DENMARK Law and Practice Contributed by: Lise Lauridsen and Sandro Ratkovic, Bech-Bruun
• Employees with at least nine months’ continuous service with the employer are entitled to request the reason for their dismissal in writing. • If an employee claims that the dismissal is unfair and unwarranted by his or her own situation or that of the company, the employee can seek to have the matter settled by representatives of the employer and of the relevant local trade union. These negotiations must normally be completed within two weeks of notice of dismissal being given. • If no agreement is reached in the local talks, the relevant trade union or the employer can refer the matter to negotiations between the national union and national employers’ organisation. • If the national talks do not resolve the matter, the relevant trade union or the employer can, within seven days, refer the case to a special joint dis - missals tribunal ( Afskedigelsesnævnet ) set up by the central trade union and employers’ organisa - tion. The decisions of such tribunals are binding and enforceable by the courts. • The dismissals tribunal hears the case and makes a “reasoned award”. If it finds the dismissal unfair, and unwarranted by the situation of the employee or the company, it may award reinstatement or compensation for the employee. The amount of compensation depends on the circumstances of the case and the employee’s length of service, but is capped at 52 weeks’ pay. Reinstatement can - not be ordered if there has been a breakdown in relations between the employer and the employee such as to preclude any continuation of the employment relationship. The above unfair dismissal procedure applies only to blue-collar employees with at least nine months’ ser - vice with their employer. Thus, with regard to both white- and blue-collar employees, whether rules are based on legislation or collective agreements, employers may generally ter - minate an employment contract only (if the employer is to avoid having to pay compensation) if this is justi - fied by the circumstances of the employer’s business or the conduct of the employee.
Justifiable circumstances relating to the employer’s business notably include a shortage of work (that is, redundancy) for financial or operational reasons. If the employer is able to prove a need for staff reductions, such dismissals will usually be considered reasonably justified. Dismissal on the grounds of an employee’s conduct covers, for instance, under-performance, disloyalty and lack of co-operation. In the majority of such cas - es, for the dismissal to be fair, the employer must give one or more written warnings before moving to dis - missal, to allow the employee to remedy the situation. The remedy for unfair dismissal is usually compensa - tion. While reinstatement is an option, especially for blue-collar employees, it is rarely awarded in practice. 8.2 Anti-Discrimination Refer to 7. Termination . 8.3 Digitalisation There are no rules specifically governing the digitalisa - tion of employment disputes. Any cases related to breaches of the statutory rules relating to dismissal are generally dealt with by the ordinary civil courts. Most civil proceedings take place in the district courts. There are 24 district courts in Denmark. An appeal from a district court lies with the High Court of Western Denmark or the High Court of Eastern Denmark. The High Court of Western Den - mark handles all appeals from the district courts of Jutland, whereas all judgments from the Zealand dis - trict courts, including the Copenhagen City Court, are handled by the High Court of Eastern Denmark. The Supreme Court is a court of appeal for judgments and interlocutory orders made by the High Courts, including the Maritime and Commercial Court. In appeal cases both the factual and legal circumstances of the case are heard. 9. Dispute Resolution 9.1 Litigation
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