long shot! - pregnant, redundancy or relocation to Sweden, what might i be entitled to?

[Dolphinose]

Just been anounced that the UK site of our swedish office is to shut, within the next few months (it's that vague) and there is the option of redundancy or relocation to sweden.

I'm (just, 6 weeks) pregnant, not informed employers and don't plan to until I figure out my options.

Has anyone ever been in this situation, or have any advice on where i can get specific advice? Even for reloction within other EU countries? My company doesn't have dedicated HR, and anyway I don't want to give them the option to offer a rubbish package so I no choice but to accept redundancy.

My immediate thoughts were of course i can't think about relocating, i have a 14 month old, husband with decent job etc. But the chances of getting another job are hard enough at the moment let alone when pregnant, and the thought of potentially being unemployed for the next couple of years depresses the hell out of me. Not to mention the extreme difficulty of trying to get back into a fairly specialized field.

So the potential of being in continuous employment even when on mat leave appeals, job seekers then maternity allowance does not. My company currently do not offer any maternity benefits - why would they, the government allowance is so generous in sweden
So best case I'm entitled to swedish benefits, next best UK benefits and no gaps on my cv.

Early pregnancy and job worries - perfect insomnia combo eh?!

Didn't want this to go unanswered. Firstly, congratulations on your pregnancy and sorry you have all of this going on in your head on top of everything else. It's good you can take your time in terms of not feeling under huge pressure to tell your employers for a bit. Do take that time.

In terms of your company, surely they must offer some more information on what "relocation" really means. For example, would all jobs of those who go for it remain the same and just transfer to Sweden? They're presumably banking on a notional number of people taking up the offer and others not. But you're perfectly within your rights to ask for some much more concrete info on what work you would be doing and on what terms if you did make the move.

As well as this, though, you need to try to think through the questions that might be even more difficult, such as do you definitely know you want to go back to work f-t/at all after no2? Assuming you'd need 2 incomes in Sweden, what are the chances of your dh getting work over there in his field? Although something like 80% of people in Sweden speak English, language always matters in terms of getting/keeping employment. So be honest with yourselves about how committed/capable you'd both be of learning Swedish.

In other words, there are much long-term considerations than the issue of maternity benefits.

I'm sure there will be Sweden-based English language resources on all this - try google.se and do some intelligent searches. Very best of luck.

Do you mean what might you be entitled to in terms of maternity pay in Sweden? I don't know anything about Swedish employment law I'm afraid. I'm sure if you google that you'll get some stuff come up and my other suggestion would be seeing if there's an expat forum for Brits based in Sweden. I bet there is, and they'd be able to help with lots of info for you as well as possibly point you to info about employment law rights in Sweden.

What do mean your company don't offer any maternity benefits at the moment? That would be illegal. They have to give you your contractual benefits during maternity leave including all your holidays, and SMP.

I worked for a Swedish company for 5 years.

1. You won't need to learn the language, if you are locating to a reasonably-sized head office in Stockholm, Gottenburg (sp?), or Malmo. Even the bus drivers in these cities speak fluent English, and no-one minds switching to English if there is a non-Swede around (I have often been the only non-swede in room of 30 and had everyone happily chat in english).
2. Sweden is lovely. Chilled, cheerful, and the weather is crisp and clear. Stockholm is charming (though hotel rooms are crap standard relative to other capitals), countryside is awesome, especially up in the Arctic circle.
3. IIRC virtually All children go to nurseries once they hit around 12 months. It's the norm, the standard is good and I think they are free
4. Working environment much 'healthier' than UK - Mothers definitely not second class citizens. No-one minds you wandering off at 4 to pick your child up (if you don't have kids you still often wander off at 4 just to 'take the boat out' or whatever). That may have been unique to the company I worked for but I think it is that kind of a place generally. Also lots of senior women in business/politics.
5. Commuting home at weekends is doable, but tiring (have done it myself). flights take around 2.5 hours, lots of availability, cheap if you book in advance. there is a fast rail link form Stockholm to Arlanda airport (around 30 mins I think). Perfectly possible to have DH come out one w/e, you to return to UK net weekend and so on, but of course you'd need to get cost underwritten by company.
6. If you are employed under Swedish contract I think you get 12 months at something like 75% salary. To qualify you will I imagine have to have residency in Sweden (ie be paying Swedish taxes, not English ones). That is not the same as being employed and paid by a Swedish company. But you would need to speak to an expert on international employment (there are people who specialise in this type of expat advice - but you'd have to google them)
7. If company offers relocation package or to put you up in an apartment, check out the details. Many serviced apartments are the size of shoeboxes (I may have just been unlucky, but you don't seem to get much for you rmoney in terms of accommodation)

if it were me I'd probably do the relocation bit, get residency, qualify for maternity pay then return to UK for birth, then use the 12 months matenrity to work out what to do next. Saying that, I've rambled round the world on business for decades so I appreciate that may not be everyone's cup of tea. But there are certainly far worse places to serve out a few months.

Point 6 relates to maternity pay, BTW.

Thank you so much everyone for taking the time to reply.

StillSquiffy your last point is kind of along the lines I'm thinking of, agreed that Sweden would be a wonderful place to bring up kids, and who knows perhaps in time my DH would find a suitable job there. In the meantime it may buy us time too. Will google for expat advice!

Flowery - my company would pay SMP, they just wouldn't consider anything above this as it's not the norm in Sweden. Also thanks for the tip of looking at expat forums, it's just knowing where to start...

We've always been open to the idea of living in another country - just didn't expect to have it foisted on me under these circumstances.

They've still to get back to us all here with any details of either redundancy or relocation so it could all be pie in the sky!