In Sweden, Employees Can Take Leave to Start Their Own Business

Did you know that employees in Sweden have a very unique perk? They have a statutory right to take six months off and start their own business.

Thanks to Right to Leave to Conduct a Business Operation Act, Swedish employees are allowed to take time off to study or care for a family member. This is also why Stockholm has become Europe’s start-up capital, with successful companies such as Spotify, Skype and Mojang.

Anyone who’s been in full time employment for at least six months is entitled to apply for the unpaid leave. Employers can only say no if the employee is important to the business’s operations. According to the law, your new idea cannot compete with your existing employer, nor cause them any significant inconvenience.

Branching out

There’s a growing trend in many countries for people to start a business venture outside of regular working hours and devote their free time to grow it.

This is also similar with the gig economy where people monetise their spare time, capacity and resources. For example, food delivery rider/driver, ridesharing driver, courier, or crafting items to be sold through the web.

The key to innovation

Sweden has a population of only 10 million. But what makes it easier for employees to take a leave and start their own business?

According to Claire Ingram Bogusz, a post-doctoral researcher at Stockholm School of Economics, the trend for taking leave to start a business needs to be viewed in the context of Sweden’s strict employment laws.

The laws made it harder for employers to fire staff, and it might have encouraged some employees to stay put once they have the security of a substantive role.

Samuel Engblom of Swedish Confederation for Professional Employees, explains that the government, unions and employers in Sweden have supported the right to take time off as a way to promote mobility in the labour market.

Downsides?

Some say it might be harder for employers outside Sweden to allow employees to return to their old job after taking time off to run a business. The employees could face discrimination when it comes to future career prospects. However this kind of prejudice is against the law in Sweden.

Jessica Peterson is among those who decided to return to their permanent job after taking a leave to pursue entrepreneurship.  She spent her unpaid leave to launch a virtual assistant product for charities.

“I don’t make enough from my company to support myself, and I want to buy an apartment quite soon. So that’s why I need to go back to my old job to get a steady salary every month,” she explains.

“They [my managers] are really happy with me going back. They’ve given me some other projects to work on so that I won’t feel as ‘stuck’ as I was before.”

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Source: BBC

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