Employees in Denmark need to know Labour law

As an employer in Denmark you are subject to statutory Labour laws applicable to all categories of personnel. Thus, laws will regulate a lot of areas of working life, such as holiday entitlement, maternity leave, parental leave, processing of personal data, employment contract, large-scale redundancies, equal pay, anti-discrimination acts, accidents at work, working time and working environment. Other areas, such as dismissals, notice periods, salary levels, etc., will depend on the category of employees involved. Salaried employees are subject to the Danish Salaried Employees Act and often also a collective agreement, whereas blue-collar workers are usually covered by collective bargaining agreements that are in most cases negotiated with the relevant trade unions. Employees posted in Denmark by an international company are guaranteed the same statutory working conditions as Danish employees. The need to know labour laws for a company with employees in Denmark are listed below: The Danish Act on Employment Contracts This Act concerns the employers obligation to inform the employee about all the essential terms of the employment and applies to all employment relations in Denmark. The employer must, no later than one month after the commencement of the employment relationship, inform the employee of all the essential terms of the employment. Further, any changes to the conditions must be rectified within one month. If the employer does not fulfil the requirements in the law, the employee may be entitled to a compensation, which may amount to up to a maximum of 13 weeks remuneration dependent on the substance and on whether the employers non-compliance has resulted in a dispute between the parties. The Danish Holiday Act All employees are entitled to 5 weeks holiday in every holiday year, which runs from 1 May to 30 April. The right to paid holiday is earned during the calendar year preceding the holiday year. Thus, the entitlement to paid holiday from 1 May 2010 to 30 April 2011 is accrued through employment in the calendar year from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2009. However, the tendency is for the employee to be granted additional holidays totalling up to 6 weeks - either in individual or collective agreements. Employees - that are entitled to full salary during sickness and public holidays and that moreover are entitled to at least 1 months notice period - are entitled to receive full salary also during holiday. Further, the employer must pay to the employee a holiday supplement of 1% of the salary earned in the accrual year preceding the holiday year. Employees that are not subject to the above are not entitled to receive salary during holiday. Instead they receive a holiday allowance of 12.5 % of the salary earned in the accrual year. This holiday allowance is paid by the employer into the Danish Labour Market Holiday Fund and disbursed pro rata to the employee when the holiday is spent. Collective agreements may contain alternative or supplementary holiday regulations.

Accidents at work The employer is liable to pay compensation/damages to an employee for any personal injury or occupational disease caused by the nature of the work performed in the service of the employer. Consequently, the employer is required to take out insurance cover to ensure that any liability to pay expenses can be met. Employer registration Danish as well as foreign firms employing people in Denmark are obliged to register as an employer with the Danish authorities.

DELACOURDANIA can assist with all HR legal issues. Please contact Attorney at Law Tina Svanberg, tsv@delacourdania.dk or phone +45 3345 8537