Annual leave

As a governmental employee, you have more than the statutory 25 days. As an employee of Uppsala University, the following number of annual leave days apply for a full calendar year:

• 28 days of paid annual leave up to and including the year of your 29th birthday
• 31 days of paid annual leave from the year of your 30th birthday
• 35 days of paid annual leave from the year of your 40th birthday

The qualifying year and the annual leave year coincide and are the same as the calendar year. This means that you may take paid annual leave already during your first year of employment.

At least 20 days of annual leave should be taken every calendar year. If your total number of annual leave days is less than 20 days during your first year of employment, these days must be used before December 31, provided that your employment begins no later than 31 August. For further details, see the section on saved annual leave days below.

If your employment begins on 1 September or later, you are entitled to save the annual leave days you have earned that year for future years.

To receive full paid annual leave, you must be employed for the entire year. If you are employed for only part of the calendar year, your annual leave entitlement is reduced in proportion to the length of your employment. The same applies if you leave your position at the University, and generally also if you are on unpaid leave or absent without salary.

If you take up a new position within the university, any unused annual leave days will be transferred to your new position.

If you do not work a full calendar year

Determine the number of annual leave days you are entitled to on a full‑time basis according to your age group.

Multiply the annual leave entitlement by your period of employment (number of days employed).

Divide the result by the number of days in the year (365, or 366 in a leap year) to calculate the number of annual leave days you are entitled to.

Should the calculation result in a number with decimals, the number of days is always rounded up to the nearest whole number.

Example:

If you are entitled to 35 days of annual leave per year and you begin your employment on 1 October, you will have 92 days of employment that year.

35 × 92 / 365 = 8.822 → 9 paid annual leave days

If your normal working hours are Mon-Fri, each working day during the annual leave period is seen as one day of annual leave.

If your working hours are arranged in a concentrated pattern so that the number of working days per week, or on average per week, is normally fewer than five, the annual leave days must be proportionally calculated when taken.

See Chapter 5, Sections 9-10, Villkorsavtalet, via the link in the right hand column.

The number of accrued days of paid annual leave for an employee working concentrated hours is the same as for an employee working Monday to Friday. This applies regardless of whether the employee works full‑time or part‑time. If an employee whose working hours are concentrated into three working days per week were only required to use three days of annual leave to take a full week off, their annual leave entitlement would allow for more weeks of leave than an employee whose working hours are evenly spread across five days.

In order to ensure that employees with concentrated working hours do not receive more total annual leave than employees working five days a week, the annual leave days must therefore be calculated as if the working hours were distributed across five working days a week.

The annual leave ratio (quotient) is calculated by dividing 5 by the number of working days per week:

When you take annual leave, you receive, in addition to your regular salary, an annual leave supplement corresponding to 0.49 per cent of your current salary* for each paid day of annual leave. The supplement is based on the extent of work at the time the annual leave is taken. The supplement is paid together with your salary in connection with the leave.

For employees who follow the fixed model, the annual leave supplement is paid in October of the respective annual leave year.

* ‘Current salary’ means your individual salary minus fixed salary deductions plus fixed salary supplements.

According to Chapter 5, section 14 of Villkorsavtalet, there is a guaranteed minimum annual leave pay, which means that an employee is entitled to a minimum level of annual leave pay per day of annual leave. The guarantee applies only to annual leave days with pay taken during the year, regardless of whether the days belong to the current year’s annual leave or saved annual leave. This adjustment is made automatically in Primula.

If you are not entitled to the full number of paid annual leave days, you are instead entitled to unpaid annual leave so that your total annual leave (including earned paid annual leave) amounts to five weeks. If your employment begins on 1 September or later, you are entitled to one week of unpaid annual leave if you have not earned one week of paid annual leave. When you take unpaid annual leave, a deduction is made for each day of annual leave taken.

If you are entitled to more than 20 paid annual leave days in a given calendar year, you may save one or more of the additional days for another year in accordance with Villkorsavtalet. As an exception to this, under the local collective agreement, employees who begin their employment on 1 September or later in the year may save the annual leave days earned during the first year for a later annual leave year. The option to save annual leave also applies to employees who return to work on 1 September or later after having been on leave that does not qualify for annual leave from January to August.

You may not have more than 30 days of saved annual leave.

If an employee has more than 20 paid annual leave days in the current year, the excess days may be carried forward in accordance with the Conditions of Employment Agreement. The right to carry forward leave applies to all employees.

Please note that there is a limit to the number of days that may be saved at the end of the year. The maximum is 30 days, and any days exceeding 30 must be taken as leave during the current year.

There are exceptions that allow some employees to carry forward annual leave even if fewer than 20 days have been taken, for example in the case of shorter periods of employment (e.g. where employment starts on 1 September or later).

Your full annual leave entitlement should be taken unless you notify your manager that you wish to save certain annual leave days, or if there are special reasons for not doing so (for example, if you are on full‑time long‑term sick leave).

The head of department (or equivalent) is responsible for ensuring that annual leave is taken; this responsibility cannot be delegated to the employee. The employer cannot unilaterally assume that annual leave will be taken during a certain period and must also ensure that this has in fact occurred.

Holiday pay is paid out if you leave your employment at Uppsala University before you have taken all the paid annual leave to which you are entitled. It is the responsibility of your department to ensure that this is done by submitting the form Reglering av semester (Adjustment of Annual Leave) to the Payroll Unit, so that the holiday pay can be paid out in the month following the end of your employment.

Holiday pay is paid at an amount corresponding to 4.6 % of the fixed monthly salary for each unused day of paid annual leave. In addition, you receive a holiday supplement corresponding to 0.49 % of your current salary for each paid annual leave day. Certain deductions may reduce the total amount paid.

In special circumstances, unused annual leave may be paid out in money, for example in cases of long‑term sick leave. If you have any questions, please contact the Payroll Unit.

According to the Swedish Annual leave Act, you are entitled to interrupt your annual leave if you become ill. You must report sick on the first day of illness. The annual leave days are then automatically converted into sick leave.

Annual leave during long-term illness

In the case of long‑term sick leave, 180 days (plus any days worked before or after the sick‑leave period) count towards the annual leave entitlement during the year in which the illness begins. In the year following the year of illness, 180 days are qualifying for annual leave.

Long‑term sick leave due to an occupational injury is not subject to the 180‑day limitation. Sick‑leave days may be counted as qualifying for annual leave during both the year of illness and the following calendar year.

During full‑time or part‑time sick leave, annual leave may be taken while on sick leave. Full paid annual leave is earned from the employer during the first 180 days of sick leave; thereafter, annual leave is earned based on the proportion of work actually performed.

Annual leave in connection with other leave

If you plan to take annual leave in connection with another type of leave, for example parental leave, the annual leave must be placed either before or after the period of leave.

You have the option to apply to withdraw approved annual leave in Primula web.

A decision to approve annual leave is binding. This means that the employer cannot unilaterally change or withdraw such a decision without legitimate grounds. Nor can you, as an employee, unilaterally decide to change or withdraw your annual leave. An agreement to change or withdraw annual leave may, however, always be reached between the employer and the employee.

The right to replace annual leave with sick leave applies in accordance with the Annual Leave Act.