Contents on this page:

• Introduction
• Special fixed-term employment 5 § 1 p LAS
• Temporary employment 5 § 2 p LAS
• Seasonal work 5 § 3 p LAS
• State sector fixed-term employment (STAVA)
• General fixed-term employment 5 § 1 p LAS
• Temporary need for hourly paid staff
• Fees and the use of a legal entity

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Introduction

The main rule that an employment is valid until further notice is regulated in section 4(1) of the Employment Protection Act (LAS), also known as permanent employment. However, employment can be limited in time if there is support in a law, regulation or collective agreement.

Section 5 of LAS authorises three forms of fixed-term employment:

1. general fixed-term employment (ALVA) expires on 30 September 2022
2. special fixed-term employment (SÄVA) applies from 1 October 2022.
3. temporary employment
4. seasonal work

Many positions at universities and colleges are education and qualification positions that are by nature limited in time, such as doctoral or postdoctoral positions. At universities and higher education institutions, there are therefore additional opportunities to limit the duration of an employment contract.

• Read more about Fixed-term merit and educational appointments as well as adjuncts, visiting professors and retired professors.
• Read a brief summary of the most important changes to the Employment Protection Act (LAS).

Special fixed-term employment 5 § 1 p LAS

In the case of special fixed-term employment (SÄVA), the employer does not need to give a specific reason for the time limit. Employers have a special obligation to provide information regarding SÄVA. The worker must be informed in writing that he or she has been employed in a SÄVA in connection with the conclusion of the employment contract. The reason for the time limit is stated in the employment decision or in the agreement on conditions for short-term and temporary employment.

When a worker has been in an SAE for more than 12 months over a five-year period or in a chain of fixed-term contracts (the maximum interval between two contracts is six months), the contract becomes a contract of indefinite duration. A special "calculation rule" applies when calculating the length of employment for SÄVA. If an employee has had at least three periods of employment under SÄVA with one and the same employer (in this case Lund University) during a calendar month, the intervening period shall also be counted as a period of employment. This means that the period of employment shall be counted from the first to the last employment in the calendar month.

The transitional rules between ALVA and SÄVA regulate that a person who is employed in a SÄVA after 1 October may count employment time in ALVA retroactively between 1 March 2022 and 30 September 2022 when calculating when the employment is transferred to an indefinite employment. The retroactive time in ALVA is calculated according to the regulations for an ALVA.

According to LAS, the employee must receive written information that the employment is valid until further notice no later than one month after the transition.

The calculation rule for SÄVA is applicable in the case of transition to permanent employment, preferential right to re-employment, rotation in the case of so-called levelling and for notification that a fixed-term employment contract is terminated in accordance with Section 15 of the Employment Protection Act (also applies to notice of termination).

A SÄVA gives preferential rights to re-employment in a new SÄVA after a total of more than nine months during a three-year period.

Please contact your nearest HR function for advice and support.

Temporary employment 5 § 2 p LAS

This time limit is used to replace one or more persons who are temporarily on leave from their employment. It can also be used during an ongoing appointment to a position. It is important that you as a manager keep in mind that if a temporary employee has had a temporary position for a total of more than two years during the last five years at Lund University, the employment will by law become a permanent position. According to LAS, the employee must receive written information that the employment is valid until further notice no later than one month after the transition.Please contact your nearest personnel function for advice and support.Seasonal work 5 § 3 p LAS

Due to the changing seasons, for example, some jobs can only be performed during a certain time of the year. It is then possible to limit employment during the season.

Seasonal work 5 § 3 p LAS

Some jobs can only be performed during a certain time of the year, for example due to the changing seasons.It is then possible to limit employment during the season.

State temporary employment (STAVA) 

According to the Agreement on Flexibility, Adaptability and Security in the State Sector 2022-06-27, Annex 6, a fixed-term employment contract, known as a state fixed-term employment contract, may be concluded for an indefinite period, but for a maximum of two years and under the conditions described below:

• when an employer is to carry out a temporary assignment as a result of provisions in a letter of appropriation, a direct assignment from a ministry or by agreement with an external party
• if the need for employment and the assignment exceeds 12 months
• if the work tasks are outside the framework of the employer's regular activities, and
• if the assignment is financed by a special contribution from the budget or external funds.

External funding does not refer to research grants awarded upon application by an individual or a research group. Research at universities and colleges and research institutes or equivalent is not outside the framework of the employer's regular activities. Training activities, including commissioned training programmes, at universities and colleges are also not outside the scope of ordinary activities.

Limitation

A state fixed-term contract may not be offered to an employee for a position as a professor.

Upon termination of a state fixed-term employment contract, the employer may not inform, agree or decide on a new state fixed-term employment contract until 365 days have elapsed from the last day of employment. This restriction is subject to the condition that the assignment is the same as that for which the terminated fixed-term government employment contract was intended.

The restriction does not apply if a state fixed-term employment contract is terminated prematurely. In such a case, the employer is entitled to make a replacement recruitment in a state fixed-term employment contract, even though it is the same assignment.

Primary negotiation before decision on employment

Before the employer decides on employment under this provision, the employer shall conduct primary negotiations in accordance with the Act (1976:580) on co-determination in working life. Lund University has a template for such a negotiation document and how the negotiation takes place.

Download the template on the page HR forms and templates.

An employee who has had a state fixed-term employment contract and who within 180 days, after the last day of employment, obtains a new fixed-term employment contract in the form of a temporary employment contract or a special fixed-term employment contract, may credit up to six months from the state fixed-term employment contract for calculating the time for conversion to permanent employment. 

General fixed-term employment 5 § 1 p LAS

The time limit basis will cease to be applicable on 30 September 2022. For employees in an ongoing general fixed-term employment contract (ALVA) on 1 October, the current rules for transition to permanent employment apply, i.e. after two years.

In the case of an ALVA, the employer does not need to state any specific reason for the time limit.

It is important for you as a manager to bear in mind that if a fixed-term employee has had a general fixed-term employment contract for a total of more than two years during a five-year period or in a chain of fixed-term employment contracts (the gap between two contracts is a maximum of six months), the employment contract becomes a contract of indefinite duration. According to LAS, the employee must be informed in writing that the employment is valid until further notice no later than one month after the transition.

Anyone who is employed in an ongoing ALVA on 1 October 2022 shall be considered to be employed in a SÄVA for the application of the rules on information about the termination of a fixed-term employment (§ 15) and the preferential right to re-employment (§ 25). This means that the employee in the ALVA will be entitled to notification after 9 months instead of 12 months and that the preferential right to a new SÄVA arises after 9 months, calculated from 1 October 2022.

Please contact your nearest HR function for advice and support.

Temporary need for hourly paid staff

The organisation sometimes needs to offer very short and temporary employment contracts lasting only a few hours or days. 

To clarify that this is not continuous employment, you as a manager should make an agreement on the conditions for short-term and temporary employment. Such an agreement can be signed for a maximum of twelve calendar months at a time. This is done in Primula.

Log in to Primula

An employment decision must then be written for the days it is agreed that a person will work. 

Download the template for employment decisions for short-term and temporary employment on the page HR forms and templates.

The basis for determining the duration of short-term and temporary contracts is SÄVA (from 1 October 2022) or temporary employment. Temporary contracts are used when there is a need to replace another available staff member (sickness, holiday, childcare (maternity leave), leave of absence, etc.) and fixed-term contracts are used when there is a temporary need for extra staff during work peaks, temporary assignments, etc. 

If one and the same employee is offered both temporary jobs and SÄVA, there need to be two agreements on these different conditions.

It is very important to inform the hourly paid employee that time reporting must be done on an ongoing basis and/or at the latest during the first week of the calendar month after the work has been performed. This is so that the hourly paid employee receives their salary and the LAS reports are continuously updated. 

A guide for handling hourly paid staff can be found on the page Guides and guides (Primula for HR).

Please contact your nearest HR function for advice and support.

Remuneration for exam invigilators

Remuneration for exam invigilators. Decision 2023-01-11. (PDF 183 kB)

Fees and the use of a legal entity

Fees

If you, as a manager, need to hire someone for expert and board assignments, for opposition or as a member of, for example, the teacher proposal board/equivalent, these assignments are reimbursed with a fee. This is done in Primula.

Log in to Primula

Read more in the regulations on fees in boards and committees regulated in Lund University's rules of procedure (PDF 657 kB, new tab).

Remuneration to persons who have donated blood, organs, etc.

Payment of remuneration from Lund University to a person who has donated, for example, blood or organs must be handled as remuneration to a research subject and fees must be selected in Primula and thus form the basis for employer contributions and tax.

According to the Swedish Tax Agency's legal guidance Ersättningar för blod, moedersmjölk och organ | Legal guidance | Skatteverket states the following: 

"Customary payments to those who have donated blood, mother's milk or organs are tax-free (Chapter 8, Section 29 of the Swedish Tax Code). Fixed, standardised compensation is often used for donations. Customary payments for egg and sperm donations and donations of other biological material, such as tissue and bone marrow, have been considered tax-free under the same provision."

Lund University has been informed by the Swedish Tax Agency that tax exemption only applies if the purpose relates to medical care and treatment and that remuneration provided for research purposes is therefore always taxable.

Hiring a legal entity

Using a legal entity, such as a consultant, can be an alternative to employment. When using a legal entity, the procurement regulations must be applied. Note that all of Lund University's costs of the same type for the use of a legal entity must be taken into account when assessing the amount limits. 

Read more in Lund University's regulations for purchasing (PDF180 kB, new tab).

Consult the Purchasing and Procurement department at the Finance Division if you need support in procurement issues.

As a general rule, however, education and research at Lund University shall be conducted by employed staff and the exercise of authority may not be transferred to third parties.