Parental leave in Sweden is well established in legislation and ensures that both parents have the right to paid leave to take care of their children. This promotes equality and family welfare and counteracts discrimination based on parental leave.
As a parent or guardian, you have the right to take full leave with your child until they reach 18 months of age. Furthermore, you have the right to take leave later with full parental benefit. As a parent, you are entitled to a total of 480 days of parental leave per child, which can be taken from 60 days before the estimated due date. Most of the days must be taken before the child turns four, but 96 days can be saved until the child turns 12 or finishes year five. In case of shared custody, 90 days are reserved for the other parent.
Parental leave must be notified at least two months in advance, or as soon as possible. The notification should include the extent and duration of the parental leave. In general, the employer can only refuse the leave if it causes significant disruption to the business. However, there is a limitation on how many periods an employer must approve parental leave during a year. For example, if you plan to take leave every Friday during the autumn, it is advisable to apply for all those occasions in a single application. If the notification is received later than two months before the start date, the employer may also refuse the parental leave if the delay is not due to circumstances that you as parents could not have known in time, for example, if the child is born prematurely.
As a parent on parental leave, you also have the right to developmental talks, salary talks, and staff parties on equal terms as before. As a temporarily employed parent on parental leave, you also have the right to be informed about advertised permanent positions. The Parental Leave Act also protects against discrimination. Employers may not disadvantage an employee for taking parental leave.
As an employer, you are obliged to approve three periods of leave or applications per year for the same employee. However, if the parental leave notification is received later than two months before the start, you as an employer can refuse the leave. Postponing or not approving parental leave should only be done in exceptional cases when it causes significant disruption to the business, and it is only approved if it does not result in inconvenience to the employee. If the employee can demonstrate that they were not aware of the circumstances for the leave application in time, for example, if the child is born prematurely, you as an employer should still approve the parental leave.
As an employer, you should also invite the employee on parental leave to company activities, employee conversations, and offer salary negotiations. As an employer, you also have an increased obligation to inform about permanent positions that are advertised to temporarily employed parents on parental leave.
