Private or public sector employment: What is the difference?
Purpose and focus in the workplace
Private sector employee:
In the private sector, the focus is on the bottom line. Therefore, being employed in the private sector requires business understanding.
Public sector employee:
In the public sector, the focus is on society. Therefore, being employed in the public sector requires political awareness.
Employment contract
Private sector employee:
You are employed on an individual contract, i.e. you must negotiate your salary and terms of employment yourself.
Read more here: Checklist: What your employment contract should contain
Public sector employee:
It is mandatory to have an employment contract – even when you are employed in the public sector.
Read here what is mandatory to include in the contract.
Salary
Private sector employee:
You negotiate your own salary, and it must be stated in the contract.
Read more about salary in the contract
Read about salary negotiations and get access to IDA's salary tools
Public sector employee:
Your basic salary is set out in the collective agreement under which you are employed. In addition, you can negotiate supplements and employee benefits.
Read more about salary and salary negotiations when you are a public sector employee
Working hours
Privately employed:
Your agreed working hours are specified in your employment contract and are regulated to a limited extent by legislation on, among other things, rest periods and days off, etc.
As a general rule, you are required to register your working hours.
Read more about time registration
Public sector employee:
As a public sector employee with a university degree, you are employed under the collective agreement to work an average of 37 hours per week, including lunch breaks. However, you may be required to work longer hours to a certain extent.
As a general rule, you are required to register your working hours.
Read more about time registration
Legislation
Private sector employee:
Your employment is regulated by legislation that guarantees you certain minimum rights. This applies to areas such as holiday entitlement, parental leave, equal treatment and the right to an employment contract.
Public sector employee:
Your employment is regulated by legislation that guarantees you certain minimum rights. This applies to, among other things, holiday, parental leave, equal treatment and the right to have an employment contract.
As a public sector employee, you are also covered by the Public Administration Act, which guarantees you a hearing before a decision can be made about your employment.
Terms of employment
Private sector employee:
As a rule, you must negotiate your own terms of employment, such as pension, paid leave to care for a sick child, paid parental leave, care days and extra holiday, etc.
However, many private companies have a staff handbook that supplements the contract with rights relating to your employment.
Public sector employee:
Your terms of employment are set out in your collective agreement and associated central agreements and are therefore not something you need to negotiate.
Public sector collective agreements often have favourable terms, such as the right to a sixth week of holiday, paid leave to care for a sick child, care days, pay during parental leave, paid lunch breaks and high pension contributions.
Freedom of expression
Private sector employee:
As a private sector employee, you cannot express yourself freely about your workplace. Here, you are limited by your duty of loyalty, duty of confidentiality and the law on trade secrets.
Read more about freedom of expression as a private employee
Public employee:
As a public employee, you have extensive freedom of expression because it is in the interest of society that you and other public employees can participate in public debate with your knowledge.
However, your freedom of expression is only protected when you express yourself as a private individual. You cannot speak on behalf of your employer without approval.