Benefits

Besides the benefits set out in the law on annual leave, as a University employee you have additional days of annual leave. You have a total of between 28 and 35 days, depending on your age. 

You are also entitled to paid annual leave from your very first year of employment as the annual leave year coincides with the calendar year. To receive the full annual leave entitlement, you need to be employed for the entire year.

Provided certain conditions are met, it may also be possible to exchange holiday pay for a further three days off.

Read more about annual leave

Paid authorised leave

As a government employee, you can in certain circumstances be granted paid authorised leave. It may be the case, for example, that you need to make a doctor’s appointment that cannot be arranged outside working hours or attend a close relative’s funeral and estate inventory. Remember to check with your manager when you need to take leave.

Read more about the rules applying to authorised leave

The Adjustment Agreement is a benefit that provides access to adjustment measures through the Job Security Foundation (Trygghetsstiftelsen). The agreement also includes provisions on an extended notice period, enhanced unemployment benefits, and income supplementation.

You are covered by the agreement if you have been made redundant due to lack of work or due to illness and have been employed for at least 12 months with the same public authority. The agreement also applies, in certain respects, to employees whose fixed-term employment comes to an end.

The Job Security Foundation provides support and counselling and, in some cases, financial compensation. Employees with permanent positions are also granted an extended notice period.

As a government employee, you may receive additional compensation from the public authority – the parental benefit supplement – when you receive parental benefit.

When you need to take leave in order to care for a sick child, if your income is above Försäkringskassan’s ceiling, the University will pay a supplement for the income above the ceiling for ten days a year. 

Read more about parental leave, parental allowance and caring for sick child

Illness/sickness benefit

If you are on sick leave for a long period, as a public sector employee you can receive a complementary allowance over and above your sickness benefit. The public authority tops up the sickness benefit from the Social Insurance Office from day 15 to day 365 up to approximately 90 per cent of your income. 

Read more about sick pay, standard deduction for sick days and sickness benefit

You can also receive some reimbursement in connection with illness for things like

• visits to the doctor
• visits to a physiotherapist
• if you are admitted to hospital

You can also be reimbursed for some medicines covered by maximum cost protection. 

Read more about the reimbursements to which you may be entitled in connection with illness

Lund University reimburses the cost of health promotion, such as a gym membership, up to a certain amount. The benefit is offered to all employees, including fixed-term employees and substitutes. The University’s hope is that this will

• lead to increased well-being at work,
• create a pleasant workplace with a good sense of community,
• reduce absence due to illness, and
• prevent and minimise occupational injuries.

Read more about health promotion reimbursement and how to apply for it

You are also entitled to a health promotion hour, which entails a maximum of 60 minutes of health promoting activity per week in the case of full-time employment.

Read more about the health promotion hour and how to report it

Reimbursement of healthcare and medication costs

You are entitled to reimbursement for certain healthcare and medication costs. A condition for the reimbursement of healthcare and medication costs is that the costs are registered in the high-cost database and with a high-cost card, which occurs automatically if you are registered. 

Read more about reimbursement of healthcare and medication costs

As a public sector employee, you are covered by occupational injury insurance and group life insurance. If you travel on university business you are also covered by business travel insurance. If you are posted abroad with a URA contract, you are covered by a special insurance policy for stays abroad (URA insurance).

Read more about insurance for employees at Lund University

Occupational injuries

As a public sector employee, you may be entitled to compensation from the Social Insurance Office (Försäkringskassan) if you injure yourself on the way to or from work, or during working hours.

Public sector employees also have complementary compensation through the Agreement on Compensation for Personal Injury (PSA), via AFA Insurance. This can apply to loss of income, pain and suffering, healthcare costs, invalidity and death. 

Read more about occupational injury insurance

It is your employer, Lund University, who makes contributions to your state occupational pension (the PA 16 occupational pension agreement). The state occupational pension consists of various components and is managed by Kåpan Tjänstepension:

• The optional component
• Kåpan Tjänste
• Kåpan Flex
• The defined-benefit component (for those born before 1988)

Log in to Kåpan Tjänstepension and read more about the different components

Flexible retirement options for those born in 1966 or later

If you were born in 1966 or later, you can start drawing Kåpan Flex from the month you turn 63. Kåpan Flex is part of the PA 16 state occupational pension scheme, which all government employees are covered by and to which your employer makes monthly contributions. You can use this part of your occupational pension, for example, to reduce your working hours before you retire. Leave may be granted by your employer, but you must continue to work at least 50 per cent of your normal hours after the leave has been granted.

• If you were born in 1966 or later, your employer pays the equivalent of 1.6 per cent of your salary into Kåpan Flex each month.
• If you were born before 1966 and have not taken, or do not have, a partial pension, your employer pays the equivalent of 0.6 per cent of your salary into Kåpan Flex each month.

Read about the rules governing pensions

Pursuant to Section 25a of the Swedish Employment Protection Act (LAS), a part-time employee may have priority entitlement to a greater degree of employment. The conditions for this priority entitlement are that:

• the employer’s need for additional workforce is met by the employee being assigned a greater degree of employment
• the part-time employee has sufficient qualifications for the new work duties
• the part-time employee has registered a wish to increase their degree of employment

If you want to register your wish to increase your degree of employment, go to:

Registration of priority entitlement to a greater degree of employment (Varbi)

Once you've logged in to the system (Varbi), you can change the language to English.

If you been made redundant or held fixed-term employment in accordance with Section 5 of the Employment Protection Act, LAS, (substitute and general fixed-term employment) which has ended, you have a priority entitlement to re-employment in some circumstances. In that case, you will have received information in a written notification from your employer. 

The priority entitlement to re-employment depends on a few requirements being met. The first is the qualifying period outlined below. You must also make a formal request for re-employment, and possess sufficient qualifications for the new position. 

Qualifying period for priority entitlement to re-employment

The qualifying period for the general priority entitlement to re-employment is that you have

• a combined total of more than 12 months’ employment over the past three years. 

Special fixed-term employment (Swedish acronym SÄVA)

If you are employed in accordance with Section 5.1 of the Employment Protection Act, LAS, (special fixed-term employment, Specific fixed-term employment, SÄVA) you are entitled to a new SÄVA if you have 

• a combined total of more than 9 months’ SÄVA employment over the past three years. 

Seasonal work

If you are employed in accordance with Section 5.3 of the Employment Protection Act, LAS, (seasonal work) you are entitled to a new seasonal employment if you have

• a combined total of more than six months’ seasonal employment over the past two years. 

Applicants for job vacancies at Lund University

If you choose to claim priority entitlement to re-employment, you will be considered an applicant for the vacant positions that match the details of your report. 

Objective grounds carry more weight than priority entitlement to re-employment

Please note that the constitutional requirement for a factual basis (merit and skills) for the appointment of government employees takes precedence over the priority entitlement to re-employment. 

This means that if another applicant is more qualified (in terms of merit and skills) this candidate can be employed ahead of you even if you have the priority entitlement to re-employment. In such situations, the employer negotiates with the relevant employee organisation before a decision is made on the issue.

Information about job vacancies is available here: Vacancies | Lund University

Priority entitlement to re-employment applies from the point that redundancy or notification was issued according to Section 15, Paragraph 1 (LAS), until nine months have passed from the date on which your employment ended.

Claim priority entitlement to re-employment

If you wish to claim priority entitlement to re-employment, you do so digitally in the Varbi system, through the links below.

Special fixed-term employment (Swedish acronym SÄVA) for more than nine months 

If you have held special fixed-term employment (Swedish acronym SÄVA) for more than nine months, and wish to claim priority entitlement to re-employment, you do so via the link below. 

Log into Varbi (varbi.com)

Employed for more than twelve months in the past three years

If you have been employed for more than twelve months in the past three years and the most recent employment was permanent employment or fixed-term employment in accordance with Section 5 of LAS (substitute, SÄVA or student workers) and wish to claim the priority entitlement to re-employment, you do so via the link below. 

Log into Varbi (varbi.com)

A combined total of more than six months’ seasonal employment over the past two years. 

If you have held a combined total of more than six months’ seasonal employment over the past two years and wish to claim priority entitlement to re-employment, you do so via the link below. 

Log into Varbi (varbi.com)

Revoke claim to priority entitlement to re-employment

If you wish to revoke your claim to priority entitlement to re-employment, use this form

In accordance with the central collective agreements, public authority employees have the option to exchange their salary (salary exchange) for a payment by the employer of an agreed amount into an occupational pension. 

Read more about salary exchange