1.1 Employment

An employment contract is usually entered into for an indefinite term (permanent employment). However, some positions within the university are temporary. The difference between a permanent employment and a temporary employment is that a permanent employment can only be terminated by the employer with just cause, while a temporary employment automatically ceases once the specified time period has passed.
 

1.2 Temporary employment

The rules regarding temporary employment are found in the Employment Protection Act (Sw. lagen om anställningsskydd – LAS) and the Higher Education Ordinance (Sw. högskoleförordningen – HF). The employment decision specifies the terms and conditions that apply to your position.

If the employee holds a specific fixed term employment (Sw. särskild visstidsanställning), the employee is entitled to waive the right to transformation of the fixed term employment into a permanent employment. The waiver shall be submitted in writing to the employer for six months at the time and for a maximum period of 24 months.

1.3 General agreement on salaries and benefits (Villkorsavtal/Villkorsavtal-T)

The collective agreements mentioned in the headline above apply to employees in the public sector. Stockholm University is a public university and is thus under the jurisdiction of the Swedish government. In addition, Stockholm University has signed a number of local collective agreements that supplement Villkorsavtal/Villkorsavtal-T.

1.4 Notice periods

Termination by the employer: The notice periods vary when the employer terminates the employment and depends on the employee’s total length of employment within the public sector. The regulation is found in the Employment Protection Act, Villkorsavtal/Villkorsavtal-T and the Job Security Agreement for Government Employees (Sw. Avtal om omställning). The notice period is 1–12 months.

Resignation: The notice period when the employee resigns is two months in case the employment has exceeded one year and one month if the employment has lasted less than one year.

1.5 Termination of temporary employment and preferential right to re-employment

A temporary position ends automatically on the last day of the stated period of employment. If the employment is not extended and the employee has been employed for more than twelve months during the last three years – or if the employment is a specific fixed term employment, more than nine months during the last three years – the employer will send a notification to the local trade union and a written notice to the employee that the temporary employment will not continue. This notification is provided to the union and the employee no later than one month before the employment expires. The written notice contains information on whether or not the employee has a preferential right to re-employment. The right to re-employment applies from the day when the written notice was given to the employee and for a period of nine months after the employment expired. Employees wishing to claim re-employment must submit a written claim to the employer.

An employee that has held a temporary employment for more than two coinciding years is to a certain degree covered by the Job Security Agreement for Government Employees if the employment is terminated due to redundancy.

1.6 Termination of a permanent position

Just cause for terminating a permanent employment is either redundancy or personal reasons. The employee is covered by the Job Security Agreement for Government Employees if a permanent employment is terminated due to redundancy. According to this collective agreement the notice period is extended, depending on how long the employee has been employed.