Values and benefits for government employees

By working for the central government sector, you will benefit everyone who lives and works in Sweden, help the development of our economy and build Sweden´s relationships with the rest of the world.

You will work in ways that are accessible, efficient and in accordance with the rule of law, and you will apply laws decided upon by the government and by parliament.

As a central government employee, you are an important part of Sweden´s democratic governance.

Many fields of activity

State agencies operate in many different fields of activity, offering career opportunities for lots of different educational and training trajectories and professions.

The five largest central government employers are the Swedish Police, the Swedish Armed Forces, the Swedish Public Employment Service, the Swedish Social Insurance Agency and the Swedish Tax Agency.

The largest number of central government employees work with education and research at universities and institutes of advanced studies.

Swedish citizenship

Many jobs in the Swedish central government sector require that you are a Swedish citizen and that you speak Swedish. Please contact the employer you are interested in to find out more.

Values for government employees

Regardless of whether you are a researcher, police officer, investigator, museum employee, fighter pilot, dance teacher, tax expert, IT specialist or have some other government employment, there is a common set of values for the entire central government sector that is based on legislation and regulations.

Values for government employees are based on six principles:

• Democracy. All public power comes from the people.
• Legality. The exercise of public power is subject to the rule of law.
• Objectivity. Everyone’s equality under the law, objectivity and impartiality shall be maintained.
• Freedom of opinion. Swedish democracy is based on freedom of opinion.
• Respect for equal values, freedom and dignity. Public power shall be exercised with respect for everyone’s equal value and for the freedom and dignity of the individual.
• Efficiency and service. Efficiency and resource management shall go hand-in-hand with service and accessibility.

Benefits and modern terms

The central government sector has in many cases led the way on the labour market when it comes to individually set pay and modern terms.

Pay

In the central government sector, salaries are set individually. This means that your pay is based on your work results. But other factors also contribute, such as the degree of difficulty and job responsibilities that the job entails. Market factors, such as supply and demand in the labour market can also affect pay. As an employee, you have the right to know the basis on which your salary is set and what you can do to influence your salary.

Working hours

Working hours shall be determined and regulated according to each organisation’s needs, but it is also important that working hours are determined in a way that promotes a good work environment and counteracts ill health. For this reason, employees need to have the opportunity to influence how their own working hours are determined. Within each agency and authority, the employers and the union organisations have working hours agreements. Working hours and how they are distributed can be different for different employees, depending on what duties they have.

Holiday and other leave

Employees in Sweden are entitled to five weeks’ holiday. As a government employee, the collective agreement gives you more days of holiday. Within the central government sector, there are different agreements that regulate holiday issues. Which agreement applies depends on which organisation you work for.

With parental leave, compensation is usually paid by the social insurance agency Försäkringskassan. To make parental leave easier, central government sector employers pay supplementary remuneration.

Pensions

As a government employee, you receive a collectively agreed occupational pension through PA 16, which consists of part I and part II. This supplements the state pension that everyone who works in Sweden is entitled to. You have the right to decide for yourself how part of the agreement’s pension shall be managed.