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Staff - Denmark

Updated 07/2012

Legal requirements

Employment conditions

Employment in Denmark is governed by the following legislation:

  • Employment Contracts Act dansk
  • Salaried Employees Act dansk
  • Holidays Act dansk
  • Act on Posting of Employees dansk
  • Freedom of Association Act dansk
  • Equal Pay Act dansk
  • Act on Equal Treatment of Men and Women Concerning Employment dansk
  • Discrimination Act dansk
  • Employees Act dansk
  • Company Transfer Act dansk
  • Non-Solicitation Clause Act dansk
  • Health Act dansk
  • ATP Act dansk
  • Working Environment Act dansk
  • Ministry of Employment - Employment law dansk

There is no legislation on minimum wages and normal working hours in Denmark.  Wages and working conditions are regulated by means of collective agreements.

The Working Time Directive has been implemented in Danish law by the Working Time Act. This contains rules on breaks, maximum working time, weekly days off, night-time working, etc.

  • Working Time Directive dansk

Businesses with more than 35 employees must provide employees, through employee representatives, with comprehensive information on issues that significantly affect employees.

  • Employee (Provision of Information and Consultation) Act dansk

Holiday pay, wages and bonuses must be paid in accordance with the Holidays Act. Employees earn the right to 5 weeks' paid holiday annually.

  • Holidays Act dansk

Women are entitled to four weeks' maternity leave before the birth and 14 weeks after it. Men are entitled to two weeks' leave during the first 14 weeks. Parents then have 32 weeks' leave each, which they are free to divide between themselves.

  • Childbirth Act dansk

Employment contracts

Businesses must inform employees of their employment conditions.

This information can be either a written statement, a written employment contract, a letter of appointment or one or more documents containing the information.

  • Requirements for employment contracts dansk

Types of employment contract 

Permanent employment: An employment contract that does not have a finishing date. It is up to the parties to agree on the employment conditions in greater detail.

Temporary employment: A date is agreed for the employment to be terminated, using objective criteria such as a date, completion of a task or the occurrence of a specific event. It is not permitted to extend/renew temporary employment several times in a row without having objective reasons. Basically, temporary employees may not be placed in a less favourable position than permanent employees.

  • Act on Temporary Employment dansk

Part-time employment: A lower number of weekly working hours is set than for full-time employees. Basically, part-time employees may not be placed in a less favourable position than full-time employees.

  • Part-Time Work Act dansk

Employment under special conditions: Employment under special conditions applies to those who are unable to work under normal working conditions, because they are disabled or at school, for example. This includes flexitime and apprenticeships. It can be done by agreement with official authorities, organisations and the parties.

  • Recruitment under special conditions dansk

Employing foreigners 

It is basically possible to employ foreign workers. Nordic nationals do not require a work permit to live and work in Denmark. Other EU/EEA and Swiss nationals can apply for residence in Denmark under the EU rules on freedom of movement.

  • New to Denmark dansk

Employees who are posted to Denmark must have a legal basis for residence in the country, and the work must be done in accordance with the rules.

  • Posting dansk

There are minimum social rules to follow, especially about non-discrimination, gender equality and health and safety.

Administrative procedures

Starting and ending employment

Businesses hiring staff must register as employers with the Danish Business Authority.

  • The Danish Business Authority dansk

Foreign service providers that temporarily provide services in Denmark must register in the RUT (register of foreign service providers).

  • RUT (register of foreign service providers) dansk

The business is responsible for withholding the employee's income tax, labour market contribution, special pension contribution and labour market supplementary pension. This is paid to SKAT every month.

  • SKAT dansk

LetLøn can submit employees' personal registration numbers to SKAT, send data sheets to SKAT and provide businesses with new and amended tax records for employees.

  • EasyWage (LetLøn) dansk

It is possible for a business to pay income tax and submit data sheets via SKAT's 'Self-service Business'.

  • Self-service Business dansk

LetLøn calculates the employees' income tax, labour market contributions, special pensions, labour market supplementary pensions, holiday pay, etc., and sends the information to SKAT, ATP and FerieKonto.

Social security contributions

Occupational injury and illness 

Employers must insure employees against work-related injuries. Occupational accident insurance must be taken out with an insurance company.

Insurance cover for occupational illness is obtained through contributions to the Labour Market Insurance Scheme for Occupational Illness. The size of the contributions varies between industry groups.

  • Labour Market Insurance Scheme for Occupational Diseases (AES) dansk

Sick pay

There are employer insurance schemes for sick pay, which are administered by the Danish Agency for Governmental Management.

  • Insurance schemes dansk

Childbirth

Women are entitled to four weeks' maternity leave before the birth and 14 weeks after it. Men are entitled to two weeks' leave during the first 14 weeks. Parents then have 32 weeks' leave each, which they are free to divide between themselves.

  • Ministry of Employment website dansk

Childbirth compensation 

Under the Act on Childbirth Compensation (Lov om barseludligning), all employers must be involved in a childbirth compensation scheme, so that they can obtain a partial refund of salaries they pay during maternity and paternity leave. Information on this can be found at:

  • Barsel.dk dansk

Wage contribution returns

All employers are obliged to report income for individual employees, such as PAYE and labour market contributions. The reporting deadlines differ depending on the type of business.

  • E-Income/EasyWage (LetLøn) dansk
  • Virk.dk dansk

Work permits for foreign workers

It is basically possible to employ foreign workers. Nordic nationals do not require a work permit to live and work in Denmark. Other EU/EEA and Swiss nationals can apply for residence in Denmark under the EU rules on freedom of movement.

  • New to Denmark dansk
  • Application forms dansk

Record-keeping

Employers' obligation to provide information 

Employers must provide information for the administration of unemployment insurance. The National Directorate of Labour or the unemployment funds may request information from an employer, including which employees it has employed and for how long, whether any specific members of an unemployment fund have been employed, what salaries have been paid, the reason for a member terminating his/her employment, and unemployment allowance payments for the first and second days of unemployment.

  • Employers' obligation to provide information dansk

Dismissal

Any employee may be dismissed based on the company's or the employee's situation. Such dismissal must be on objective, reasonable grounds.

There are no formal requirements laid down by law, other than for individual employee groups such as salaried employees. In order to have proof, dismissal should be done in writing.

The employee is entitled to reasonable notice, and there are special rules for notice in the case of salaried employees.

If the employee has committed gross misconduct, dismissal without notice may be a possibility.

If the employer and the  employee are members of an employers' organisation or an professional association respectively, they should contact these organisations or associations.

Resources

Information for foreign employers and employees concerning working in Denmark can be found on the Ministry of Employment website:

  • Work by foreigners in Denmark dansk

The National Social Security Agency can be contacted with regard to social security (E 101, E 106).

  • The National Social Security Agency dansk

Information concerning the rules, etc., on sickness absence can be found on the National Labour Market Authority website on sick pay.

  • Sick pay dansk

For information on the mutual recognition of qualifications, contact:

  • CIRIUS dansk

You can also find information about employee opportunities in the event of unemployment at Jobnet.dk.

  • Jobnet.dk dansk

Virk.dk is an inter-agency portal developed in cooperation with business-related public authorities. It is the business community's digital access to the public sector.

  • Virk.dk dansk

Borger.dk is an inter-agency portal, which is aimed at citizens and offers full digital access to the Danish public sector. You can also find information there about public health insurance in Denmark and health insurance for nationals of other EEA Member States.

  • Borger.dk dansk

EURES, the European job portal, offers employers information and support on recruiting across the EU. As well as assisting jobseekers, it helps entrepreneurs find workers from across the EU. In border regions, EURES provides information on cross-border commuting and helps workers and employers with problems that may arise.

Check also the legislation on this topic in:

  • References

    Legal texts

    • Danish Act on an Employers' Duty to Notify Employees of Employment Terms (Employment Contracts Act), Consolidation Act no. 1011 of 15/08/2007, Danish Law Gazette A dansk
    • Act on the legal relationship between employers and salaried employees (Salaried Employees Act). Consolidated Act no. 81 of 03/02/2009. Danish Law Gazette A dansk
    • Holidays Act. Consolidated Act no. 407 of 28/05/2004. Danish Law Gazette A dansk
    • Act on Posting of Employees: Consolidated Act no. 849 of 21/07/2006. Danish Law Gazette A dansk
    • Act on dismissal on grounds of union membership. Consolidated Act no. 424 of 08/05/2006. Danish Law Gazette A dansk
    • Act on Equal Pay for Men and Women (Equal Pay Act). Consolidated Act no. 899 of 05/09/2008. Danish Law Gazette A dansk
    • Act on Equal Treatment of Men and Women Concerning Employment. Consolidated Act no. 734 of 28/06/2006. Danish Law Gazette A dansk
    • Act on the Prohibition of Discrimination in the Labour Market (Discrimination Act). Consolidated Act no. 1349 of 16/12/2008. Danish Law Gazette A dansk
    • Employee (Provision of Information and Consultation) Act. Act no. 303 of 02/05/2005. Danish Law Gazette A dansk
    • Act on the Legal Status of Employees in the Event of Business Transfers (Business Transfer Act). Consolidated Act no. 710 of 20/08/2002. Danish Law Gazette A dansk
    • Act on the Use of Non-Solicitation Clauses by Employers (Non-Solicitation Clause Act). Act no. 460 of 17/06/2008. Danish Law Gazette A dansk
    • Act on the Use of Health Information in the Labour Market (Health Act). Act no. 286 of 24/04/1996. Danish Law Gazette A dansk
    • Act on Supplementary Labour Market Pensions. Consolidated Act no. 942 of 02/10/2009. Danish Law Gazette A dansk
    • Working Environment Act dansk

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