment, working conditions, etc.
Legal Framework: Certain types of work disputes can be taken directly to the industrial tribunal. In this case, the industrial tribunal has exclusive jurisdiction. For other types of dispute between employer and employee, claims must be presented before the ordinary civil court. If one of the parties is not satisfied with the decision made by the civil court, they can appeal to the industrial tribunal. In either case, the decision of the industrial tribunal is the final decision.

For further information, click here.
Procedure: Click here.

Judicial Structures

Competent Legal Body: Industrial tribunal (Arbetsdomstolen)

Social Partners

Social Dialogue and Involvement of Social Partners: Unions are quite powerful in Sweden. Collective agreements are very important in Sweden and they cover most workers. Social dialogue happens only between employers and employees. However, a Commission or a State may be a third party in the negotiations. If the two parties do not come to an agreement, it is the Commission or the State that will decide and this encourages the parties to find an agreement.
Unionisation Rate: 67.3%.
Labour Unions: LO (Landsorganisationen I Sverige) The Swedish Trade Union Confederation
TCO (Tjanstemannens Centralorganisation) (in English) The Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees
Regulation Bodies: Ministry of Employment

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