How to fill in staff registers on business premises

The information you must fill in

You must enter the company name and your corporate identity number (“organisationsnummer”) or personal identity number (“personnummer”) in the staff register. On each business day, you must fill in the following:

• The first and last names and personal identity numbers, coordination numbers, or equivalent registration numbers from other countries, of each staff member who is working.
• The times when each person's work shift begins and ends. A work shift is a continuous period without longer interruptions than normal rest and meal breaks. A staff member can therefore work several shifts during the same working day. Write down the working hours in direct connection with the start and end of each staff member’s work shift.

• What is meant by a working staff member? (Information in Swedish) External link.
  
• Working at a location other than the usual premises (Information in Swedish) External link.
  

The staff register must also include staff who are unpaid (for example trainees or relatives) and staff supplied by a staffing agency. However, you should not include, for example, a service technician from another company who is on your premises temporarily to carry out repair or maintenance work.

If you are a sole trader or a partner in a closely held company or limited partnership, then you, your spouse and your children who are under the age of 16 must also be entered in the staff register when working. Note that the rule only applies when there is an obligation to keep a staff register because other staff members work on your premises (see also the exceptions below).

If someone else works in your business, you are obliged to keep a staff register from this staff member’s first working day. This applies even if the person only works in the business for a short period. You, your spouse and your children who are under the age of 16 must continue to be entered in the staff register, when working, for the remainder of the calendar month.

If people work at your premises on a regular basis each month, you are obliged to keep a staff register. You, your spouse and your children who are under the age of 16 must always be entered in the staff register when working – even if you are working alone.

A business owner may simultaneously have operations that require a staff register to be kept, and operations that do not. We refer to this as “mixed operations” (“blandad verksamhet”). If you have mixed operations on the same premises, all staff members who are working must be entered in the staff register if the operation that requires a staff register to be kept accounts for 25 percent or more of the total business (see also the exceptions below).

• Staff registers and mixed operations (in Swedish) External link.
• Questions and answers about mixed operations (in Swedish) External link.

Paper or electronic staff registers

Staff registers can be kept in either paper or electronic format.

A staff register on paper must be in the form of a bound ledger with pre-numbered pages. This means that you cannot use loose paper or, for example, a spiral-bound block. The Swedish Tax Agency has produced a bound staff register that you can order via the link below.

• Order a staff register in paper format (SKV 605, in Swedish) External link.

Electronic staff registers are subject to the same requirements as those on paper with regard to the information that must be recorded. All amendments must also be logged, so that it is clear who has made a change and when. Electronic staff registers must be designed in such a way that the Swedish Tax Agency can view all historical details. This is so that we can check during inspection visits that staff register data has been kept for the required time period.

Regardless of whether the staff register is electronic or on paper, it must be available on the business premises when the Swedish Tax Agency carries out an inspection visit.

If you keep a staff register on paper, your entries must be written in permanent ink, i.e. with a non-erasable pen.

You may allow someone else to fill in the staff register for you, but it is always your responsibility to ensure that this has been done correctly. The staff register must be filled in on a continuous basis.

Exceptions from the requirement to keep a staff register

Only you and your family members work on the premises

You do not have to keep a staff register if you have a sole trader business and only you, your spouse and your children who are under the age of 16 work on the premises. The same applies to closely held companies or limited partnerships where only the partners, their spouses and their children who are under the age of 16 work on the premises.

You have mixed operations

You do not have to keep a staff register if 75 percent or more of your business consists of operations for which a staff register is not required. It is normally possible to determine this based on the percentage of the company’s turnover attributed to the different operations.

These exceptions do not apply to building and construction sites.

Inspection visits by the Swedish Tax Agency

The Swedish Tax Agency may visit your premises to check that the staff working there are entered in the staff register. The staff register must be made available during the visit. If you are not present, someone else must be able to produce the staff register.

During an inspection visit, the Swedish Tax Agency may check the identity of people working on your premises. If a staff register has not been kept, we may charge you a penalty fee. We may also charge a penalty fee if entries have been made incorrectly or the staff register is not available when we visit. The penalty fee is SEK 12,500, plus an additional SEK 2,500 for each staff member who is deemed to be working but is not entered in the staff register.

The Swedish Tax Agency will assess which members of staff are working, but you can request a review or appeal against a penalty fee decision if you believe our assessment is incorrect.

Keep staff registers for at least two years

You must keep staff registers for at least two years following the end of the calendar year during which the company’s tax year ends. The tax year is often the same as the calendar year, but may also consist of a financial year that does not coincide with the calendar year. If you have shortened or extended the financial year, you may be obliged to keep a staff register for more than three years after its completion.