Note: The information below is specifically aimed at non-EU citizens in Sweden with a residence permit connected to their work permit. It doesn't apply to EU citizens, their family members, or those with post-Brexit residence status or other kinds of residence permits.
If you're a citizen of a non-European Union country working in Sweden on a work permit, the regulations state that you have a three-month grace period to find a new job and apply for a new work permit if you lose your job.
If you've been working in Sweden for two years or more, you're allowed to change employers without needing a new permit, as long as your old permit is still valid and you stay in the same profession (although you will need to apply for a new permit once your current one expires).
But if you've worked in Sweden for less than two years, your permit is tied to a specific employer and occupation, so you'll need to apply for a new permit if you switch companies.
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Many people tend to be laid back and believe they have a full three months to find a new job.
In practice, this isn't the case. The article below explains what you need to know.
Workers' rights and the layoff system in Sweden
In Sweden, workers' rights are generally robust.
However, according to Saaya Sorrells-Weatherford, co-founder of the relocation consultancy Emigreat, international employees who are non-EU citizens face specific challenges.
"Since international employees are dependent on the company, they have a higher risk of being exploited, especially if they don't know the Swedish system well enough to advocate for their rights and say, 'this is wrong and illegal'," Sorrells-Weatherford told The Local.
"Navigating losing your job and income is hard enough. The additional layer of legal confusion and losing your right to stay in a country you've made into your new home is devastating," she added.
Why you don't actually have three whole months
For non-EU citizens in Sweden, the implications of getting laid off for your work permit can be significant. On paper, when you're laid off, you have three months from your last date of employment to find a new job and submit a new work permit.
"People often approach the situation as if they have three whole months. They don't," Sorrells-Weatherford pointed out.
"Before a company can sign a contract with an international employee or initiate a work permit application, they must advertise the job position on Arbetsförmedlingen [Sweden's Public Employment Service] for at least ten days.
"The work permit application needs to be submitted and paid for within the three-month period, which means the employee's part of the application must be completed in advance," she said.
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Non-EU citizens should, therefore, be extra conservative with deadlines to ensure they have enough time to complete the process.
"You should account for three weeks to be on the safe side," said Sorrells-Weatherford, arguing that you should account for 10+ days of job advertisement, the employer starting the application by submitting the work terms to the union, waiting for a response, and then completing the employee part of the application.
"In reality, this gives you just over two months to find a new job," she warned.
An "unreasonably short" deadline?
Many critics consider the three-month grace period for finding a new job in Sweden insufficient.
"I think that three months is an unreasonably short time to find a new job, especially since the recruitment process, even for Swedes, is lengthy," Sorrells-Weatherford told The Local.
She suggested a more flexible approach.
"I believe that it should either be six months, or it can even be proportional to how long someone has held a work permit, as that indicates the level of uprooting it would take to have to leave."
The Local has an in-depth article dealing with the key things foreign workers should know if they get laid off in Sweden, which you can find here.
Emma Löfgren, Editor, The Local Sweden
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