Guidelines for employment at Uppsala University after the age of 68

1. Scope of the guidelines

The guidelines regulate the conditions and forms of all appointments at Uppsala University after the age of 68, both of former employees and newly employed staff.

2. General principles for employment after the age of 68

If there are operational grounds for employing a person after the age of 68 at Uppsala University, a fixed-term appointment will be made in accordance with the conditions set down in these guidelines.

Employment

An individual can be employed after the age of 68 if the employer judges in the individual case that it is desirable and justified based on operational needs and is financially possible. This could, for example, apply to cases where there is a need for specific expertise, a need to bridge a specific period pending new recruitment, or when it is appropriate to employ someone who has obtained a research grant from external funding bodies.

An assessment should always be carried out ahead of any decision to employ someone after the age of 68, with the aim of achieving a balance between benefiting from knowledge and experience on the one hand and the need for reorientation and innovation on the other. Parallel to this, the financial means for renewed employment should be assessed and ensured.

An individual who takes on an area of responsibility or performs duties of a more than marginal scope after retirement age (the age of 68), based on the needs of the department/the University, should normally be employed at the relevant percentage of a full-time position. A former employee, e.g. a professor, who personally wishes to continue to participate in scholarly activities can do so without being employed if the department considers it appropriate, for example, as a professor emeritus/emerita.

3. Ways in which employment ceases at age 68

Compulsory retirement at age 68 (from 2023 at age 69)

All indefinite-term appointments at Uppsala University are to cease at the end of the month in which an employee turns 68.

Under the Employment Protection Act (1982:80), an employee is entitled to remain in employment until the end of the month in which he or she turns 68 [1].

From 1 January 2023 onwards, all indefinite-term appointments at Uppsala University are to cease at the end of the month in which an employee turns 69.

From 1 January 2023, the provisions of this guideline concerning employment after the age of 68 will apply to employment after the age of 69.

The Human Resources Division assists the organisation by sending termination documents etc. well in advance to employees concerned who attain the age of 68. From 1 January 2023, this procedure applies to employees attaining the age of 69.

Periods of notice

An employee who has attained the age of 68 has a period of notice of one month [2], whether notice is given by the employer or the employee. Employees appointed by the government have an obligation to leave their post in the month they turn 68 [3]. A government-appointed employee giving notice has a period of notice of 3 months. Managers covered by the Managers’ Agreement have a period of notice of 3 months by either party [4].

4. Formal procedures for employment after the age of 68

When employing an employee who has attained the age of 68, the University must take a decision on employment and enter into a written employment agreement.

5. Conditions for employment

An individual can be employed after the age of 68 pursuant to these guidelines if the employer judges in the individual case that it is desirable and justified based on operational needs and is financially possible.

Scope

The scope of the appointment should be determined based on operational needs and the financial conditions in the individual case. The post should not normally be full-time. Normally, the default position should be a maximum of 50 per cent of a full-time post.

Examples of operational needs:

• a need for special skills for a specific period, for example bridging a gap pending new recruitment;
• a need for specific skills linked to operational needs;
• a need for employment for ongoing and externally funded research projects; or
• other need for employment to be able to represent the University in specific contexts, etc.

Period of employment

• The period of employment should normally be limited to a maximum of two years.
• However, the appointment should run for a maximum of one year at a time.

Funding and management duties

The appointment must be funded. The funding body that benefits from the appointment should pay for it. The appointment should not normally be funded using direct government funding for research and doctoral education, and should normally not involve management duties, though in exceptional cases this may be permitted.

Combined appointment

Professors and senior lecturers with a combined appointment can be re-employed as senior lecturers with a combined appointment only if the health care authority permits the extension of a combined appointment. In other cases, the University can recruit without combined appointment.

Post-retirement professor as examiner

In cases where there is a need to appoint a post-retirement professor as an examiner, that person can also be employed part-time as a senior lecturer.

6. Title upon appointment

• A re-employed or newly recruited professor is appointed as a post-retirement professor.
• A re-employed or newly recruited visiting professor or adjunct professor is appointed as a visiting professor or adjunct professor
• Other re-employed or newly recruited staff retain whichever title previously applied, for example senior lecturer or research engineer.

7. Appointment of visiting and adjunct professors after the age of 68

The appointment of visiting professors and adjunct professors must be preceded by an assessment of the operational justification before a decision can be taken on appointment under these guidelines. The appointment procedure is regulated by the Higher Education Ordinance and the Appointment Regulations.

8. Decision-making procedure

Professors

a. The appointment of a professor as post-retirement professor for a period of up to one year is decided by the dean/vice-rector following a proposal by the head of department.

b. The appointment of a professor as post-retirement professor for an overall period exceeding one year is decided by the Vice-Chancellor.

The proposal is drawn up by the head of department and must be endorsed by the dean/vice-rector.

Visiting and adjunct professors

c. The appointment of visiting professors and adjunct professors is decided by the Vice-Chancellor, regardless of the period of appointment. The proposal is drawn up by the head of department and must be endorsed by the dean/vice-rector.

Other teachers and researchers

d. The appointment of other teachers and researchers for a period of up to one year is decided by the head of department following consultation with/permission from the dean/vice-rector.

e. The appointment of other teachers and researchers for an overall period exceeding one year is decided by the Vice-Chancellor. The proposal is drawn up by the head of department and must be endorsed by the dean/vice-rector.

Technical and administrative staff

f. The appointment of technical and administrative staff for a period of up to one year is decided by the head of department/director/head of division.

g. The appointment of technical and administrative staff for an overall period exceeding one year is decided by the dean/vice-rector/university director/library director following a proposal by the head of department/director/head of division.

9. Benefits and salary for appointments after the age of 68

Benefits in line with collective agreements also apply to appointments after the age of 68, for example holiday, healthcare and wellness benefits.

Salaries for appointments after the age of 68 should normally correspond to the previous salary, with a possibility, if necessary, of considering a raise equivalent to that offered to other former employees receiving a new appointment. Salaries for new recruitments should normally be set in accordance with the applicable salary situation for the relevant post.

Those who are employed after the age of 68 are covered by pay reviews in the same way as other employees.

Individuals employed after the age of 68 have the same insurance coverage as other employees in accordance with standard procedures.

10. Forms of employment and grounds for fixed-term employment in the case of employment after the age of 68

Employment should, as a rule, be for a fixed term pursuant to the Employment Protection Act [5], as follows.

For administrative and technical staff, appointments after the age of 68 are to be for a fixed term, pursuant to the Employment Protection Act.

Appointments of visiting professors and adjunct professors should be made for a fixed term pursuant to the Higher Education Ordinance (HEO) [6].

Teachers who are not professors (including visiting and adjunct professors) may also be appointed for a fixed term pursuant to the Employment Protection Act and in accordance with HEO rules [7]. This applies to senior lecturers and lecturers.

Visiting and adjunct professors are always appointed for a fixed term, not pursuant to the Employment Protection Act but pursuant to the HEO.

Appointment as a professor cannot be for a fixed term. This is regulated in the HEO [8]. If a former professor is appointed as a post-retirement professor, this does not prevent a time limit being set, pursuant to the grounds for fixed-term employment in the Employment Protection Act.

Individuals over the age of 68 carrying out temporary assignments of short duration for special projects can be employed intermittently for this purpose (employment per occasion) citing the relevant ground for fixed-term employment.

11. Entry into force and transitional provisions

These guidelines are effective as of 1 June 2020 and replace previous guidelines from 2013 concerning employment after the age of 67 [9]. Ongoing appointments made under the previous guidelines remain valid until the end of that period of employment, but in the event of re-appointment after 1 June the current guidelines are to apply.

Appendix 1 – Legal framework

Right to remain in employment until the age of 68 and employment protection

Until 31 December 2019, employees were obliged to leave their post at the age of 67 and employers had to deliver notice of this obligation to employees in direct conjunction with their attaining the age of 67.

Under the current rules in the Employment Protection Act (1982:80), employees are entitled to remain in employment until the end of the month in which they turn 68 [10]. From 1 January 2020, employees’ contracts can be terminated from the age of 68, and from 1 January 2023, employees’ contracts can be terminated when they attain the age of 69. Accordingly, under the new rules, employers can also terminate an employee’s contract at a later point than when the employee attained the age of 68. This is usually expressed be saying that the ‘window’ is open from the time at which that age is attained, with no limitation forward in time. An employee is obliged to leave at the end of the month in which the employee turns 68 [11], but also at any later point when the employer opts to terminate the contract.

The employer does not need to cite any special reasons, as is otherwise the case when terminating a contract, and no objective grounds are therefore required when the employee has attained the age specified above [12], nor does the employee have a preferential right to re-employment [13]. Furthermore, the termination of the employment contract cannot be declared invalid. When a person in employment has passed the age of 68, a general fixed-term contract or substitute position lasting more than two years does not become an indefinite-term contract. People who have turned 68 are therefore not covered by the employment protection provided in the Employment Protection Act.

Prohibition of discrimination and permissible differences of treatment on grounds of age

The prohibition of discrimination in the Discrimination Act does not prevent differences of treatment on grounds of age if there is a legitimate purpose and the means that are used are appropriate and necessary to achieve that purpose [14]. The bill behind the Discrimination Act [15] stated that the special provisions relating to the right to remain in employment until the age of 67 are justified, as it is reasonable for there to be a fixed point in time at which the nature of legally established employment protection changes and the employer is permitted to terminate the employment relationship without demonstrating objective grounds for termination in the usual way.

The national rules outlined above have been examined and ruled on in a judgment of the European Court of Justice [16]. The judgment established that Swedish law is compatible with EU law and that the age limit for the cessation of employment specified in the Employment Protection Act constitutes an acceptable difference of treatment on grounds of age.

The applicable labour law statutes containing age limits are therefore compatible with EU law. An employer who applies statutes containing age limits is not guilty of age discrimination.

Fotnoter

[1] Employment Protection Act, Sections 33a–33c.

[2] Employment Protection Act, Section 33, third paragraph and General Agreements on Pay and Benefits, Chapter 14, Section 2.

[3] General Agreements on Pay and Benefits, Chapter 14, Section 1 and Government Appointees Act (1994:261), Section 5.

[4] Managers’ Agreement, Section 10b and General Agreements on Pay and Benefits, Chapter 14, Section 3a.

[5] The form of employment designated “general fixed-term employment” in Section 5, point 1 of the Employment Protection Act.

[6] Higher Education Ordinance (1993:100), Chapter 4, Sections 11–12.

[7] Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 4, Section 9.

[8] Chapter 4, Section 9 plus Section 11 (adjunct professor) or Section 12 (visiting professor).

[9] Guidelines for employment after the age of 67, 2013 (UFV 2009/455).

[10] Employment Protection Act, Section 32a. From 1 January 2023, employees will be entitled to remain in employment until the age of 69.

[11] General Agreement on Pay and Benefits, Chapter 14, Section 2.

[12] Employment Protection Act, Sections 33 and 33d.

[13] Employment Protection Act, Sections 22, 23, 25 and 25a.

[14] Discrimination Act (2008:567), Chapter 2, Section 2, point 4.

[15] Govt Bill 2007/08:95 for a Discrimination Act.

[16] Judgment 2012 (C-141/11), Hörnfeldt . / . Post Nord AB.