What does a collective agreement provide?

Collective agreements supplement legislation

Your employment conditions are governed by legislation, collective agreements and your own employment contract. Legislation provides basic protection while collective agreements and the employment contract supplement and adapt these conditions.

A collective agreement is negotiated by representatives for the employer and the employees, where they jointly decide which rules will apply in a particular sector or at a particular workplace. In the end, a collective agreement provides advantageous conditions and a high level of security for employees.

What your collective agreement is worth

Not least, a collective agreement can make a great difference to your wallet. For example, if you have a collective agreement, you receive more compensation if you are at home with your child, are ill or have the misfortune to suffer an occupational injury. A collective agreement also has a a real positive effect on your pension, and the difference may amount to hundreds of thousands of krona on the day you stop working. 

What is included in your collective agreement

Collective agreements differ, but they often include rules about:

• which criteria should apply when setting pay, such as performance, responsibility and difficulty
• how pay should be decided, that employees are entitled to pay reviews, etc.
• how much the employer must contribute to your future pension
• the size of the compensation you receive during parental leave or illness
• holidays: more days of annual leave than in the Swedish Annual Leave Act
• support during restructuring and redundancies
• compensation for overtime and inconvenient working hours
• how and when employees are entitled to influence and information about decisions, known as co-determination in the workplace
• skills development