If you didn’t know, Sweden is closed for business from today and until mid August. So if you are planning to book a business meeting with one of your Swedish colleagues or prospects cancel your plans and come back in August instead. The only thing that is open now is ice cream bars, hotels and other places for the tourists that are invading Sweden.
So why is Sweden closed? I give you 3 reasons.
- Because we can due to 5 weeks paid annual holiday
Did you know that an employee in Sweden is entitled to annual leave benefits in accordance with the “Annual Leave Act”? The benefits are minimum 5 weeks annual leave, holiday pay and compensation during the annual leave. If you would like to suggest this to your manager, you can read the whole act her: www.government.se/sb/d/5807/a/104986(Has it always been like this? No, it hasn’t. 1938 Swedish workers were entitled to 2 weeks annual leave, which was gradually increased to 5 weeks 1978.)
- Because we want to maximize the hours in the sun after a dark and cold winter
Did you know that there are places in Sweden that doesn’t see the sun shining at all during the winter? Karesuando in North of Sweden has an average of 18 sun hours in November, 0 in December and 5 in January. So when the sun is shining during the summer, people don’t want to sit inside and work, they want to be outside enjoying the sunlight. On the other hand, during the summer some places never sees the darkness and the sun is visible for the full 24 hours. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_sun
- Because we feel like it and it’s a Swedish tradition
Taking a long summer vacation is a deep-rooted tradition in the Swedish society and something that everybody takes for granted. No politicians would ever even dream about removing or changing a right to take a long vacation. The summer is relative short in Sweden and people want to take advantage of if. Both to spend time with their family, renovate the house or summer house, go out fishing or hiking in the mountains.
Summer pictures from Sweden.
