Working at Lund University

As an employee you have both rights and obligations, as well as certain benefits.

Content on this page:

Terms of employment at Lund University

Lund University is a public authority and as a public sector employee you are covered by one of the public sector agreements on terms of employment.

Employee organisations

Do you want to contact your employee organisation or get involved as a representative? Here you can find contact details for the three organisations with which the Swedish Agency for Government Employers has signed collective agreements.

In case of emergency

Find out how to raise the alarm or report an incident such as an accident or occupational injury. You will also find information on what to do in case of threats and risk of violence, or if unauthorised people enter the workplace. In addition, there is information on evacuation, first aid training and crisis management support.

In the event of a heightened state of alert

Lund University is not among the public authorities tasked with contingency planning for societal crises. Therefore, in the event of a heightened state of alert, the University will, as far as possible, maintain its regular operations. According to the employment contract, employees at public authorities, municipalities and regions are to be at their workplaces in peacetime and in the event of a heightened state of alert. Employees who have a wartime posting at another organisation are exceptions.

Working for a public authority

Working for a public authority means conducting activities which apply the laws and regulations decided by the Swedish government and its parliament, the Riksdag. Each public authority works on the basis of a public service agreement.

In the annual public service agreement, the government defines Lund University’s remit and the funding allocated to activities for the coming year.

As an employee of a public authority, you have both rights and obligations as well as certain benefits.

Register for the online course "What are the implications of being a public employee?" in Kompetensportalen (professional development portal).

Shared core values based on laws and regulations

The entire public sector has shared core values based on laws and regulations. The common core values for public sector employees rest on six principles:

Democracy: all public power proceeds from the people.
Legality: public power is exercised under the law.
Impartiality, objectivity and equality: everyone is equal before the law. Public authorities and courts are to treat everyone equally.
Freedom of opinion: Swedish democracy is founded on freedom of opinion.
Respect: public power is to be exercised with respect for people’s freedom and equal value.
Efficiency and service: the organisation is to be run as economically as possible with the highest quality achievable with the available resources.

The principle of public access to official documents

The principle of public access to official documents applies to public administration. This means that the general public and the mass media have the right to access public documents, with the exception of confidential information.

As a government employee, you have freedom of expression and freedom to disclose information. Your freedom of expression means that you have the right to talk about the organisation with journalists and others so long as you do not divulge confidential information. The freedom to disclose information means that public authorities are not allowed to investigate who passed information to the mass media.

Due process in the exercise of public authority

Due process is fundamental to all government activity. Citizens must be able to rely on decisions taken by public authorities being based on applicable laws. They must also be sure that everyone is treated equally before the law and that public authorities are objective and impartial in their assessments and decisions.

You therefore have an obligation to follow the rules on conflict of interest and on secondary employment.

Rules on conflict of interest

The rules on conflict of interest guarantee that management at public authorities is characterised by impartiality and objectivity. When processing a matter, you have a conflict of interest if the matter concerns you personally or a person close to you, for example.

Another example of conflict of interest is when the outcome of a matter can be expected to bring significant advantage or prejudice to you or to someone close to you.

There are more situations in which conflict of interest can arise.

Secondary employment

As a government employee, you are not to have secondary employment that damages credibility, interferes with work duties or represents competition, as this can affect public confidence in Lund University. The rules concerning secondary employment are contained in different laws and regulations.

Swedish Public Procurement Act

The purchase of goods and services is to be conducted in a legal, business-like and efficient manner. Make purchases by placing call-off orders from an existing agreement. If there is no agreement relevant for your intended purchase, you should instead initiate a procurement process. The Purchasing and Procurement Division provides support to the University’s organisational units throughout the process.

Your benefits as a public sector employee

Gym membership reimbursement, the health promotion hour and partial reimbursement of healthcare and medication costs: find out more about the benefits to which you are entitled as an employee at Lund University.

Award for long and devoted public service (NoR)

This tradition began in 1803 as a distinction for public employees who had shown long and devoted service. The award in the form of a medal, gold watch or engraved glassware is given to those who have worked in public service for 30 years.

You can have worked in different workplaces, as long as they were in the public sector. Special rules apply if for example you are to retire before having worked in public service for 30 years – in that case 25 years are sufficient for obtaining the distinction.

Do you have questions about eligibility for the award?

Please contact the HR Division via their case management system.

Registration for the award

The last day for application was 30 November 2023.

The award will be presented on 7 March 2024. The invitation will be sent in early 2024.

For more information about the award

For more information about the award please contact the HR Division via their case management system.

Benefits

As a public sector employee, you receive extra annual leave days, extra compensation in the event of illness and parental leave, a generous job transition agreement, reimbursement for certain healthcare and medication costs and generous conditions for leave. In addition, the University offers a health promotion benefit and a paid health promotion hour.

Contact

If you cannot find what you are looking for on this webpage, you can ask the HR Division a question via the case management system, which is reached via the page Find the right HR information and support on the HR website.

Contact your line manager or the HR officer at your organisational unit if you have any questions concerning employment or your organisational unit’s procedures for HR/staff matters.

Related information

Video about decision-making at Lund University

Video about Finances at Lund University