WorkMonitor.
Log inStart free
Consultation requiredEmployee representatives must be consulted or negotiated with before deployment. They may not have a veto, but skipping the step is itself the offence.

Employee monitoring law · Sweden

Co-determination negotiation before any significant change, including this one.

Negotiate under MBL before the change is decided, not after the tool has been chosen.

What you must do yourself See the controls
Region
Europe
Instruments
3 governing
Employer duties
3 listed
Last reviewed
August 22, 2026
All 32 jurisdictions

Sweden · what the law requires

Consultation required

The Swedish model puts the union first. Under the Co-determination Act, an employer bound by a collective agreement must initiate negotiation before deciding on important changes to operations or working conditions, and introducing employee monitoring is treated as one. IMY applies the GDPR on top, with a consistent line that consent is not a workable basis in employment and that camera and activity surveillance need a strong, documented justification.

Audit log
Hash-chained, including who read what
Chain verified to entry 48,210 — no gaps, no rewritesChain intactChecked 2 min ago
EVENTSOURCETIMEHASH
  • AKAria K. viewed screenshotsLena M. · 3 capturesScreen capturemacOS · London09:42a91f…4c023d7b…91ee
  • JMJon M. exported time reportDesign team · CSVmacOS · Berlin09:313d7b…91ee77c5…0ba4
  • SDSara D. opened capture reviewRavi P. · one flagged frameWindows · Manchester09:1877c5…0ba4e208…5f13
  • wm_live_7f2… read /v1/deliverablesScoped key · read onlyPublic API · allowlisted IP08:57e208…5f13b64a…2d90
  • LMLena M. viewed her own recordWhat We SeemacOS · London08:44b64a…2d901cf9…8e77
  • AKAria K. changed capture policyBlur set to alwaysmacOS · London08:261cf9…8e7705d2…ae31
Each entry carries the hash of the one before it, so an edit anywhere breaks everything after it.48,210 entries

The instruments, and which control answers each duty

  • GDPR: Regulation (EU) 2016/679. Sets the floor everywhere in the EEA: a lawful basis, purpose limitation, data minimisation, transparency and a DPIA where monitoring is high risk. National law below adds to this, never subtracts.
  • Employment (Co-determination in the Workplace) Act: MBL 1976:580, §§ 11–14. Primary negotiation duty before deciding on important changes, introducing monitoring qualifies.
  • IMY guidance: Integritetsskyddsmyndigheten. Supervisory guidance on workplace monitoring and on why consent rarely works as a basis in employment.

No product does this part

What you must still do yourself

Compliance is a property of your deployment. These are the steps in Sweden that no vendor can complete on your behalf, and skipping them is what turns a rollout into a finding.

  1. 1Initiate MBL negotiation before taking the decision, and minute it.
  2. 2Document the legitimate interests assessment.
  3. 3Agree retention with the union rather than setting it unilaterally.
  4. If you get it wrongIMY fines under the GDPR, plus damages for breach of the negotiation duty under MBL.

Verify the claim

Every control above, on the page that describes it

Sources and review date

Last reviewed August 22, 2026

This is a summary of how employee-monitoring rules generally work in this jurisdiction, written to help you scope a rollout and brief your own advisers. It is not legal advice, it is not a substitute for it, and law changes. Verify against the primary sources listed and take local counsel before you deploy.

Nearby jurisdictions

Monitoring law elsewhere in Europe

Point it at one team for a week.

Create the account, put the agent on a handful of desks, and leave it alone. On Friday you read the week instead of reconstructing it: hours against their projects, focus and idle per person, and the timesheets already filled in.

Create your free accountSee what it costs

Free for two seats. No card, and no sales call to sit through.