If you resign from a permanent job in Sweden, your notice period under the law is one month, however long you have worked there. If your employer ends the job, you are owed between one and six months’ notice, depending on how long you have been employed. Your employment contract can set a longer notice period, and a collective agreement at your workplace can set different periods, so check both before you plan your last day.
How much notice the employer must give you
The length of the notice period your employer must give depends on your total length of employment with that employer. The scale is set out in the Employment Protection Act (lagen om anställningsskydd, LAS):
| Your total length of employment with the employer | Notice the employer must give |
|---|---|
| Less than two years | One month |
| At least two years but less than four | Two months |
| At least four years but less than six | Three months |
| At least six years but less than eight | Four months |
| At least eight years but less than ten | Five months |
| Ten years or more | Six months |
The longer periods are your right as the employee. They do not apply in the other direction: when you resign, the minimum is still one month.
Sweden reformed the Employment Protection Act with effect from 1 October 2022, but the notice periods were not part of that reform. The section was last amended in 2015, and that change concerned only employees on parental leave.
When you resign, one month is the legal minimum
If you leave without working your notice, you can be liable to pay damages to your employer, although a court can reduce the damages or drop them entirely where that is reasonable. If your employer has seriously failed in its obligations towards you, you may leave with immediate effect.
If you have a new offer, agree the start date only after you know your notice period. If you want to start sooner, you can ask your employer to agree to an earlier last day. Without such an agreement, the one-month minimum applies.
A collective agreement can change the periods
Many Swedish workplaces are covered by a collective agreement (kollektivavtal). The notice periods in the Act can be changed by a collective agreement. Notice periods shorter than the Act’s are only allowed in an agreement that a central trade union has concluded or approved. Such an agreement may set notice periods that are longer or shorter than the scale above. Your employment contract can also set a longer notice period than the Act. Check what your contract says about notice and whether it refers to a collective agreement. Your union or the HR department can tell you what the agreement says about notice.
How your time with the employer is counted
The scale is based on your total length of employment with the employer, not just your current contract. Three situations let you count time with a previous employer:
- You moved from one employer to another within the same group of companies.
- Your job moved to a new employer when the business, or part of it, was transferred.
- You changed employment in connection with a bankruptcy.
If you have made several such moves, the time with all of those employers is added together.
Who is not covered by the notice periods
- Fixed-term employment (visstidsanställning) ends when the agreed period runs out or the work is finished, without any notice, unless otherwise agreed.
- Probationary employment (provanställning) can be ended before the trial period is over unless otherwise agreed. An employer who intends to end it must tell you at least two weeks in advance.
- Employees aged 69 or older have no right to more than one month’s notice.
- Some groups are excluded from the notice rules altogether: people in a company management role or a comparable position, and members of the employer’s family. The same applies to people employed with special employment support, in sheltered work or with a wage subsidy for development in employment. The Act does not apply at all to people working in the employer’s household or to upper secondary apprentices. The exact groups are listed in the scope of the Act.
Your rights during the notice period if you are let go
A dismissal by the employer must be in writing and must be based on objective grounds (sakliga skäl), such as redundancy or reasons related to you personally. The written notice must tell you what to do if you want to challenge it. During the notice period you are entitled to the following:
- Pay: you keep your salary and other benefits, even if the employer gives you no work or different tasks.
- Released from work: if the employer tells you that you do not need to be available, it may deduct what you earn in a new job during the same period from your pay. It may also deduct income you obviously could have earned in another suitable job during that time.
- Time to look for work: you are entitled to reasonable paid time off to visit the Swedish Public Employment Service or look for a job in other ways, and you may not be moved to another town if that would make your job search noticeably harder.
- Parental leave: if you are on full-time parental leave and are dismissed because of redundancy, the notice period starts when you return to work, fully or partly, or when you are due to return under your notification of leave.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. When in doubt, ask your union or your workplace’s HR department which rule applies to you. If you are a union member and want to challenge a dismissal, contact your union.
How to resign from a job in Sweden
- Put it in writing. A short, dated letter or email stating your last day removes any ambiguity about when your notice period starts.
- Work out your notice. Unless you and the employer agree on an earlier last day, you are expected to work until the notice period ends.
- Mind your holiday. If your employment ends before you have received the holiday pay you have earned, you get holiday compensation (semesterersättning) instead. Ask HR how your balance will be settled.
- Leave on good terms. Your current manager may later be asked for a reference.
Before you sign the next contract
Read the new offer carefully, especially the notice terms, any probationary clause and the collective agreement it references. Our guide to understanding your employment contract explains each part in plain English. If you are new to the Swedish labour market, our guides to your first job in Sweden and finding a job in Sweden as a foreigner cover the steps before an offer. If you are weighing a move within the same field, the occupation profiles on our sister site Allayrken.se can help you compare pay and prospects, and you can browse current openings on Platsbanken.
Last fact-checked: 11 November 2026