Sweden: Termination of employment

Original and updating author: Laura Carlson

Summary

• Employment contracts may be terminated in various ways. (See General)
• Except in cases of summary dismissal, an employer terminating an open-ended employment contract must give a statutory minimum notice period. (See Notice periods)
• An employer can terminate an employee's employment contract with notice only for "objective" reasons, such as redundancy. (See Reasons for dismissal with notice)
• An employer can dismiss an employee summarily (without notice) for grossly neglecting obligations to the employer. (See Summary dismissal)
• An employee has the right to terminate employment without notice in cases where the employer has fundamentally failed to fulfil its obligations to the employee.
• If an employer wishes to terminate an employee's contract with notice or summarily, it must notify the employee in writing. (See Dismissal procedures)
• There are various rules regarding dismissals for the reason of redundancy. (See Redundancies)
• There is no statutory requirement for employers terminating employees' contracts to make any severance or redundancy payments, beyond the right to paid notice where applicable. (See Severance compensation)
• If the employer wishes to terminate the employee's contract from the end of the month in which the employee turns 69, it can do so with one month's notice. (See Termination at the age of 69)
• Employees who believe that they have been dismissed without objective reasons or summarily dismissed without the necessary reasons can seek a court ruling that the notice or dismissal is null and void, or accept the dismissal and seek damages in court. (See Unfair/unlawful dismissal)