Basic rules

Sign on at the job centre on your first day of unemployment

To be entitled to compensation requires that you have worked enough to satisfy the so-called employment condition. Put simply the employment condition requires that you've worked part-time or more for at least six months before unemployment. The employment condition is thus the first requirement you must meet to be entitled to compensation. The requirements of the employment condition means that you must have a solid foothold in the labour market in order to be counted as unemployed.

Earnings-related compensation To be entitled to income-related benefit, your working conditions must have been fulfilled after you became a member of AEA. If you immediately before joining AEA were a member of another unemployment insurance fund, you can add the time you were a member of that fund. If you fulfil the employment condition but not the membership condition you've have the right to the basic amount of compensation.

Conditions of Membership

The membership condition requires you to have been in an unemployment insurance fund for 12 months.

Employment Condition First it'll be checked if you fulfil the main condition. It states that you, during the preceding twelve-month period and usually directly before unemployment (your so-called Qualifying time), must have worked at least six months with a minimum of 80 hours of work per month. For months before January 1 2007 to be counted it is sufficient to have worked 70 hours. If you don't comply with the main rule we try the alternative rule that says you must have worked at least 480 hours over six consecutive months. Each month of which must contain at least 50 hours worked. If you had any breaks in employment, it's still considered to be coherent if the break consisted of excluded time. If you don't fulfil either the main condition or the alternative rule AEA will decide if you meet the employment condition by means of parental or defence duty.

Qualifying time: Qualifying time is the consecutive time you have to meet the employment requirement. The Qualifying time is always twelve full months that are counted backwards from the date you register at the job centre. Qualifying time begins either on the last day of the month before you signed up at the job centre or the last day of the month you sign up. The month you signed up is counted as qualifying time if you've worked enough hours that count for the employment conditions. If you have worked 80 hours or more each month in the past year your qualifying time consists of those 12 months. However, if you've been unable to work, the months you have been prevented from working are excluded and your qualifying time is extended backwards by the same amount of months. If they are excluded or not depends on why you are unable to work. Read more in Excluded time below.

Excluded time If you have been prevented from working, that time may in some cases be excluded. A total maximum of five years may be excluded when qualifying time is determined. If your reason for being prevented from working is not listed in the following, that time will not be excluded but instead counted as "miscellaneous time" when qualifying time is counted. Miscellaneous time, a month without either a job or anything else that can be excluded means the average hours worked and wages decrease. If you have been prevented from and worked in the same month it can still count for your employment condition, if you worked more than 80 hours. If a month that isn't counted for your employment condition contains the same amount of excluded time and miscellaneous time the alternative that favours you will be chosen.

Sickness: Months that you were very sick or sick and worked less than 80 hours are not counted in qualifying time.

Full-time student: The months you have been studying full time can be excluded when the studies are completed or permanently interrupted and you were over 25 when they ended. Part-time studies are not counted as excluded time. These studies can sometimes be excluded even if you completed them before you reached the age of 25 years. Then you must have worked full-time for at least five months before you studied. If you've barely, or never worked during summer vacation, this time will also be excluded. Studies are considered closed if they are completed or permanently suspended.

Maternity pay and Child Care: Months that you abstained from work to care for children may be excluded in the following cases. If, however, you worked for 80/50 or more hours a month they are never excluded. When you have received full parental pay for a major part of a month it's excluded. When you, without parental pay, have cared full-time for your child younger than two years more than 50%, it will be excluded. If you passed the employment condition when you were on paternal leave, you will exclude the months until the child is three years. When you have cared full-time for an adopted child following the child's arrival up to two years may be excluded. (Up to three years may be excluded if you fulfilled the employment condition)

- If you've been on temporary parental pay for the bigger part of a month it may be excluded.

Military service: Months spent in the Swedish national service or military service in your home country may be excluded. If up to two months of national service are included in the employment condition, these may not be excluded.

Living abroad with partner: If you have accompanied your partner when he or she worked abroad then these months may be excluded as long as your partner's employer is based in Sweden and the salary is paid from Sweden.

Other: Also excluded are months where you have cared for a related party who has, under the rules of informal care, been in forced care for drug abuse, been in custody or prison or not allowed to work under the Communicable Diseases Act and Food Act.

What is included in working condition?

Work: If you have worked and been paid in Sweden this is included in the working condition. Both work as an employee and entrepreneur may count on social security contributions paid, that is, payroll taxes and social contributions.

Working abroad: If you have worked abroad for an employer based in Sweden and received payment this is included in the working condition. If you have served at the Swedish UN-dressing, or as an aid worker in projects where a Swedish authority is responsible for salary, this is also included in the working condition. Working for the Nordic Council or the Nordic Council of Ministers may also be counted in the working condition. If you have worked and been insured in any EU / EEA country, this may also be included if you meet the required conditions for transition between states.

Wages without labour: Have you been paid without working, for example for holidays within the period of employment, had a salary when you were working or had freed severance pay, this will also count as work in the working condition. Paid Vacation: If you have worked as a teacher and thereby accumulated the right to paid vacation, this may be counted as time worked when the work condition is tested.

Parental leave and Military service: If you have not worked enough to meet the work requirement, the time of parental benefit and Military service is included in the working condition. A maximum total of two calendar months with these allowances count towards the work requirement. Alternatively, each full day of parental benefit and Military service count as eight hours of work.

Working for a close relative: If you have worked for a family member or other close relative, and if it is questionable whether there has been gainful employment, the employer certificate is to be supplemented by an investigation. The investigation will show whether the applicant had no income from work, and if the employer paid taxes and social contributions

Other employment support: If you have had a job where the employer financed special employment assistance, this may not be included in the working condition.

Start-up grants: If you have started your own company and received support to start the business (start-up grants), this period of work may not be counted in the working condition.

Amount of compensation: The allowance is a maximum of 80 per cent of the average income you had during the Qualification time with a daily limit of 680 crowns. Here you can read more about how we make our calculations.

 

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