COVID-19: Information and support for employers

Update August 27

Negotiations on new collective agreement moved to this fall

Due to the current economic situation caused by Covid-19, collective agreements were extended (prolonged) by seven months from their respective expiry dates. This means, for example, that an agreement with a regular expiry date of 31 March 2020 was extended until 31 October 2020 and that agreements with an expiry date of 30 April were extended until 30 November. In some cases, agreements have been extended until 31 December 2020 regardless of the expiry date. This means that there is no fixed salary increase for 2020 yet. Negotiations will resume in the autumn on possible salary increases or other changes to the agreements. Since it is not possible at present to say anything about the outcome of these negotiations, we recommend that you wait with salary revision until a new agreement is reached and the conditions are known.

We will get back to you with information as soon as a new agreement is finalized.

The expiry date of your company's collective agreement is shown in the Employer's Guide, click on the agreement to see the validity period (login required)

Login to the Employer Guide

When logging in to the Employers' Guide, it works best with the Chrome browser. If you do not have a login, create it yourself, click on the link below the login boxes. You need your organization number and membership number (found on the invoice from the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise). If you cannot find the membership number, you can email the organization number to medlemsnummer@almega.se and we will help you.

Update June 11, 2020

Almega's employer hotline currently receives many questions related to work shortages, vacation planning and the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth's amended rules on support for short-term layoffs during the holidays. Read more about it here and here.

As a member, you can also find detailed information in the Employers' Guide and the Employers' Helpline is open throughout the summer for members on weekdays between 8:30-16:00.

Update 25 May 2020

We have continued to receive a very high volume of questions from our member companies. The most pressing issues among our member companies are currently short-time work and shortage of work. We are doing our best to continue to maintain the high level of service for which we have received great appreciation and maintain a good dialog with our companies.

On issues related to short-time work
Intensive work is currently underway to investigate the continued conditions for short-time work. One complication that has arisen is the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth's reversal on the issue of whether layoff support can be received during the holidays. The previous message from the Agency was that layoff support could also be given for the days when a worker had paid leave, which now no longer applies.

Many companies have already been granting holidays based on the previous premises and may be hit hard now that it is clear that support will not be given for the holiday period. For this reason, we have a lot of advice on what you can and cannot do when it comes to revoking holidays, agreeing on a different schedule and so on. We are therefore working hard to find out what we can do to manage and facilitate the situation.

On issues related to short-time work
We are currently working hard to provide advice and guidance on short-time work issues. The manufacturing and automotive industries are particularly affected by the spread of COVID-19, which has repercussions on the IT and telecom sectors on the consulting side. In particular, our consulting companies in western Sweden are affected due to the large cluster of, for example, the automotive industry located there. As the current situation makes it difficult to find alternative assignments, it leads to a shortage of work.

The ongoing negotiations, as well as the large number of potential negotiations, related to short-time work are an unusually difficult situation. Even during the financial crisis, there was no such need to lay off staff due to shortages. It is a sad situation for us, for our companies and their employees. We continue to work actively to support in the difficult issues that arise in this particular situation.

Other issues
We are often approached on other issues related to cost reductions. One example is questions about investigating the possibility of changing variable wage increase systems. Many bonus systems are very generous in good times and there are many companies that therefore have thoughts about how to better adapt the systems for economically tougher times. These questions stem from the fact that many companies are now reviewing all their costs, and reviewing the type of reward system they have in place is part of such a review.

Briefly on the bargaining round
Most of our companies are currently busy rescuing their businesses and we are not getting many contractual issues. Once we are back to some kind of normality, we will start looking at how we can find different solutions in collective agreements to keep them attractive. For now, we have agreed to pick up the negotiations where they left off, which means that we will restart the bargaining process after the summer.

Update April 16, 2020

For you as an Employer Member (incl. Service Agreement)

Our telephone and email hotline remains busy and we continue to increase staffing. For example, we have more than tripled the staffing of our hotline and added many more employees than normal to monitor and respond to all the emails that come in from you members.

Despite this, it can sometimes be difficult to get through, but we ask for your patience and forbearance regarding any waiting times.

About the rules on short-time work
Naturally, we continue to receive a lot of questions about short-time work.
On April 14, the government has proposed to extend the state support for three months, for the period 1 May-31 July 2020. According to the proposal, employers will be able to short-term layoff staff with an 80% reduction in working hours. In this case, workers' pay will be reduced by 12%. Government support for short-time work will increase. The employer's costs for wages and statutory employer contributions will be reduced to 28% compared to the situation before the short-time work. However, the wage ceiling of SEK 44,000 will not change.

We are currently investigating whether we need to conclude new central collective agreements in order for local agreements on 80% layoffs to be reached, and we intend to come back with further information on this.

One difficulty is that the rules on the application of short-time work are constantly being clarified or changed. We try to follow this closely and update our information as soon and as quickly as we can. Since we often update and change in the light of the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth's information, we ask you to regularly consult the information posted under "Short-time work - Questions and answers" on our website, where the most common questions and answers about short-time work are presented. If you have employer membership (including service agreements), you can find information via the Employer Guide. If you do not have a login to the Employers' Guide, you can easily create one here.

For an overview of various government measures due to the Corona pandemic, see the website verksamt.se, with information for companies from the Swedish Public Employment Service, the Swedish Companies Registration Office, the Swedish Tax Agency and the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, as well as further links to other relevant authorities.

Wage increases
We continue to receive many questions about whether or not salaries will be increased from April 1.
As we have previously informed you, we have agreed with all counterparts to extend the current agreement. This means that the collective agreements will continue for seven months and that the current conditions and wages in the central agreements will continue to apply.

This means that there are no salary increases specified as of April 1, 2020 and salary negotiations will resume this fall for the agreements that will apply from November 1, 2020.

The above agreement does not mean that we have agreed whether or not salaries will be increased retroactively from April 1. The further discussion on the size of the salary increases and possible retroactivity will be held in the fall, in connection with the expiry of the currently extended agreements.

As this means that we currently do not know the conditions for the salary review (with what percentage and from what date salary increases should take place), we advise you not to carry out collective salary reviews, until we have landed in the negotiations with our union counterparts later this fall.

Update March 30, 2020

Deferred invoicing of membership fees

We know that many of our members are going through a difficult time. That's why we are postponing the invoicing of membership fees for the first half of the year -from April 1, 2020 to June 1, 2020.

We are in the midst of an extraordinary crisis that is affecting our society, our industry and ourselves in different ways. Some of you are working at full speed to meet the increased demand at a time when the digital transformation is happening faster than ever. Others of you are clearly feeling the impact of the shutdown of essential parts of your society and the drastic reduction in demand for your services. Whatever your situation, we are here to do our utmost to help you. We are working flat out to provide your members with the best possible support in this time of turbulence. Our employment lawyers and industry experts want to support you and influence policy in a direction that helps you. Get in touch - and take advantage of the help and support available!

We at IT&Telecom companies are also continuously reviewing what we can do further to support your member companies in the best way. It is a given that we are reprioritizing and directing large parts of our resources to deal with the corona crisis and its effects on the industry.

Read more about deferred invoicing atalmega.se.

Guidance on business-related contractual issues in the context of the
of the corona crisis

Almega and our unions receive many questions from members who are concerned about how their existing business agreements are affected by the crisis that has arisen as a result of corona/covid-19. In light of this, Almega has, with the support of business law expertise, developed a comprehensive guide and tips to support its members in these situations. Click on the link to read the guidance almegas-guidance-on-business-related-contractual-issues-resulting-from-the-corona-crisis

Update March 27, 2020

From the IT&Telecom companies' newsletter:

The avalanche of advice needs that has understandably washed over us in recent weeks is unique.

We do our utmost in employer services, although there are some difficulties in getting information about regulations from the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth (which is also to some extent groping in the dark itself).

We work continuously to assist the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth and our counterparts in trying to improve administrative management, so that we do not get any obstacles in our way. It is easier said than done, but we contribute to a lot of improvements in the conditions for companies to receive support.

We continually receive feedback from companies without collective agreements that the regulations on support regarding the fact that an agreement must be reached with at least 70% of the employees in the operating unit (that all agreements must be at the same level) makes it extremely difficult in practice to apply short-time work and we continuously try to signal this to the government representatives. The result, after all, is that many employees will have to be laid off if nothing is done.

We have this week signed all the necessary central agreements on short-time work required for use in companies with collective agreements.

Our general impression (it varies from case to case, of course) is that the IT sector is not yet as badly affected as many other sectors, but could face problems if the process is prolonged. The telecoms sector is less affected at present, with the exception of the retail activities of some companies.

Yesterday, we also extended our agreements with all counterparties by seven months until 31 October 2020 (both the IT and telecom agreements). As with the industrial parties, the extension means that we have not taken a position on whether or not it should involve retroactive wage increases. That will have to be done later based on the situation at the time.

Update March 24, 2020

For you as an Employer Member (incl. Service Agreement)

For understandable reasons, many members are contacting us with Corona/Covid-19-related questions about what applies, how the measures taken by the government should be interpreted and implemented and what employers should consider. Our telephone and email hotline is busy and we have introduced increased staffing. For example, we have more than tripled the staffing of our hotline and added many more employees than normal to monitor and respond to all the emails that come in from you members.

Despite this, it can sometimes be difficult to get through, but we ask for your patience and forbearance regarding any waiting times.

Under A-Z in the Employer's Guide, Corona: Questions and Answers, we regularly collect the answers to the most frequently asked questions.

In addition to our telephone and e-mail hotline, you will also find regular, updated information on almega.se. If you have an employer membership (incl. service agreement), you can find information via Arbetsgivarguiden (behind login). Almega also sends out regular newsletters, Arbetsgivarnytt, with information about what applies to you as an employer.

If you as a member company want to add names for subscription to Employer News, please contact Barbro Lilja with name, company information and e-mail address. If you want to create a login (or additional logins) on the Employer Guide, you can easily do it yourself by using your membership number and organization number.

Short-time work
We have signed central agreements on short-time work with all our counterparts. All central agreements are equal between all parties. Read more behind the login in the Employer Guide

The Employer Guide also includes a step-by-step guide for short-term work and a calculator to calculate potential financial support.

For obvious reasons, not all the answers are always available in such a fast-paced legislative process, but we do our utmost to clear up as many questions as possible, as quickly as possible. However, we have gathered the most frequently asked questions and answers about short-time work, behind the login in the Employer's Guide.

For you as an industry member

For those who are not employer members, information is also available without logging in at almega.se and here on our collection page at techsverige.se, with useful links to, for example, the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, the Swedish Agency for Government Employers and the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, etc.
Almega also sends out regular newsletters, AlmegaNytt, with summarized information to members of all of Almega's unions (recipients are CEOs and HR managers). The same applies to the IT&Telecom Companies' Newsletter, which goes out to all members of IT&T. Here you can sign up as a subscriber for our newsletter.

The collective bargaining process

On Friday, March 20, a decision was taken to extend the current agreements in industry. The decision means that the collective agreements will continue for seven months and that the current conditions and wages in central agreements will continue to apply. As the extended industrial agreement does not provide for any wage increases in 2020, wages are "frozen" until October 31. As a consequence, IT&Telecom companies will now contact their counterparts to sign the corresponding seven-month extension agreement as soon as possible.

The agreement also means that the pension negotiations conducted between the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and the Confederation of Swedish Trade Unions will be postponed until October to be handled then.

On October 1, the industrial partners resume negotiations and enter directly into the so-called Opo month, i.e. the final negotiations led by the so-called impartial chairpersons. The normative mark is set by October 31. The economic situation in the fall will guide these negotiations.

Read more at almega.se and take part in questions and answers about what a postponed collective bargaining round means for you as an employer.

Update March 18, 2020

We were early to offer advice to our members, but also with specifically targeted employer information in our various communication channels. We have received good feedback from our members on the advice we have given. Of course, we have received a lot of questions, both directly to contact persons in the union and to our hotline, but so far we have been able to meet the needs that have arisen well.

The questions we have received have mainly concerned how to deal with employees who have been on business or private trips to China, Italy or other risk areas.

In the second phase, some questions regarding work shortages and economic repercussions of the unrest caused by the corona virus have begun to be asked. In the main, these questions have not yet come from members of IT&Telekomföretagen, but from companies in other Almega industries, but we can expect that this type of question may also increase from our companies in the industry - not least for those member companies that have a business with many consultants and which are mainly located in the first and so far, worst affected industries such as the hospitality industry and the transport sector.

We expect that in the coming week, we will also encounter more advice on how to deal with any national or local decisions to close schools and kindergartens. We are trying to stay one step ahead and continuously analyze the situation and the messages coming from the relevant authorities and government.

In addition, we are trying to clarify the conditions that will apply when the state takes over responsibility for sick pay, including the waiting period, and to analyze the proposal on short-time work, which will enter into force on April 7, but will already be applied from March 16.

As we cancel a lot of training and major activities to prevent the spread of infection, we seek to find other channels to implement these to the extent that we assess that we cannot postpone the activities. For example, we conduct well-attended webinars on the Corona virus and its impact.

At almega.se, we continuously gather information that is important for you as an employer to know. The information can also be accessed via techsverige.se

Corona and the collective bargaining process

We have also received some questions related to the collective bargaining process and how the spread of the coronavirus is affecting the negotiations and discussions we are having with our trade union counterparts.

Negotiations are ongoing, but of course the situation we now find ourselves in will have an impact on the type of agreement we believe we can sign. At the moment, however, the situation is uncertain and we have not yet had time to get to the bottom of a dialog with our counterparts about what this means for us as contracting parties.

More reading:

Almega 2020-03-17: The government's measures on March 16, 2020 due to the coronavirus