Forms of employment

An employee must always receive a written employment contract with information about the terms and conditions of employment. 

There may be times where you need to hire someone for a limited time. Here you as a manager can read more about the grounds on which an employment can be limited in time.

Content on the page:

• Special fixed-term employment 5 § 1 p LAS
• Substitute 5 § 2 p LAS
• Temporary need for hourly paid staff - intermittent employment
• Contractors' fees
• Hiring a legal entity

The main rule that an employment is valid until further notice is regulated in Section 4(1) of the Employment Protection Act (LAS), also called permanent employment. However, an employment can be limited in time if there is support in law, regulation or collective agreement. Section 5 of the LAS allows for the following fixed-term employment:

1. general fixed-term employment (ALVA) ends 2022-09-30
2. special fixed-term employment (SÄVA) applies from 2022-10-01. 
3. temporary position

Many positions at universities and colleges are educational and meritorious positions that are by nature limited in time, such as employment as a doctoral student, postdoctoral researcher, assistant professor, visiting professor, adjunct professor and adjunct teacher. At universities and colleges, there are therefore additional opportunities to limit the duration of employment. See these agreements under "Related links" below.

Special fixed-term employment 5 § 1 p LAS (new time limitation basis from 221001)

In the case of special fixed-term employment (SÄVA), the employer does not need to state any specific reason for the time limit. Employers have a special obligation to provide information regarding SÄVA. The employee must be informed in writing that he or she has been employed in a SÄVA in connection with the conclusion of the employment contract. The basis for limiting time appears on the employment contract or on the agreement on intermittent employment.

When an employee has had SÄVA for more than twelve months during a five-year period, the employment is transferred to a permanent employment, a so-called conversion. Keep in mind that a fixed-term monthly employment at SÄVA and the time for intermittent employment are counted together. When calculating the length of employment for SÄVA, a special "calculation rule" applies. If an employee has had at least three employment opportunities according to SÄVA at Linnaeus University during a calendar month, intermediate time shall also be counted as seniority. This means that the period of employment should be counted from the first to the last employment in the calendar month.

The transitional rules between ALVA and SÄVA regulate that a person who is employed in a SÄVA after 1 October 2022 may count the period of employment in ALVA retroactively between 1 March 2022 and 30 September 2022 when calculating when the employment will be transferred to a permanent position. The retroactive time in ALVA is calculated according to the regulations for an ALVA.

Feel free to contact your HR partner for advice and support.

Substitute 5 § 2 p LAS

This time limitation basis is used to replace one or more persons who are temporarily absent from their employment. It can also be used during the preparation of a position. If an employee has had one or more temporary positions at Linnaeus University for a total of more than two years during the past five years, the employment is transferred to a permanent position.  

Feel free to contact your HR partner for advice and support.

Temporary need for hourly paid staff – intermittent employment

The business sometimes needs to offer very short and temporary employment that is only a few hours or days and then a so-called intermittent employment can be used. Intermittent employment is not a special form of employment but a way of describing a very short-term employment on one or more occasions where the employee has the right to accept or decline each employment offer.

In order to regulate the employment relationship between employees and employers, an agreement on intermittent employment must be concluded in which tasks and conditions have been agreed in advance. The concept of intermittent employment makes it clear that the fixed-term employment does not extend over a continuous period, but is limited to each individual occasion that the employee has agreed to work, at the invitation of the employer. Every working day is to be considered a new employment.

The time limitation basis used for intermittent employment at Linnaeus University is from 221001 special fixed-term employment, SÄVA.

If there is a need for work on a larger scale or longer continuous employment periods, alternatives to intermittent employment may be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Contact your HR partner for further discussion.

For employees at Lnu who temporarily take on assignments such as exam host or university entrance exam host, no agreement is written.

Forms

To clarify that it is not a continuous employment, an agreement on terms and conditions for short-term and temporary employment must be made by you as a manager, it is done on the form agreement on intermittent employment. The agreement is signed for a period that is normally a maximum of one year. The responsible manager is responsible for ensuring that agreements are written and sent to the primary administrator at each unit who then sends the original to the registry.

If the employee works on more than unit, several agreements may need to be written. When working in several units, but within the same department, the tasks at the different units can be described on one and the same form, all relevant section managers sign. When working in different departments, different agreements are written for each department. In these cases, it is extra important to pay attention to the total working hours of the individual. Remember to indicate the hourly wage on the form! There are local collective agreements for hourly wages.

The form Intermittent employee remuneration is filled in by the employee to register hours worked during the month. It is very important that the intermittent employee submits the documentation after each month worked in order for LAS time to be updated continuously. No later than the 5th month after the work has been done, the form is submitted to the current prima administrator who registers the hours in Primula. The form is then sent to the payroll section as salary material for archiving.

Intermittent hiring conversion

An intermittent employment is converted, i.e. transferred to a permanent employment, in accordance with the conditions regulated in the Employment Protection Act, LAS. When converting to permanent employment, the employment rate and organizational placement prevailing at the date of conversion apply.

Contractors' fees

If you as a manager need to hire contractors such as experts, opponents or student representatives in various bodies, the form Remuneration form for assignees should be used. The form is submitted to the prima administrator at each unit. The assignment is replaced by a fee.

For several assignments, fixed fees have been decided.

Hiring a legal entity

Hiring a legal entity, such as a consultant, can be an alternative to employment. When hiring a legal entity, the procurement regulations shall apply. Note that all costs of the same kind for the use of legal entities must be taken into account when assessing the amount limits. 

Consult with procurers in the finance department if you need support in procurement issues.

As a general rule, however, education and research at Linnaeus University must be conducted by employed staff and the exercise of authority may not be transferred to outsiders.