Sweden: a new collective agreement and a new type of temporary employment contract for the retail sector

On 08 June, after challenging negotiations, an agreement on services, organization and retail business, affecting 80,000 employees, was struck between the trade unions Akademiker (third level educated employees) and Unionen (private sector employees) and the employers' body Svenskhandel (retail sector employers' body). The agreement runs from 01 May 2017 to 30 April 2020. The agreement intends for a pay rise in line with industry guidelines and it also introduces greater flexibility in temporary employment contracts.
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Salaries will rise by 6.5% over three years, including 0.5% that is to be earmarked for part-time pensions (comprising 0.2% on 01 May 2017 and 0.3% on 01 May 2019).

Modernization agreement. It was imperative to reform the collective agreement the main thrusts of which dated back to the 1930s, as well as adding the flexibility needed by the sector. As a result a new form of fixed term employment contract was introduced called the ‘avtalad visstid’ (mutually agreed contract). “This new agreemen

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