Most employment legislation sets out mandatory rules with regard to employment terms which may not be derogated from to the detriment of the employee. Most of these mandatory rules apply to all employees regardless of, for example, length of service.
The maximum average working hours according to the Working Time Directive Act are 48 hours per week, which are calculated as an average over any period of 4 months. A general working week for a Danish employee is 5 days, working typically an average of 37.5 hours per week exclusive of a daily lunch break.
The Working Environment Act contains provisions stating that working hours are to be organized to allow a period of rest of at least 11 consecutive hours within every 24-hour period. Furthermore, it provides that employees are to have a weekly 24-hour period off, which must be immediately connected to a daily rest period. The weekly 24-hour period off must, if possible, take place on Sunday.
The Working Time Directive has been implemented into Danish law through the Danish Act on Working Time. On November 8, 2023, the Danish Ministry of Employment submitted a bill on amendments to the Danish Act on Working Time. The bill shall implement the legal position set by the Court of Justice of the European Union in accordance with the Court’s case law, in particular C-55/18 of May 14, 2019 on Deutsche Bank concerning registration of working time. From July 1, 2024, employers must introduce an objective, reliable and available working time recording system that makes it possible to measure the daily working hours of each employee provided that the bill is adopted.
Overtime is not regulated by law except as provided by the Working Time Directive. However, overtime and the payment thereof are very often regulated in collective agreements.
In Denmark, there is no statutory regulation on national or sectoral minimum salary or wages. However, collective agreements often contain several provisions regarding salary or wages.
A new Holiday Act came into force on September 1, 2020 with transitional provisions as from 2019.
The new Holiday Act has introduced concurrent holiday, meaning that every employee may take paid holiday as soon as the holiday has been accrued.
The employee accrues 2.08 days of holiday for each month of employment – accordingly, 25 days of paid holiday per year. The holiday year runs from September 1 to August 31 of the following year. The period in which the accrued holiday may be taken is equal to the holiday year plus 4 months (ie, from September 1 to December 31 the following year) – in total, 16 months.
All employees are entitled to absence during sickness. Most collective agreements and the Danish Salaried Employees Act contain provisions ensuring that employees are entitled to full salary during sickness. If an employee is not entitled to receive pay during sickness from the employer, the employer may be obliged to pay compensation equivalent to the authorities' sickness benefits for the first 30 days. After the 30-day period, the authorities continue to pay the sickness benefit.
After a consecutive period of absence of 30 days due to sickness, the employer may be reimbursed for a certain amount of sickness benefits by the authorities if the employer pays salary during an employee's sickness period and the sickness lasts for more than 30 days.
As a part of the implementation of the Directive (EU) 2019/1158 on work-life balance for parents and careers as well as the repealing of Council Directive 2010/18/EU, the Danish Parliament has adopted a bill on the amendments of the Danish Act on Parental Leave. The new Danish Act on Parental Leave is applicable for children born on or after August 2, 2022. The Directive is intended to promote equality between men and women in the labor market by granting fathers earmarked parental leave.
A pregnant employee is entitled to absence from work from the beginning of a 4-week period preceding the expected date of birth. After childbirth, the mother is entitled to 24 weeks of leave. The 24 weeks of leave are divided into 2 types of leave: the 10-week leave and the 14-week leave. The mother can transfer 8 weeks from the 10-week leave and 5 weeks from the 14-week leave to the other parent. The remaining 9 weeks of leave is earmarked to the mother and will lapse if the mother chooses not to use this period of leave before the child is 1 year old.
Female employees covered by the Danish Salaried Employees Act are entitled to 50 percent of their salary (including the value of benefits) from the employer for a period from 4 weeks before the expected date of birth until 14 weeks after the actual date of birth. This is the only legal obligation for the employer to pay salary during maternity leave.
It is common in Denmark under collective agreements, and under some individual agreements, that employees are entitled to full pay from the employer for a certain period during maternity leave.
After the child is born, the father/co-mother is entitled to 24 weeks of leave. The 24 weeks of leave is divided into 2 types of leave: the 2-week leave and the 22-week leave. The father/co-mother is unable to transfer the first 2 weeks of leave, but may transfer a total of 13 weeks of leave to the other parent. The remaining 9 weeks is earmarked to the father/co-mother and will lapse if the mother chooses not to use this period of leave before the child is 1 year old. The employer is not required to pay salary, but it is common for collective agreements, and some individual agreements, to provide for full salary for some or all of the paternity leave. The employee may be entitled to a state benefit.
After the 10th week following childbirth, the parents each have a right to parental leave of 32 weeks, which may be extended by up to 14 weeks. The parents may choose whether to take the parental leave at the same time or consecutively until the child reaches the age of 9. In the absence of an agreement with the employer regarding salary during parental leave, employees are entitled to state benefits for a total of 32 weeks.
The same rights (with certain modifications) apply to adoptive parents and same-sex parents. Note, however, that adoptive parents can only take leave if the state decides that 1 or both parents must stay at home to take care of the child.
The Danish Parliament has introduced a right to care leave of 5 days per year per employee. Further, employees may also be entitled to unpaid leave as a result of a relative’s illness or accident.
Great Prayer Day has been abolished as a public holiday and from January 1, 2024, the 4th Friday after Easter (the former Great Prayer Day) is Great Prayer Day as a public holiday will be entitled to a salary supplement of 0.45 percent of the annual salary. The salary supplement can be paid continuously with the salary or with the salary for May and August. Hourly paid employees who work on the former Great Prayer Day will receive their usual hourly rate for the working hours.
Last modified 14 Jun 2024
© 2024 DLA Piper. DLA Piper is a global law firm operating through various separate and distinct legal entities.
For further information about these entities and DLA Piper's structure, please refer to our Legal Notices. All rights reserved. Attorney Advertising.
