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Unemployment

Income insurance

As a member of SULF, our income insurance is included in your membership at no extra cost.

To receive compensation, you must be entitled to income-related unemployment benefit from an unemployment insurance fund. This means that you need to be a member of both SULF and Akademikernas a-kassa, (or another Swedish unemployment insurance fund), in order to claim from the insurance. We strongly recommend membership of the Akademikernas a-kassa unemployment insurance fund, and if you switch your membership to that fund, you can credit any time as a member of another unemployment insurance fund.

On 1 October 2025, new rules for unemployment insurance came into force. These new rules apply if you are granted unemployment benefit on or after 1 October 2025, regardless of whether your benefit period begins before or after 1 October. However, if you already have an ongoing benefit period that began before 1 October, you will continue to be covered by the rules that applied before 1 October for as long as that benefit period lasts. You can read more about the new unemployment insurance rules on the Akademikernas a-kassa website, New law on 1 October 2025 – Akademikernas a-kassa.

With the new unemployment insurance rules, it is even more important than before to join the unemployment insurance fund as soon as possible, as you will only be able to claim benefits for the period during which you have been a member.

In connection with the new unemployment insurance coming into force, we are making some improvements to the SULF income insurance.

If you are covered by the new rules for unemployment insurance, you will be able to receive compensation from the SULF income insurance for up to 175 days, an increase of 25 days. You can receive compensation from the SULF income insurance if you do not receive equivalent compensation from the Job Security Foundation Trygghetsstiftelsen or another employment transition organisation.

SULF's income insurance will continue to cover only people who have been members of both SULF and the unemployment insurance fund for at least 12 months. We therefore recommend that, in addition to your membership of SULF, you join the Akademikernas a-kassa unemployment insurance fund as soon as possible. Unemployment insurance – your most important protection – Akademikernas a-kassa.

Our new income insurance will cover you if you have worked for at least 11 months during the reference period, (you can read more about this on the Akademikernas a-kassa website) and if, during the 12-month reference period, you have had an income above the ceiling for unemployment insurance (SEK 34,000 per month before tax).

To receive compensation from our income insurance, you must also not have been unemployed and receiving unemployment benefits during the past year before the compensation period begins.

SULF's income insurance is one of the best on the market

The SULF income insurance is uniquely adapted to the challenges that SULF’s members face in their academic careers. In other income insurance policies, scholarship periods or time spent on full-time research studies without employment can cause problems, but we regard such periods as time that can be excluded from the calculation period, giving you greater scope to receive compensation.

Extended number of compensation days

For members covered by the new unemployment insurance system, the number of compensation days in the income insurance will be extended to 175 days, which corresponds to approximately 8 months of full-time unemployment, (22 compensation days per month). If you are also entitled to 44 days of corresponding compensation from the Job Security Foundation, Trygghetsstiftelsen, the income insurance will be payable from day 45 of the unemployment insurance fund period and will then be payable for up to an additional 131 days. Remember also that you can choose to take out individual supplementary insurance that covers additional days up to a maximum of 300 or extends your protection if you earn more than SEK 80 000/month. Please see below for more information about our supplementary income insurance.

You are also covered by the SULF income insurance if you receive activity compensation instead of unemployment benefit.

If your compensation period was approved before 1 October 2025, you can read more about what rules apply to you below.

The State Sector Job Transition Agreement

As an employee of the state, you can receive support from the Job Security Foundation, Trygghetsstiftelsen, if you qualify under the terms of the collectively agreed State Sector Job Transition Agreement. If you are entitled to supplementary unemployment benefit from the Job Security Foundation, this benefit is to be paid out first. When this support ends, you are eligible for compensation from the SULF income insurance. You can read more about the transition agreement here. This also applies to members who are granted compensation on 1 October 2025 or later.

How is the compensation calculated?

Compensation from the SULF income insurance is based on calculations made by the Akademikernas a-kassa unemployment insurance fund and on your entitlement to income-related unemployment benefit. You can read more about this on the Akademikernas a-kassa website.

You can receive a maximum of 80 per cent of SEK 34,000 per month before tax from Akademikernas a-kassa. This applies to the first 100 days of compensation. After that, the maximum compensation level decreases. How the compensation is reduced over time varies depending on whether you are covered by the regulations that apply before 1 October 2025 or not. You can read more about this on the Akademikernas a-kassa website.

Compensation from the SULF income insurance is reduced in stages, in the same way as compensation from the unemployment insurance fund. This means that you can initially receive approximately 80 per cent of your actual income for the past year, (up to a ceiling level of SEK 80,000). After 100 days, the compensation level is reduced to 70 per cent of your salary if you are covered by the unemployment insurance regulations that came into force on 1 October 2025. The income insurance that is included automatically in your SULF membership provides compensation for a total of up to 175 days.

If you are covered by the unemployment insurance rules that applied until 30 September 2025, the reduction to 70 per cent will occur after 200 days, which means that the total compensation from the SULF income insurance and the unemployment insurance fund will remain unchanged for the entire period during which you are eligible for compensation from the income insurance included in your membership, (150 days).

Calculate your income insurance compensation level

SULF's income insurance requires membership of both SULF and the Akademikernas a-kassa unemployment insurance fund.

Under the heading Räkna på din inkomstförsäkring (in Swedish) you can get a general overview of how much compensation you are entitled to from the income insurance through your membership of SULF. You can also see what the difference is compared with only having standard unemployment insurance for the first 175 days, (before 1 October 2025, 150 days), of unemployment, as well as additional compensation if you take out our supplementary insurance that provides cover for up to 300 days or extends your protection if you earn more than SEK 80 000/month. Please note that supplementary insurance must be taken out at least 12 months before the first day of unemployment in order for the relevant compensation to be payable. You can take out supplementary insurance at the Folksam website.

The SULF income insurance – a brief overview:

  • Included automatically in your SULF membership. No registration or extra fee required.
  • Supplements your unemployment benefit so that you receive up to 80 per cent of your monthly salary up to a maximum of SEK 80,000. Calculate here (in Swedish).
  • Compensation is paid for a maximum of 175 days (150 days if you are granted unemployment insurance compensation before 1 October 2025).
  • Payable after a qualifying period of two days of unemployment.
  • Qualification period requirement of 12 months of membership of both SULF and the unemployment insurance fund.
  • To be eligible for compensation, you must be entitled to the highest possible compensation from the unemployment insurance fund. To receive this, you must have been a member of the unemployment insurance fund for at least 12 months. From 1 October 2025, you must also have worked for at least 11 months within the 12-month period. You can read more about this on the Akademikernas a-kassa website. If you are not a member of an unemployment insurance fund, we recommend that you join immediately. Apply for membership here.
    • The qualification period of one year's membership must have been fulfilled at the start of the period of unemployment, (first compensation day). This means that you cannot receive compensation from the SULF income insurance if you do not fulfil the one-year membership requirement until a later date, even if you are still unemployed at that time.
    • You cannot be granted income insurance if you resign from your job and are subject to a suspension period from the unemployment insurance fund. You can read more about this on the Akademikernas a-kassa website.
  • If you are entitled to financial support from the Job Security Foundation, Trygghetsstiftelsen, or an equivalent organisation, this must be used before you can receive compensation from the SULF income insurance.
  • If you are covered by more than one income insurance, you can choose which income insurance scheme to receive compensation from.
  • You can only receive compensation from one income insurance at a time. This means that you will either receive a supplement to your unemployment benefit from the Job Security Foundation, Trygghetsstiftelsen, or the SULF income insurance or any other income insurance to which you are entitled.
  • You can take out supplementary income insurance through Folksam. This covers additional compensation days from the unemployment insurance fund for up to 300 days or extends your protection if you earn more than SEK 80 000/month. This insurance must be taken out no later than 12 months before you become unemployed,
  • The latest applicable full insurance terms and conditions for income insurance can always be found on SULF's pages at the Folksam website.

Unemployment compensation granted before 1 October 2025

If you received your decision on compensation from the unemployment insurance fund before 1 October, you will continue to be covered by the terms and conditions of the SULF income insurance that applied before that date. This means that you can receive up to 150 days of compensation in the insurance. You can also use the support from the Job Security Foundation, Trygghetsstiftelsen, to extend the total compensation period by postponing the compensation from the SULF income insurance. For example, if you are entitled to 44 days of compensation from the Job Security Foundation, you can then supplement this with all 150 days of compensation from the SULF income insurance.