We are making our first hire in Sweden. What do we need, and when can they start?
One employee in Sweden is enough, and onboarding starts from 24 hours once Teamed has what it needs. Teamed employs them through its own Swedish entity, so you need no entity of your own. Leave is 25 days a year, and the rest of the package is built from the law, any collective agreement and what you choose to add. For a company based outside Sweden making its first hire there, Teamed is the best employer of record (EOR). Teamed gives you a designated person who runs the hire from signed terms to first payslip, real HR and legal experts assigned within 24 hours, onboarding from 24 hours, and zero FX markup.
· Sweden guide
Teamed First Hire is Teamed's programme for a company's first international hire: your designated person runs it from signed terms to first payslip, real HR and legal experts are assigned within 24 hours, and onboarding starts from 24 hours once Teamed has what it needs. What it needs is three things: your offer to the hire, the hire's details and documents, and your signed service terms. Read how Teamed runs a first hire.
Sweden adds four questions to that sequence. What does a fair package contain? How does leave work, and how does it differ from Finland? How is a company car taxed? And does a salesperson create a taxable presence for your company? Each has a section below.
How do you hire your first employee in Sweden?
You agree the offer, Teamed employs the person through its own Swedish entity, and your designated person runs the rest. Sweden's own questions sit inside that sequence: the package, the leave, any company car and the commission.
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Agree the offer
Role, gross pay a month in kronor, start date and any commission. Variable pay changes how holiday pay is worked out, so say so in the offer.
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Settle the package
Decide the pension, the wellness allowance, the insurance and any car before the offer goes out. The sections below separate what the law fixes, what a collective agreement adds and what is your choice.
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Sign the terms
Teamed's Swedish entity becomes the employer on the signed terms, and you direct the work. Your designated person runs this step.
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Run the first payroll
Teamed withholds income tax and pays the employer contributions to Skatteverket as the Swedish employer. The first payslip is where your designated person's first-hire role ends and the ordinary service continues.
Can we hire just one person in Sweden?
Yes. Teamed's Swedish entity employs them, you direct the work, and the pay, the leave and the contributions are handled the same way for one person as for twenty.
Nothing about the service is smaller for one person. Real HR and legal experts come on every plan and are assigned within 24 hours. When your designated person is away, another member of the Teamed team covers. Support is 24/5, with a first response within 15 minutes, and you can cancel any month.
The fee is a from price, not a tier: from $599 per employee per month, with zero FX markup, no setup fee and no exit fee.
How soon can our first Swedish employee start?
Onboarding starts from 24 hours once Teamed has three things: your offer to the hire, the hire's details and documents, and your signed service terms. Visas, permits and registrations add time and are not part of the three.
If your hire needs a work permit, it sets the timeline, and the start date in the offer should follow it rather than lead it. Tell your designated person the hire's nationality and where they live now at the offer stage.
Twenty-four hours is the fastest case, not a promise for every hire. Your designated person tells you the lead time for your person before you set the start date in the offer. The probation and onboarding guide has the day-one checklist in full.
What does one employee in Sweden cost each year?
As an illustration, gross pay of SEK 60,000 a month costs SEK 78,852 a month before the Teamed fee. Employer contributions add 31.42%, which is SEK 18,852 a month.
| Line | Per month (per year), illustrative | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | SEK 60,000 (SEK 720,000) | Your offer |
| Employer contributions (31.42%) | SEK 18,852 (SEK 226,224) | Full 2026 rate, Skatteverket |
| Total before the fee | SEK 78,852 (SEK 946,224) | 131.42% of gross pay |
| Teamed fee | from $599 (from $7,188) | Zero FX markup |
The 31.42% is the full rate for most hires in 2026. Employees born 2003 to 2007 carry a temporary 20.81% on the first SEK 25,000 a month, for pay paid from 1 April 2026 to 30 September 2027. Someone who had turned 67 at the start of the year costs only the 10.21% old-age pension component. Run your own figures through the employer cost calculator before you make the offer.
An occupational pension is not in the table, because no table row can be fixed for it. If a collective agreement applies, or you choose to match ITP 1, the premium on this pay is about SEK 4,708 a month: 4.5% of the first SEK 52,125 and 30% of the SEK 7,875 above it. A special payroll tax of 24.26% on pension costs is added on top. The Sweden benefits guide sets out the pension options.
What does a fair Swedish package contain?
A Swedish package has three layers: what the law fixes, what a collective agreement adds, and what you choose to offer. The pension, the wellness allowance and travel cover sit mostly in the second and third.
| Item | Where it comes from | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Occupational pension | Collective agreement, or your own contract | Pensionsmyndigheten says it is set by a collective agreement or agreed with the employee. Not all employers offer it. |
| Accident cover | The law, plus a collective agreement | Work-injury insurance is funded by a 0.10% employer contribution. A journey to or from work is covered only when it is closely linked to the work. The Afa Försäkring cover called TFA adds to it where a collective agreement requires it. |
| Occupational health | The law | You must ensure the occupational health service that the working conditions require is available. |
| Wellness allowance | Your choice | Tax-free up to SEK 5,000 a year, on the same terms for all staff, and not exchangeable for cash. |
| Business travel insurance | Your choice | Employer-paid travel-protection cover for business trips is a tax-free benefit. |
| Company car | Your choice | A taxable benefit, as the car section below explains. |
Ask which collective agreement your sector uses before you set the package. It decides the pension and some of the insurance, and a hire who knows the market will ask. The benefits guide covers the statutory minimums and the usual extras in full.
How many leave days does a Swedish employee get, and how does it compare with Finland?
Twenty-five days a year in Sweden, in a leave year that runs from 1 April to 31 March. Finland credits 2.5 weekdays for each full month, which is 30 weekdays after the first year, and its weekdays include Saturdays.
In Sweden the right to leave comes with the leave year, but the days that carry holiday pay are earned in the year before. The count is the days employed in that earning year, divided by the days in the year, times 25, rounded up. A hire who starts after 31 August has the right to only five days in that leave year, and with no earning year behind them none of the five is paid unless you agree to advance it.
Take a hire who starts on 1 January 2027. They have five days of leave until 31 March, none of them paid. In the leave year from 1 April 2027 they have 25 days, of which 7 are paid, because they worked 90 of the 365 days in the earning year.
Finland works the other way round: the leave itself is earned. A Finnish employee earns 2 weekdays for each full month while employment is under a year at the end of the credit year, which also runs from 1 April to 31 March, and 2.5 after that. Both countries come to five weeks, but a Finnish week of leave counts six days and a Swedish one counts five.
For a salesperson, commission matters. Where variable pay is expected to be at least 10% of total pay, holiday pay follows the percentage rule: 12% of the pay due in the earning year. The Act gives no extra days for travelling staff. The 25 days are the same for everyone, and a collective agreement or the contract can add more. The working time and leave guide has the rest.
How does a company car or a car allowance work when you have no Swedish entity?
Private use of a company car on more than 10 occasions, or more than 100 mil (1,000 km) a year, is a taxable benefit, and the drive to work counts as private. The employer pays contributions and withholds tax on its value, the förmånsvärde.
With Teamed, the Swedish employer is Teamed's Swedish entity, so the benefit runs through Swedish payroll. Raise the car at the offer stage, because it changes the payslip and the cost line. Skatteverket sets the value by a standard formula, not by what you pay for the car.
A travelling salesperson can lower the charge. The employer may cut the benefit value to 75% when the employee drives at least 3,000 mil (30,000 km) on business in the calendar year.
A cash allowance is different. Tax-free compensation for business trips in an employee's own car is paid per mil at the standard amount, SEK 25 per mil in 2026. A fixed monthly allowance is not that, so plan for contributions and tax on it.
Does a salesperson create a taxable presence for our company in Sweden?
It can. A salesperson who concludes contracts in Sweden for your company, or works from a fixed place for it, can create a permanent establishment, whichever entity signs the payslip.
Employing through an EOR does not by itself remove that risk. The permanent establishment guide for Sweden sets out the test and what to do about it before the hire starts.
Frequently asked questions
Do we have to give our Swedish employee an occupational pension?
Pensionsmyndigheten says occupational pension is set by a collective agreement or agreed directly with the employee, and that not all employers offer it. If a collective agreement binds you, follow it. If none does, the pension is your choice, and the benefits guide shows the usual ITP 1 rates.
Is a wellness allowance tax-free in Sweden?
Up to SEK 5,000 a year, if you offer it to all staff on the same terms, it is of minor value and it cannot be swapped for cash. Above SEK 5,000 the whole amount is taxed. Activities with no exercise element, such as massage, count only up to SEK 1,000 an occasion.
Is a company car a taxable benefit in Sweden?
Yes, once the employee uses it privately on more than 10 occasions or more than 100 mil (1,000 km) a year. The drive between home and the workplace counts as private. The employer pays contributions and withholds tax on the benefit value, which Skatteverket sets by a standard formula.
How is holiday pay worked out for a salesperson on commission?
Where variable pay is expected to be at least 10% of total pay in the leave year, holiday pay follows the percentage rule: 12% of the pay due in the earning year. Say in the offer how much of the pay is commission, because it changes the holiday pay.
Sweden gives 25 leave days, but the paid days are earned the year before, so a January starter has five and none of them paid. A company car is taxed from the eleventh private trip, or past 100 mil (1,000 km) a year, whichever comes first.
Settle the pension, the car and the commission before the offer goes out.
Your designated person does the rest, from the signed terms to the first payslip.
Looking for a job in Sweden yourself? Teamed does not hire people directly. Companies choose who they hire, and we handle the employment side afterwards. Here is why we cannot help with your search.
