Prisoner demands vacation time

YSTAD, Sweden, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- A 31-year-old woman serving a life sentence in a Swedish prison is demanding vacation time away from the job she has inside the facility.

Natalia Pshenkina, who was convicted of her ex-boyfriend's murder in 2005, said she took a job inside the Ystad prison in 2010 and she believes she is due compensation for the paid vacation time required by Swedish labor laws, The Local reported Wednesday.

"I've asked the head of production about which times during the year the prison allows vacation time for inmates. The answer was that the prison doesn't have any vacation time at all," Pshenkina wrote in her complaint to the Swedish Chancellor of Justice.

However, Anders Annerfalk, spokesman for the Swedish Prison and Probation Service, said prisoners working inside the facilities are not protected under the same laws as other workers.

"They aren't employed by us and therefore laws about vacation time don't apply," he said.