Parental leave, parental allowance and caring for sick child

Content on this page:

• Parental leave
• Transfer of days
• Parental leave for doctoral students
• When you go on parental leave
• Parental benefit supplement
• Pregnancy benefit
• Caring for a sick child (VAB)

Parental leave

You are entitled to full parental leave until your child is eighteen months old. You are also entitled to reduce your working hours by up to a quarter of standard working hours until your child is 8 years old or until he or she has completed the first year of school. As a government employee, you can be granted a reduction of your working hours until the child has completed the school year in which he or she turns 12 years of age. In addition to this, as a parent you are entitled to leave during the time you receive parental benefit or temporary parental benefit from Försäkringskassan. 

There is no requirement to have been employed for a certain period to be entitled to parental leave. Those employed under a doctoral studentship are also entitled to parental leave. 

While you are on parental leave, your salary will be reduced in proportion to the extent of your leave.

Parental allowance and temporary parental allowance are paid by Försäkringskassan.

Transfer of days 

As of 1 July 2024, parents can also transfer up to 45 of their parental benefit days to a person who is not their partner or the child's guardian. For a single parent, 90 days per child can be transferred. If you want to apply for this leave, you do so in Primula via the leave reason ‘Parental leave (for other than the parent)’.

The absence will qualify for annual leave salary but will not give entitlement to parental allowance supplement, according to the university's central collective agreement.

More information about parental leave is available on the The Swedish Social Insurance Agency website (Försäkringskassan):

Parents - Försäkringskassan (forsakringskassan.se

Parental leave for doctoral students

Doctoral students who are employed on a doctoral studentship are entitled to parental leave on the same terms as other employees.

When you go on parental leave

The request for parental leave must be submitted to your manager at least two months before the start of the leave or, if this is not possible, as soon as possible. 

If parental leave is requested in connection with annual leave in the summer, the application must be made in connection with the application for annual leave. If parental leave is requested in connection with annual leave in the summer, the earliest it can be applied for is 1 March. All parental leave must be registered in Primula.

Applications for the ten days of leave to which the other parent is entitled in conjunction with the birth of the child should also be done in Primula. The compensation for these days is referred to as ‘temporary parental benefit’. 

Apply for parental leave in Primula.

Payment slips from Försäkringskassan (Swedish Social Insurance Agency)

When you are on parental leave (except for days transferred to you), you must regularly send in payment slips from Försäkringskassan (Swedish Social Insurance Agency) so that the absence in question can be registered as accruing holiday pay and so that the relevant parental benefit supplement can be paid. You can find out how to do this under the heading A special form in Primula in the next section “Parental benefit supplement”. 

Parental benefit supplement

In some cases, parental benefit from Försäkringskassan is supplemented by your employer (Lund University). 

The parental benefit supplement is paid for the days of your parental leave for which you receive parental benefit from Försäkringskassan corresponding to the qualifying level and above, i.e. the qualifying level and compensation according to the sickness benefit qualifying level. The parental benefit supplement is not paid for compensation at the lowest level. 

When you take full, 3/4, 1/2 or 1/4 days of parental benefit, the parental benefit supplement is paid at the corresponding proportion. If you take 1/8 of parental benefit, no parental benefit supplement is paid.

The supplement is paid for a maximum period of 360 days for each child. You must apply for the parental benefit supplement within two years of the month to which the parental leave applies.

The parental benefit supplement from the employer, together with the parental benefit, compensates for around 90 per cent of the salary shortfall. Conditions for compensation are regulated in the collective agreement for government employees and are based on Försäkringskassan’s decision in each individual case. 

A special form in Primula

There is a special form in Primula that you fill in to receive the parental benefit supplement. Here you also attach your specification of paid parental benefit from Försäkringskassan. 

Applying for parental benefit supplement and submitting these slips regularly is also important to ensure your leave is registered as accruing holiday pay and so that you receive the correct number of holiday days. 

You can find the form in Primula under My page → Compensation/fees → Additional parental benefit.

Once Statens Servicecenter (National Government Service Centre) has registered the days for which you are receiving the parental benefit supplement, these days will accrue holiday days.

Pregnancy benefit

Pregnancy benefit can be paid out by Försäkringskassan before the birth of the child if the mother has a physically demanding job or a job that implies a risk of damage to the foetus.

A condition for the pregnancy allowance to be paid is that your work duties cannot be adapted or that you cannot be reassigned to a more suitable job.

Your manager shall, as soon as the manager becomes aware of the pregnancy, initiate a risk assessment together with you.

More information about pregnancy benefit on the Swedish Social Insurance Agency's website (Försäkringskassan)

Register your absence in Primula.

Caring for a sick child (VAB)

You are entitled to leave from work for the care of a sick child (VAB) and for that period you receive temporary parental benefit from Försäkringskassan. Försäkringskassan can grant compensation for VAB from when the child is 8 months old until the day before the child turns 12. 

There are circumstances in which you are entitled to compensation despite the child being older or younger, for example if the child is covered by Swedish legislation on support for people with special needs (LSS).

Reporting care of a sick child (VAB)

If you need to take leave to care for a sick child (VAB), please notify the appointed contact person at your workplace. Register your VAB leave in Primula from the first day of absence and supplement the information when necessary. 

Level of compensation

Temporary parental benefit is paid by Försäkringskassan. 

Read more about the level of compensation on the Försäkringskassan website

If your income is above Försäkringskassan’s ceiling, the University will pay a supplement for the income above the ceiling for ten days a year. 

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