Posting to Sweden means that:

• an employer in another country sends a worker to perform a service in Sweden during a limited period of time
• there is a recipient of the services in Sweden the worker is to perform.

A service is some kind of work. A limited period of time means that there must be a start and an end date for when the services are to be performed.

A recipient of services can be a company, organisation or a private individual in Sweden who receives a service against compensation. The employer abroad and the recipient of services in Sweden normally have an agreement which regulates what service the posted worker is to perform. The parties can belong to two different companies within the same corporate group.

It is also posting when an employer abroad hires out workers directly to a recipient of services in Sweden or through another company which in its turn sends the worker to the recipient of services.

It is not posting when a self-employed performs the service himself or herself.

There are three main posting situations: The workers will perform a service for a recipient in Sweden and

1. work under the employer's business contract with the recipient of services
2. be hired out directly to the recipient of services
3. be hired out to another company abroad that sends them to Sweden

In all these situations the employer is responsible for reporting the posting to the Swedish Work Environment Authority and to ensure that the workers have their rights. You can read more about this at the page Employer’s obligations.

Workers must be able to move across national borders in a good way

Sweden's rules on posting are based on rules that are common for the EU and the EEA. These rules shall strengthen the rights of posted workers and make it easier for people to work in other countries within the EU and the EEA, and for companies to offer their services across borders. They also aim to combat social dumping. This means that companies shall not be able to exploit differences in working and employment conditions to gain competitive advantages.

The Swedish Work Environment Authority is the contact authority in Sweden

The Swedish Work Environment Authority is the contact authority for posting to Sweden. This means that we provide guidance on the laws that apply in Sweden to posted workers. We provide information about collective agreements and contact information to employer and employee representatives.

We also cooperate with contact authorities in other countries. If you want to reach other contact authorities in the EU and EEA, you should turn to the European Commission.

National liaison offices and authorities, European Commission website, opens in a new window

The rules that govern posting

The Swedish rules on posting are in the following statutes:

Lag (1999:678) om utstationering av arbetstagare  (Posting of Workers Act, in Swedish, Swedish Parliament website, opens in a new window)

Förordning (2017:319) om utstationering av arbetstagare
(Posting of Workers Ordinance, in Swedish, Swedish Parliament website, opens in a new window)

A summary in Swedish, English, German and Polish of posting employers' and posted workers' rights and obligations is in the brochure below. You can find more extensive information at the specific web pages for those whom the rules concern.

Information about posting of employees (ADI 712 Eng), brochure