Notice periods

Your notice period is governed:

• Primarily by your employment contract.
• If it is not in the employment contract, the notice period applies according to the applicable collective agreement, if your workplace has one.
• If your workplace does not have a collective agreement, your notice period is governed by the Employment Protection Act (LAS). Even if there is a period of notice specified in the employment contract, you may, under the LAS, be entitled to a longer period of notice in the event of the employer giving notice.

When there is a collective agreement

You may need to check both the collective agreement and the employment contract to know what applies.

In the event of dismissal due to shortage of work, if certain conditions are met, central collective agreements usually provide significantly longer notice periods than otherwise.

In the state sector, for each of the first three years of state employment, you get an extra month's notice in addition to the law and other agreements. After four years, you get double the notice period.

In local and regional government, the period of notice is six months for permanent employees with a continuous employment of at least 12 months. If you have reached the age of 61 and have been employed by the employer for at least 10 years when you are dismissed, the notice period is 12 months if you are dismissed for lack of work. However, it is a condition that you are employed until further notice at the time of dismissal and that you have been continuously employed for at least 12 months.

In the private sector, it depends on which collective agreement is applied. Ask HR which collective agreement you may be covered by. You can find the most common collective agreements for scientists in the private sector here.

If there is no collective agreement

If there is no collective agreement or notice period in the employment contract, the notice periods in the Employment Act (LAS) apply.

If you are dismissed by your employer, you have one month's notice when you start your employment, with an additional month added every two years. After 10 years, you have reached the maximum notice period of 6 months.

Fixed-term employment

As a general rule, fixed-term contracts are not terminable, but continue until the end of the contract. However, it may be possible to agree that fixed-term contracts are also terminable with a certain period of notice, either directly in the employment contract or through collective agreements.

To know whether a fixed-term contract is terminable and with what notice period, you need to interpret the employment contract and, if a collective agreement exists, also check what the collective agreement says about the possibilities of terminating the employment early.

Probationary employment

Probationary employment is legally a fixed-term employment but is intended to automatically become permanent employment after the probationary period if it is not terminated beforehand.

According to LAS, the employer is obliged to inform you 2 weeks in advance if they want to terminate the probationary period. You as an employee do not have a similar obligation. However, it is possible to include a mutual notice period in the employment contract instead of the LAS rules.

Many collective agreements also provide for a notice period for probationary periods.

Any notice periods and probationary periods can be tricky and it is easy to go wrong. Please contact Naturvetarnas' member advice service if you are wondering what applies to you.

How is the notice period calculated?

For example, if you have one month's notice period and you resign on April 10, your employment will end at the end of the working day on May 10. If there is no corresponding date in the latter month, the notice period expires after the last day of the month. For example, if you resign on January 31 with one month's notice, your employment will end at the end of February 28 (29).