In Sweden, public holidays (Swedish: helgdagar) are established by acts of Parliament (the Riksdag).
The Christian holidays are jul (Christmas), trettondedag jul (Epiphany), påsk (Easter), Kristi himmelsfärds dag (Ascension Day), pingstdagen (Pentecost), and alla helgons dag (All Saints' Day).
Midsummer is, however, officially also a Christian holiday to celebrate John the Baptist's birthday.
When the standard working week in Sweden was reduced to 40 hours by the Riksdag, all Saturdays became de facto public holidays.
She is the only saint to be celebrated in Lutheran Sweden (as well as those parts of Norway and Finland, where Swedish influence has historically been prominent).
The celebration, which, however, is not a public holiday, always takes place on 13 December and retains many pre-Christian traditions.
It has a long history, originally a calendar of saints, some names have stuck throughout centuries while others have been modernized.
The de facto half holidays are often treated with the afternoon off, but this varies depending on employer.
Many of the employees that have half days off have a slightly longer workweek the rest of the year to compensate for the time off.
In many cases employees take the whole day off, combining the half holiday with some other form of leave.
For most employees there is little practical difference between these eves and the other Saturdays of the year, which means they are de facto holidays.
However, the Thursday and Friday after New Year's Day (2 and 3 January 2025) are not considered klämdagar, since they are two workdays falling next to each other.