About us

The Swedish Staffing Agencies is an employer and trade federation for staffing, outplacement and recruitment companies of all sizes operating in Sweden. It was founded on October 1, 2003, following a merger between SPUR and ALMEGA Services Employers' Association (for staff agencies), initiated by their membership.

The Swedish Staffing Agencies is part of Almega, a grouping of seven service sector employer/trade federations, as well as member of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise , Svenskt Näringsliv.

Members of the Swedish Staffing Agencies are also members of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise.

Service to Members

The federation’s main objectives are to safeguard and promote the member companies’ common interests as employers and commercial undertakings in the staffing industry. In addition to public affairs related services and industrywide lobbying, this involves advice and assistance in employer matters, including legal representation.

Members Companies

The just over 400 member companies operate in all areas of employment/HR related services, the majority focusing on staffing. In 2008, they employed the equivalent of 60,000 full-time employees every month. The total head count for the same period was 122,000.

The sizes of the companies vary greatly yet there is a predominance of small companies: 86 percent have less than 50 full-time employees; 12 percent have 50 to 250 full-time employees; and only 2 percent have more than 250 full-time employees. Even so, the four largest corporations have over half of the market. For further figures, see Statistics.

Examples of occupational areas:
• Administration
• Accounting & Finance
• Aviation
• Consumer Sales
• Construction
• Engineering & technology
• Health Care
• Hospitality
• IT
• Industry & Manufacturing
• Logistics & Warehousing
• Marketing/Public Relations
• Media
• Pedagogy

For further information on membership issues, please contact Membership Affairs Officer Mamite Andersson, + 46 8 762 6916.

The Board

The Board of the Swedish Staffing Agencies is appointed by the annual meeting. For the period 2010-2011, it has the following composition:

Lars Forseth, Manpower, Chair
Hans-Peter Lindqvist, Adecco, Vice-Chair
Jan Bengtsson, Uniflex
Åsa Edman Källströmmer, Poolia
Patricia Kimondo, Lärarförmedlarna
Lars Kry, Proffice
Louise Molin, e-Quality Personalkraft
Erik Nygårds, Montico
Johan Skarborg, Academic Work
Lars Strömberg, Lernia Bemanning AB.
Dr. Henrik Bäckström, Swedish Staffing Agencies

Collective Agreements

As a member of the Swedish Staffing Agencies, the company is be covered by one or several of the collective agreements listed below. These collective agreements take effect following notification. The date for this is determined by that point in time when such a notification is received by either party (the federation or the union counterpart), more precisely the first day of the month succeeding the receipt of the notification.The Swedish Staffing Agencies has signed collective agreements with the following unions: 

 
If an applicant company has already signed a collective agreement, or an adoption agreement (hängavtal), membership with the Swedish Staffing Agencies will involve its substitution for one of the federation’s collective agreements. Please contact us regarding this procedure.

Collective (Agreement) Insurance Schemes

Large part of the Swedish labour force is covered by collectively agreed insurance policies, also called labour market insurances, which are based on collective agreements concluded by the peak organisations on the labour markets. As a result, employers who are members of an employers’ federation such as the Swedish Staffing Agencies are required, as a rule, to take out the related insurance policies for their employees.

As stipulated by the said collective agreements, a member company is to take out the related policies with FORA (for blue collar employees/wage-earners) and/or Alecta via Collectum (for salaried employees). As charges will be made retroactively in cases of delay, it is important to promptly notify the relevant insurance provider.
For further information regarding insurance schemes based on collective agreements, including the Supplementary Pension for Salaried Employees (ITP), please consult the publication Statutory and collective insurance for the Swedish labour market 2007, available at the website stated below, and/or contact the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise Insurance Information (FINFO):

Telephone +46 8 762 60 00
Website www.svensktnaringsliv.se/forsakring

Authorisation

As a means of setting the standard for staffing related services in Sweden, compulsory authorization has been introduced as condition for membership of the Swedish Staffing Agencies, effective as of February 2009 . Previously, this procedure was voluntary and not as comprehensive.

The assessment for authorisation is made by a bipartite committee headed by an impartial chairperson.

In order to become an authorized staffing agency (Auktoriserat bemanningsföretag), the applicant company has to meet the following conditions:

• Membership with the Swedish Staffing Agencies (the federation)
• A minimum of twelve months of staffing related operations
• Compliance with the federation’s bylaws
• Compliance with the federation’s Code of Conduct
• Adherence to the collective agreements of the sector in which the company is operating(*)
• Application of delivery terms at least on par with the federation’s general provisions (terms of delivery)
• Coverage by the federation’s liability insurance or the equivalent
• Submission of documentation evidencing no owing of back taxes or duties
• Adoption of an equality plan in accordance with the Act (SFS 1991:433) on Equality between Women and Men
• Assurance that all subcontractors are registered for VAT, pay taxes and duties, are covered by subcontractor insurance and are bound by collective agreement(s) in respect of employed staff (*)
• Completion of the federation’s special authorisation programme by at least one person holding a managerial position within the company
• Exposure of the federation’s authorisation logo in all job advertisements and marketing activities
• Submission of the most recent annual report
• Completion of the authorisation board’s annual assessment

*) Exemption can be granted if there are no collective agreements in the sector in which the company is operating.

For start-ups (i.e. companies not yet having operated for twelve months), there is a stay-period during which no authorisation is require but certain basic membership conditions have to be meet. As soon as the first annual report has been filed, however, the company must apply for authorisation or else forfeit its membership with the federation.

Ciett/Eurociett

On an international level, the Swedish Staffing Agencies is a member of Ciett (International Confederation of Private Employment Agencies) and Eurociett (European Confederation of Private Employment Agencies).