🇸🇪 Europe ·OECD member ·EU member

Sweden

An ILO EPLex composite of 0.484 places Sweden among moderate-protection jurisdictions on the 0-1 scale.

ILO EPLex B-READY 2025 OECD EPL
0.484 ILO EPLex composite (0–1) Moderate protection
OECD EPL →

Sweden's statutory protection against unfair dismissal is moderate - an ILO EPLex composite of 0.484 on the 0–1 scale, stronger than 75% of the 95 rated countries.

EPLex 0.484 · #25/95 · OECD 2.54/6 · B-READY 66.6. ILO EPLex · World Bank B-READY 2025 · OECD EPL.

Employment Protection Composite

C+ 63/100

One composite verdict from 3 of 3 independent sources, each percentile-benchmarked against every rated country. A missing source never lowers the score -- its weight redistributes to the sources this country actually has.

ILO EPLex B
0.48
Statutory dismissal-protection composite (0-1 scale)
World Bank B-READY C-
66.6
Labor-market regulatory quality (0-100 scale)
OECD EPL B-
2.54
Employment protection legislation strictness (0-6 scale)

Benchmarked against p10-p90 of every country rated by that source. See our methodology for the exact benchmark table and weights.

Where Sweden sits on ILO EPLex protection

Every rated country's dismissal-protection composite, 95 countries

0.48 Top 25% higher than 75% of 95 rated countries

0.00–0.10: 0 rated countries (0%). Below this entry. 0.10–0.20: 1 rated countries (1%). Below this entry. 0.20–0.30: 8 rated countries (8%). Below this entry. 0.30–0.40: 26 rated countries (27%). Below this entry. 0.40–0.50: 39 rated countries (41%). This entry sits in this band. 0.50–0.60: 15 rated countries (16%). Above this entry. 0.60–0.70: 6 rated countries (6%). Above this entry. 0.70–0.80: 0 rated countries (0%). Above this entry. 0.80–0.90: 0 rated countries (0%). Above this entry. 0.90–1.00: 0 rated countries (0%). Above this entry. Sweden 0.00 1.00 every rated country, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more rated countries. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source ILO EPLex · 2017

Legal strictness doesn't predict dismissal speed

Across the 58 countries with both an ILO EPLex composite and a World Bank B-READY weeks-to-dismiss figure, the two barely move together (Pearson r ≈ -0.24). Some of the strictest-on-paper countries -- Czech Republic and Slovenia among them -- report close to 0 weeks to dismiss in practice, while more flexible-on-paper countries like the United States and Canada report among the longest practical timelines. Sweden sits at 0.484 EPLex (75th percentile) and 0.0 weeks to dismiss in practice.

EPLex composite vs. weeks to dismiss in practice

EPLex composite vs. weeks to dismiss in practice 2×2 strategic matrix plotting 30 entities by Weeks to dismiss in practice (B-READY) (X) and ILO EPLex composite (0-1, higher = stricter law) (Y), with a crosshair dividing the plot into four quadrants. Strict & slowStrict on paper, fast in practiceFlexible on paper, slow in practiceFlexible & fast 0246810 0.20.30.40.50.60.7 Weeks to dismiss in practice (B-READY) ILO EPLex composite (0-1, higher = stricter law) EPLex composite vs. weeks to dismiss in practice

Each point is one of the 58 countries with both scores (30 shown, an even cross-section by weeks-to-dismiss). Sweden is the highlighted point.

What the Data Shows for Sweden

Europe. Covered by 3/3 tracked datasets. As an OECD member, it is included in the OECD's long-running historical EPL series. EU membership means its labor rules are also shaped by directives on collective redundancies, transfers of undertakings, and fixed-term work. The most recent ILO EPLex composite score is 0.484 out of 1.0 (2017), summarizing statutory termination rules into a single index. B-READY 2025 labor score: 66.6/100, moderate. The OECD EPL overall strictness index is 2.54/6.0, where higher values indicate stricter rules on individual and collective dismissal.

Statutory notice periods in Sweden scale with tenure across 7 tiers, reaching 6 months at 20 years of service. Severance pay can reach 0 months of salary at 20 years, while redundancy-specific pay is 0 months. The maximum probation period allowed by law is 6 months, defining how long employers can assess workers under reduced protection. Dismissal process: fast, ~0.0 weeks. No 3rd-party approval required for individual dismissal.

Formal labor dispute resolution is notably slow, averaging 7.3 months from filing to outcome. A moderate share of firms, 3.3% in the World Bank's survey, report experiencing a labor dispute. Employer social contributions add a comparatively light cost layer, 0.5% of salary. The EPLex redress/reinstatement sub-indicator is 0.563/1.0, reflecting how strong remedies are when a dismissal is ruled unlawful. Historically, Sweden's OECD EPL score moved from 2.64 in 1990 to 2.54 in 2019, showing the direction of reform over time. 6 peer comparisons below.

ILO EPLex (2017)
0.484
out of 1.0 · Rank #25
B-READY 2025
66.6
out of 100 · Rank #49
OECD EPL
2.54
out of 6.0 · Rank #21
ILO EPLex

Termination Protection Breakdown (2017)

Prohibited Grounds for Dismissal
1.000
Probation Period
0.760
Procedural Requirements
0.500
Notice Periods
0.469
Severance Pay
0.000
Redundancy Pay
0.000
Redress / Reinstatement
0.563

Scale: 0 = no protection · 1 = maximum protection. Source: ILO EPLex 2017.

Max probation period: 6 months

Notice Periods by Tenure

Tenure Notice Period
6 months 1 month
9 months 1 month
2 years 2 months
4 years 3 months
5 years 3 months
10 years 6 months
20 years 6 months

Source: ILO EPLex Notice period is the legally mandated advance notice before termination

Severance and Redundancy Pay by Tenure

Tenure Severance Redundancy
6 months 0 mo 0 mo
9 months 0 mo 0 mo
2 years 0 mo 0 mo
4 years 0 mo 0 mo
5 years 0 mo 0 mo
10 years 0 mo 0 mo
20 years 0 mo 0 mo

Values in salary-months. Source: ILO EPLex. Severance = individual dismissal. Redundancy = collective/economic dismissal.

B-READY 2025

Labor Regulation Quality

Regulation Quality
70.3
out of 100
Public Services
77.8
out of 100
Efficiency
51.8
out of 100
Notice Required
Yes
Severance Required
No
Weeks to Dismiss
0.0
Weeks Severance
3.8
Firms in Disputes
3.3%
Months to Resolve
7.3
Social Contributions
0.5%
3rd Party for Dismissal
Not required

Source: World Bank Business Ready 2025 Pillar scores are 0-100 (higher = better regulation quality)

OECD EPL

Historical Protection Score

Year Overall Score Visual
1990 2.64
1991 2.64
1992 2.64
1993 2.64
1994 2.64
1995 2.64
1996 2.64
1997 2.54
1998 2.54
1999 2.49
2000 2.49
2001 2.49
2002 2.45
2003 2.45
2004 2.45
2005 2.45
2006 2.45
2007 2.45
2008 2.45
2009 2.45
2010 2.45
2011 2.45
2012 2.45
2013 2.54
2014 2.54
2015 2.54
2016 2.54
2017 2.54
2018 2.54
2019 2.54

Scale: 0-6 (higher = more protective). Source: OECD Employment Protection Legislation database.

Compare Sweden With...

🇨🇷 Costa Rica 🇺🇸 United States 🇧🇷 Brazil 🇸🇬 Singapore 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates 🇹🇳 Tunisia

Countries with similar labor-regulation profiles

Two peer sets for Sweden on metrics that vary across the full country corpus, not regional containment. The nearest EPLex block below stays on the ILO composite; these neighborhoods use B-READY, OECD, or statutory-duration axes.

Nearest EPLex peers

Closest ILO EPLex composite scores to Sweden (0.484), not the global top of the list.

🇪🇹 Ethiopia 0.489 · Δ 0.005 🇬🇷 Greece 0.476 · Δ 0.007 🇦🇹 Austria 0.494 · Δ 0.010 🇰🇲 Comoros 0.473 · Δ 0.010

Read with this Sweden page

Understanding EPL Scores How Sweden's 3/3 source mix maps onto EPLex, OECD, and B-READY. Termination Laws by Country Notice, severance, and dismissal rules that feed Sweden's EPLex composite. Hiring Internationally Cross-border hiring context next to Sweden's B-READY labor score. Reading Employment Statistics How to read OECD EPL strictness next to Sweden's historical series.

Read with this Sweden roster

Ethiopia →Greece →Austria (Europe) →EPLex composite ranking →Europe region →
Data sourced from official OECD, ILO, and World Bank employment-protection datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainEmploy

Disclaimer: This information is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Data is sourced from OECD, ILO, and World Bank labor market databases. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Primary sources: ILO EPLex, World Bank B-READY, OECD EPL.

PlainEmploy is rendered directly from the OECD Employment Protection Legislation indicators, the ILO EPLex database, and the World Bank B-READY labor pillar, no number is typed in by an editor. This country's composite scores and comparisons are computed directly from the underlying OECD/EPLex/B-READY tables, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-30.