Hiring in Sweden: costs, rules and the best EOR providers

Yes, where the worker is employed to be assigned to a client and works under that client’s direction and supervision. The arrangement’s substance matters more than the EOR label.

The Agency Work Act includes equal-treatment rules and, normally, a duty for the client to offer permanent employment or pay compensation after more than twenty-four months at the same operating unit within thirty-six months. Collective-agreement variations can apply.

The Swedish employing company must apply any collective agreement that binds it and the employee’s work. An EOR arrangement does not automatically provide the same agreement as the client’s other staff.

Ask which agreement covers the role and what it adds for pay, pension, insurance, hours and termination. Where no agreement applies, statutory employment protections still apply and the contract must state the actual benefits.

If the Swedish EOR is the actual employer and salary payer, it handles its employer registration, PAYE reporting and contributions. If your overseas company instead remains the employer, it can register directly with Skatteverket and may have Swedish withholding and contribution duties even without a permanent establishment.

These are different models. Buying an EOR service does not settle your separate VAT, branch or corporate-tax obligations.

The standard 2026 employer contribution is 31.42% of gross salary and taxable benefits. Age and specific reliefs can change it. From 1 April 2026, a temporary reduction applies to eligible employees born in 2003–2007, on monthly remuneration up to SEK 25,000; the excess remains at the full rate.

Occupational pensions and their associated charges are separate, so 31.42% is not a complete benefits budget.

The employer generally pays statutory sick pay for the first fourteen days of a qualifying sickness period, at 80% of lost wages.

A qualifying deduction equals 20% of average weekly sick pay; it is not always exactly one calendar day’s pay. The employer then reports continuing sickness to Försäkringskassan. Eligibility, medical evidence, recurrence rules and any collective-agreement supplements must be applied to the employee’s case.

EOR employees retain protection under LAS, the Employment Protection Act. Ordinary employer termination requires objective reasons, such as redundancy or circumstances relating to the employee, and applicable reassignment and procedural duties.

Statutory employer notice normally increases with service from one to six months; collective agreements may change the rules. The client ending an assignment does not itself remove the employing company’s obligations.

ITP is not automatic merely because the worker has an EOR. It is the collectively agreed occupational pension for covered private-sector salaried employees; the employing company must have the relevant agreement and enrolment.

An employer outside that system may offer a different pension. Compare the actual contribution schedule and insurance cover, rather than accepting “pension included” as proof of ITP.

The Annual Leave Act provides twenty-five days of annual leave, but the number of paid days depends on earned entitlement and the applicable arrangement.

For qualifying fixed-salary employees under the statutory same-pay rule, salary continues and each paid leave day adds 0.43% of monthly pay. Other pay patterns use a different calculation; collective agreements can improve or vary terms. Do not charge another full salary for days already paid within annual salary.

Potentially, but the Taxation of Research Workers Board must approve the named employer and employment. The EOR arrangement itself gives no entitlement.

Qualifying relief excludes 25% of remuneration from tax and the employer-contribution base. For work starting in 2026, the remuneration route requires at least SEK 88,801 monthly, alongside the other conditions; specialist eligibility is an alternative route. Apply within three months of starting work, and reassess relief when the employer changes.