Wage guarantees for employees

The wage guarantee means that you can receive compensation for unpaid salary or wages when your employer undergoes bankruptcy or business reorganisation.

The Swedish Tax Agency makes wage guarantee payments when bankruptcy and reorganisation decisions are reached from 1 February 2025. In earlier cases of bankruptcy and business reorganisation proceedings (up to and including 31 January 2025), wage guarantee payments are made by the County Administrative Board.

You will normally receive your wage guarantee payment for earned salary within 5-10 working days from the day we receive the decision from the bankruptcy administrator or business reorganisation officer. For your wage guarantee for notice-period salary you will normally recieve the payment within 5-10 working days from the time you submitted your declaration for the period.

Who reaches wage guarantee decisions?

When your employer has gone bankrupt, the district court appoints a bankruptcy administrator. When your employer undergoes a business reorganisation, the district court appoints a business reorganisation officer.

The bankruptcy administrator or business reorganisation officer decides whether you are entitled to a wage guarantee payment, as well as the amount you receive. In certain cases, the Swedish Enforcement Authority (“Kronofogden”) reaches a decision regarding the wage guarantee.

Contact the bankruptcy administrator or business reorganisation officer if you have any questions

If you have any questions regarding the wage guarantee payment you are due to receive, contact the bankruptcy administrator or business reorganisation officer. When you have received your wage guarantee decision from the bankruptcy administrator or the reorganisation officer, it is important that you read the decision.

If any information is incorrect, such as your bank account number, you should contact the bankruptcy administrator or the reorganisation officer as soon as possible. You can find their contact details on your wage guarantee decision notice. Here, you can also find out what to do if you are not satisfied with the decision.

Your wage guarantee entitlement

The maximum wage guarantee payment corresponds to four times the price base amount. For decisions reached in 2025, this is SEK 235,200. You are entitled to wage guarantee payments for a maximum of eight months. The amount you earn and the length of your notice period therefore determine your wage guarantee entitlement period.

What does a wage guarantee cover?

A wage guarantee can cover the following, for example:

• salary or wages you have earned no earlier than three months before the application for bankruptcy or business reorganisation was submitted to the district court
  
• salary or wages for the first month after the bankruptcy or business reorganisation decision is reached
  
• holiday pay and holiday allowance
  
• notice-period salary
  
• your cost of filing for the employer’s bankruptcy.

Wage guarantee for earned income

When the bankruptcy administrator or business reorganisation officer has submitted a decision notice for earned income to the Swedish Tax Agency, you do not need to submit a declaration.

Wage guarantee for notice-period salary

If you have lost your job and would have been entitled to compensation during your notice period, you are entitled to a wage guarantee for your notice-period salary.

If you get another job, or become sick during your notice period, you must inform the bankruptcy administrator or business reorganisation officer. You will then receive a new estimate of your wage guarantee entitlement. The bankruptcy administrator or business reorganisation officer will submit the new details to the Swedish Tax Agency.

In order for you to be granted a wage guarantee for your notice-period salary, you need to submit a declaration for each period to the Swedish Tax Agency throughout the wage guarantee period. A period begins on the 21st and extends until the 20th of the following month. You can submit your declaration for the current period on the 20th at the earliest.

Submit your declaration in the e-service

You submit your declaration in the e-service Lönegaranti – Lämna försäkran. In the e-service, you can change the language to English. In the e-service, you must provide information if you during the period have:

• Worked in the company
• Got a new job.
• Received any compensation other than salary.

You also send us a registration certificate confirming that you are registered as a job seeker with the Swedish Public Employment Service (“Arbetsförmedlingen”). You can download the certificate by logging in to the Swedish Public Employment Service's website.