As an employee, you are entitled to reduced work hours after becoming 62 years old, or when health reasons, social reasons or other welfare reasons justify it. A condition is that the reduction in work hours can be implemented without significant inconveniences for the organisation.
You are obliged to keeping the organisation informed and returning to the regular number of work hours when the reasons for reduced work hours are gone.
Examples of justified welfare reasons:
- Health reasons regarding your sickness. Should be documented with a medical certificate.
- Social reasons regarding circumstances in the family or near surroundings which often involve caretaking and other burdens beyond what is normal.
- Welfare reasons that cover a wider range of reasons than social and health issues. It could be parents with young children (under the age of 10) who they wish to spend more time with, or problems with getting a child minder, or similar reasons.
A significant need must be documented if reduced work hours are to be granted based on welfare reasons.
Employees in manager positions and especially independent positions are also entitled to reduced work hours.
Applying for reduced work hours
If you want to apply for reduced work hours, the same routines as applying for a leave of absence apply. The application should contain the reason(s) for applying, description of new work hours and duration of the reduction.
If you apply for reduced work hours in order to gradually work less or because of family reasons, the personnel manager will decide if this can be granted or not. The reason(s) for applying must meet the requirements for reduced work hours according to the Working Environment Act section 10-2. Clarifying whether it is for a set period or as a permanent arrangement is important. If it is for a set period, a temporary position may be created to make up for the reduced work hours. The employee can then resume the full-time position after an agreed upon period of time has passed.
If you wish to permanently reduce your position, the possibility of this must be evaluated. A new, permanent position may be created to fill the reduced work hours. In such a case, it is not considered a reduction of work hours according the Working Environment Act section 10-2, but rather as a resignation from a part of the position. If an agreement is made to permanently change the employment agreement to a reduced position, the employee is not entitled to resume the full-time position at a later date.