Far away from your home country?
This applies to you who want to work outside of Sweden
It can be a difficult situation to find yourself in a foreign country during a pandemic like the one we are experiencing now, without easy access to your close ones. Many employees from KTH want to work remotely from their home countries, but unfortunately KTH as an employer cannot approve it.
Due to the ongoing social crisis and the extraordinary situation, it’s understandable that you want to be inyour own country, within easy reach of your family and close ones. Before the corona, the world was small and it was easy to travel between countries.
”Many people contact us and want to 'work at home' from their home countries, which is understandable,” says Anna Blendow, Human Resources Manager at ITM.
But despite the fact that KTH's employees are urged to work from home, this, for various reasons, doesn’t includes home countries others than Sweden.
”Temporary work from home, has to take place within commuting distance from KTH, which means in Sweden,” says Anna Blendow.
Central collective agreements regulate employees' work outside Sweden. For employees who are now in their home countries and work, KTH is not allowed to function as an employer.
And if an employee insists on returning to his / her family and friends in the home country, the only option is to apply for leave without pay or vacation, and have it granted by the manager.
Some employees are already outside Sweden's borders. Some already have been approved by their managers to work from abroad. However, no new grants will be made from KTH.
“Managers should therefore have a dialogue with the employees who now work outside Sweden. These employees need to be informed about what applies and what they should think about. They are not covered by the employer's insurance and may not be covered by the social security system at home nor abroad. In other words, it is up to the employee to have their own insurance coverage. They also need to keep in mind that they may have problems with tax legislation because of the salary being paid and taxed in Sweden.”