DENMARK Law and Practice Contributed by: Lise Lauridsen and Sandro Ratkovic, Bech-Bruun
1. Employment Terms 1.1 Employee Status
trade industry, thus, blue-collar workers are common - ly covered by collective bargaining agreements. 1.2 Employment Contracts Within seven days of commencement of employ - ment, employers must, with a few exceptions (such as in relation to seafarers), provide employees with written details of all essential conditions applicable to the employment relationship. This applies to employ - ees where the predetermined or actual working hours amount to more than an average of three hours per week in a reference period of four consecutive weeks. If the employer fails to provide the required written details, the employee may be entitled to compensa - tion. The information provided must at least include: • the name and address of the employer and employee; • the place of work or, where there is no fixed or main place of work, a statement that the employee is employed at various places; • a description of the work, or an indication of the employee’s title or grade, or the nature or category of the work; • the date of commencement of the employment relationship; • if the employment relationship is not open ended, its expected duration; • when it comes to temporary agency workers, the identity of the user undertakings as soon as it becomes known; • the duration and terms of any probationary period; • the duration of the paid leave entitlement for the employee; • the notice periods to be observed by the employee and employer; • the employee’s pay, plus any allowances and other elements of remuneration (such as pension contri - butions); • the dates of payment of remuneration; the length of the normal working day or week, or the number of working hours; • if the work pattern is fully or partially unpredictable, the employer must notify the employee about the variable work schedule, guaranteed paid hours, payment for additional work, reference hours, mini -
The Danish labour market is characterised (and dis - tinguishes itself compared to other EU-countries) by the combination of a relatively high degree of social benefits and social protection on the one hand and a high degree of flexibility with respect to termination of employment and mobility between employers on the other hand (the so-called Danish “flexicurity” model). The terms and conditions of white-collar employees are, to some extent, subject to negotiation between the employer and the employee and reflected in employment contracts, but to a large extent subject to employee-related Danish statutory regulations. A significant part of these statutory regulations is based on or implemented by EU Directives. The statutory definition of a salaried (white-collar) employee according to the Danish Salaried Employ - ees Act (in Danish: “ Funktionærloven ”) includes: • office workers and shop assistants employed in office work, buying and selling activities, or equiva - lent warehouse operations; • individuals whose work involves technical or clini - cal services (except handicraft or factory work) or comparable work functions; and • individuals whose work wholly or mainly involves managing or supervising the work of others on behalf of an employer. The specific legislation on white-collar employees covers such employees who have been continuously employed for more than one month and work at least eight hours per week on average. These employ - ees are covered by specific legislation giving them minimum entitlements in areas such as notice peri - ods, severance payments, unfair dismissal, sick pay, maternity pay and probationary periods. By contrast, for blue-collar employees, such aspects of employment conditions are primarily regulated by collective agreements with no minimum statutory pro - visions. Collective bargaining agreements are most common in the building and construction industry and
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