Term · Work & salary

Semesterlön (holiday pay)

Figures for tax year 2026Updated September 2026

Definition

Semesterlön is the pay you receive when you take paid holiday. The Holiday Act (semesterlagen) gives you the right to at least 25 holiday days a year, and the pay for them is worked out either with the same-salary rule (sammalöneregeln) or the percentage rule (procentregeln).

25 days by law

The Holiday Act gives every employee at least 25 paid holiday days a year, whatever the form of employment. You earn the days during an earning year (intjänandeår) and usually take them the following year, unless the employer applies a coinciding earning and holiday year. A collective agreement often gives more days and a higher supplement than the statutory minimum.

The same-salary rule and the percentage rule

There are two ways to work it out. The same-salary rule is the most common for monthly-paid staff: you keep your normal monthly salary during the holiday, plus a holiday supplement (semestertillägg) of 0.43% of the monthly salary per paid holiday day. The percentage rule is used for variable pay and hourly staff: the holiday pay is 12% of the pay you earned during the earning year, spread over the holiday days. The percentage rule must be used when pay varies a lot.

Worked example

Monthly salary 30,000 kr under the same-salary rule: the holiday supplement is 0.43% × 30,000 = 129 kr per holiday day. For 25 days that is 3,225 kr extra over a year, on top of keeping full salary during the five holiday weeks. Under the percentage rule instead: if you earned 360,000 kr during the year, the holiday pay is 12% = 43,200 kr, spread over your days.

Holiday compensation when you leave

When a job ends, earned but untaken holiday is paid out as holiday compensation (semesterersättning). It is not the same as the holiday supplement: holiday compensation is the final conversion of your earned days into money, often calculated as 12% of the pay you earned since the last holiday year. It must show clearly on your final payslip, so check that it is there.

First job: unpaid holiday and advances

The trap on a first job: you have the right to the time off straight away, but the paid days are earned in arrears. If you start in the middle of the earning year, your first summer holiday can therefore be partly unpaid. Some employers offer advance holiday (förskottssemester), meaning paid leave up front, which becomes a debt but is written off after five years of employment. Ask what applies before you book an expensive trip that first summer.

Calculate further

Sources: the Holiday Act (semesterlagen 1977:480) and Unionen. A collective agreement can give better terms than the statutory minimum.