What is the salary guarantee?
This government-backed system ensures you receive owed wages, holiday pay, and certain benefits if your employer can't pay due to financial distress. It applies primarily in bankruptcies but can also cover restructuring situations.
Government support: From February 2025, Skatteverket, the Swedish tax agency, handles payments for bankruptcies and restructurings.
Coverage: You can claim unpaid wages, holiday pay, and severance pay.
Trigger: The scheme activates when a company files for bankruptcy or enters restructuring. You will normally receive a salary guarantee for earned salary in your bank account within 5-10 working days from the day Skatteverket receives the decision from the bankruptcy trustee. You will normally receive a salary guarantee for severance pay in your bank account within 5-10 working days from the day you submit your declaration for the period.
Maximum payout: The maximum amount you can receive as a salary guarantee is four price base amounts. For decisions made in 2025, this is 235,200 kronor. You can receive a salary guarantee for a maximum of eight months. How long you receive a salary guarantee therefore depends on how much you earn and how long your notice period is. (The price base amount, or prisbasbelopp, is a figure updated each year by the government, meant to reflect changes in inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index.)
Time limits: Covers wages generally for three months before the decision and one month after.
Employee eligibility: Business owners or high-level executives may not qualify. The scheme is primarily designed to protect employees who are not in positions of high-level managerial authority.
How to claim:
Bankruptcy/restructuring declared: The company officially files.
Administrator appointed: A trustee assesses the financial situation.
Submit claims: File claims for unpaid wages, reviewed by the trustee.
Payment processing: Skatteverket processes and issues payments.
Severance: If you are dismissed and would have been entitled to salary during the notice period, you can receive a salary guarantee for the severance pay.
In order to receive a salary guarantee for your severance pay, you need to submit a declaration to Skatteverket for each period during the entire salary guarantee period. A period begins on the 21st and extends to the 20th of the following month. The earliest you can submit your declaration for the current period is the 20th. Here is the link to Skatteverket.
Practical steps:
To receive severance pay and holiday pay for your notice period, you must submit a "declaration under the wage guarantee act" form, and a certificate from Arbetsförmedlingen, the Swedish public employment service. This can be done digitally or by post.
You do not need to submit a form to receive payments of salary or holiday pay earned before the decision.
Keep detailed records of your employment and unpaid wages.
Consult with your union or a legal advisor.
Important note: If you stop working because the employer hasn't paid your salary, then the state is unlikely to pay the salary guarantee as it is a requirement that you continue to work.