Collective agreements

Collective agreements provide the framework for modern working life in Sweden , providing both a safety net and basic rights for employees. The agreement regulates your general working conditions: working time, occupational pension, salary supplements during sick leave and parental leave, holiday pay, insurances, overtime, working environment issues and redundancy processes. Collective agreements are negotiated and signed by the employers' association and the trade union, and they act as a complement to legislation and general ordinances.

Your salary discussion, in which you discuss salary, benefits etc, is your own responsibility. But the collective agreement ensures a secure, solid foundation and guarantees that everything is included.

Local agreements
The central agreement may be complemented by local agreements, covering areas such as competence development and parental leave. Your local union representative knows what conditions apply at your workplace .

Employment contracts
Your employment contract includes matters you have agreed with the employer – your title, type of employment, salary, benefits not covered by the collective agreement etc. If your employer does not have a collective agreement, your employment contract should include everything that is covered by a collective agreement.

Agreement areas
The Swedish Association of Graduate Engineers negotiates and signs collective agreements in all sectors and many agreement areas.

Application agreements
An employer that does not belong to an employers' organisation can sign an application agreement.
These are sometimes known as substitute agreement, adoption agreement, separate local collective agreement or separate company level agreement.