Agreement on Flexpension

The collective bargaining process Collective agreements

All of Almega's unions, including IT&Telecom companies, together with Unionen and the Swedish Association of Graduate Engineers, have reached an agreement that resolves one of the most difficult conflict issues in the Swedish labor market - the issue of provision for Flexpension. We have agreed on a package containing eight different parts where the introduction of Flexpension in service companies is one of the parts. In the package, we have developed and modernized the collective agreements on several important points.

For companies with collective agreements in the IT and telecoms sector, the agreement means that a system of provision for flexible pensions will be introduced from 2017. An important component is that the individual has the opportunity to choose. The agreement will make it easier to hire and be hired, the contingency rules will be modernized and the parties have produced guidance to help ensure that the right skills are retained in the event of downsizing.

A very important part of the agreement is the launch of a joint effort to develop collective agreements. For the collective bargaining model to be attractive to the IT and telecom sector, it must help to strengthen the competitiveness of companies. This means, for example, that there is a need for more company- and employee-oriented wage formation and solutions in collective agreements that enable companies to work more flexibly.

Detailed information on the agreement is available to IT&Telecom companies' members in the employers' section of our Employers' Guide(login required).

  1. We have agreed on a model for Flexpension in Service Companies that suits the needs of service companies and their employees. This model includes the possibility to offer employees an individual choice, which has been and is important to us. We have also found a model where we make it easier for new companies to join the flexpension, by phasing them into the system over a number of years. All in all, we have designed a model for Flexpension that is based on the conditions and needs of the service sector, and which thus differs in several respects from the solutions that exist in other contractual areas.
  2. We have agreed on the possibility to apply for part-time work for retirement purposes for employees who have reached the age of 62. Part-time work can, if the employer grants the request, make it possible to reduce working hours at the end of working life.
  3. We have agreed on forms of employment that make it easier for companies to hire based on their needs, while of course making it easier for individuals to be employed. We will have forms of employment that will be easier for companies to manage, for example by making it easier to hire on a probationary basis, but companies will also have the opportunity to hire on a fixed-term basis for up to three years.
  4. We have agreed on a simple way to deal with coinciding vacation and withdrawal years, if an employee leaves. We are simply making it clearer how to deal with the vacation liabilities that may exist if someone leaves.
  5. We have agreed on a guide that will make it easier for companies to retain the employees they need in times of downsizing, so that the company can continue to develop and create growth. We have jointly developed a guide that will make it easier for both the union representatives and our member companies during times of downsizing.
  6. We have agreed on a modern regulation of emergency response, which means that we have shaped emergency response rules that take into account technological developments, such as the possibility of mobile emergency response using mobile tools.
  7. We have agreed on a negotiation scheme that aims to make the negotiation process more efficient. It will reduce the handling time for some disputes.
  8. We have agreed on long-term development work aimed at understanding the challenges of the future and developing the collective agreements of the future so that they better correspond to what companies and employees of the future will demand. The starting point is to strengthen the collective agreement model.