Working life country profile for Denmark
This profile describes the key characteristics of working life in Denmark. It aims to provide the relevant background information on the structures, institutions, actors and relevant regulations regarding working life.
This includes indicators, data and regulatory systems on the following aspects: actors and institutions, collective and individual employment relations, health and well-being, pay, working time, skills and training, and equality and non-discrimination at work. The profiles are systematically updated every two years.
Individual employment relations refers to the relationship between the individual worker and their employer. This relationship is shaped by legal regulation and by the outcomes of social partner negotiations over terms and conditions. This section looks at the start and termination of the employment relationship and entitlements and obligations in Denmark.
Requirements regarding an employment contract
When employing a new employee for longer than a month with an average weekly working time of more than eight hours, it is obligatory to draw up an employment contract.
The employment contract must be issued within four weeks of the start of the employment relationship. These conditions are set out in the pace-setting Industrial Agreement.
As a rule, children under 13 are not allowed to do paid work. Compensation may be paid in connection with cultural activities. Applications to pay someone under the age of 13 are to be sent to the police. Rules concerning work for 13- to 15-year-olds and those under 13 are administered by the Danish Working Environment Authority.
Dismissal and termination procedures
It is the employer’s right according to managerial prerogative to dismiss employees if necessary in connection with the organisation of work in the company. Disputes about allegedly unfair individual dismissals can be taken by the unions to the Dismissals Board, which was set up by the social partners in line with collective agreement provisions. Individuals who are not members of unions that sign agreements can appeal their dismissal in the civil courts.
Dismissal and termination procedures are laid down in legislation and in collective agreements. Provisions on termination procedures specify the notice period and, for some, collective agreements include provisions on severance pay. The main act covering dismissals of salaried employees is the Act on the Legal Relationship between Employers and Salaried Employees (Consolidation Act No. 81 of 3 February 2009, Funktionærloven). The main act covering collective dismissals is the Act on Advance Notice in Connection with Collective Redundancies (Consolidation Act No. 291 of 22 March 2010, Bekendtgørelse af lov (Nr 291 af 2010) om varsling m.v. i forbindelse med afskedigelser af større omfang). The notice periods laid down in collective agreements are generally short.
Parental, maternity and paternity leave
Provisions on parental, maternity and paternity leave are laid down in collective agreements and in legislation for those not covered by a collective agreement. Basically, employees on leave in relation to a birth receive full pay for the agreed period of the leave. The uptake of paternity leave has been growing over the past decade. Between 2003 and 2018, the total paternity leave taken as a proportion of leave to which men were entitled increased from 6% to 10%; however, the increase was only 1.5% percentage points between 2010 and 2018 (Cevea, 2020).
As a consequence of the new EU directive on maternity leave, the Danish parliament passed a law with effect from 22 August 2022 (Act on Maternity Leave, Act No. 343 of 22 March 2022, Barselsloven). Anyone who has given birth to or adopted a child on or after 2 August 2022 is subject to new leave rules. The total amount of leave entitlement is unchanged. Parents together are entitled to 48 weeks of leave with maternity benefits after the birth of the child. In addition, mothers continue to be entitled to four weeks of prenatal leave with maternity benefits.
A new aspect is that nine weeks are now earmarked for the father. Previously, only the two weeks after the birth were earmarked for the father, and they still are. The nine weeks cannot be transferred to the mother. If the father does not take up the nine weeks, they are lost. It is expected that the already growing interest among fathers in taking up paternity leave will increase significantly.
Statutory leave arrangements
Statutory Danish parental leave is divided into different stages, which are as follows:
4 weeks before the birth for the mother
2 weeks after the birth for both parents (earmarked)
13 weeks (can be shared between the parents)
new entitlement under law of 9 weeks to the father (earmarked – cannot be transferred)
parental leave of 32 weeks to each parent (64 weeks), of which 32 weeks are paid and 32 weeks are unpaid.
Statutory leave arrangements
| Maternity leave | |
| Maximum duration | 37 weeks after birth plus 4 weeks before birth. That is, 4 weeks before birth plus 2 after birth plus 9 weeks within the child’s first year plus 13 weeks (if not shared with the father) and a possible supplement of 32 weeks of parental leave. Maximum total duration 60 weeks. |
| Reimbursement | In 2022, the maximum maternity benefit was DKK 4,465 (€600) per week. If the mother is covered by a collective agreement, some of the weeks are usually at full pay. |
| Who pays? | The state, through the Public Benefit Administration (Udbetaling Danmark). If the mother receives pay from her employer, the employer receives compensation from the state equivalent to the maternity benefit. |
| Legal basis | Act on Maternity Leave (Act No. 343 of 22 March 2022, Barselsloven) and/or collective agreements. |
| Parental leave | |
| Maximum duration | Shared parental leave after week 10 is a maximum 64 additional weeks (32 to each parent), of which only 32 are with benefits. |
| Reimbursement | In 2022, the maximum maternity/paternity benefit was DKK 4,465 (€600) per week for the first 32 weeks; the leave is unpaid thereafter. If one or both parents are covered by a collective agreement, some of the weeks are usually at full pay. |
| Who pays? | The state, through the Public Benefit Administration. If the mother/father receives pay from their employer, the employer receives compensation from the state equivalent to the maternity/paternity benefit. |
| Legal basis | Act on Maternity Leave and/or collective agreements. |
| Paternity leave | |
| Maximum duration | Possible maximum duration of 56 weeks: 2 weeks after birth plus 9 weeks (earmarked) plus 13 weeks (if not shared with the mother) and a possible supplement of 32 weeks of parental leave. |
| Reimbursement | In 2022, the maximum paternity benefit was DKK 4,465 (€600) per week for the first 32 weeks; the leave is unpaid thereafter. If the father is covered by a collective agreement, some of the weeks are usually at full pay. |
| Who pays? | The state, through the Public Benefit Administration. If the father receives pay from his employer, the employer receives compensation from the state equivalent to the maternity benefit. |
| Legal basis | Act on Maternity Leave and/or collective agreements. |
Sick leave
According to the pace-setting collective agreement, the Industrial Agreement, five weeks’ sick leave with full pay is granted to employees with six months of seniority in a company. After five weeks of sickness, the employer pays another four weeks’ sick leave. Most agreements follow a similar practice.
The Act on Sickness Benefit (Act No. 563 of 9 June 2006 with later amendments, Sygedagpengeloven) concerns those not covered by a collective agreement, including the self-employed. The employer pays the first 30 days of leave, and then the municipality takes over the responsibility for sick pay under the act.
Retirement age
The retirement or pension age is settled by law every five years, with effect from 1 January 15 years later; the most recent law, taking effect in 2035, was passed in December 2020. So far, the pension age has increased in line with the increase in life expectancy. In 2022, the retirement age was 67, and the last retirement age to pass into law was 69, effective for people born after 1 January 1967. The table below shows settled retirement ages from 2019 and estimates for 2040 onward from Statistics Denmark. If the pattern continues as estimated, the Danish youth of today can expect to have the highest retirement age in the EU.
Legal retirement ages in effect between 2019 and 2070
| Effective from 1 Jan in year | Retirement age | Effective for people born after |
| 2019 | 65.5 | 1 January 1954 |
| 2020 | 66 | 1 July 1954 |
| 2021 | 66.5 | 1 January 1955 |
| 2022 | 67 | 1 July 1955 |
| 2030 | 68 | 1 January 1963 |
| 2035 | 69 | 1 January 1967 |
| 2040* | 70 | 1 January 1971 |
| 2045* | 71 | 1 January 1975 |
| 2050* | 72 | 1 January 1979 |
| 2055* | 72.5 | 1 January 1983 |
| 2060* | 73 | 1 July 1987 |
| 2065* | 73.5 | 1 January 1992 |
| 2070* | 74 | 1 July 1996 |
Note: * Future estimates from STAR, 2024.
The voluntary early retirement (efterløn) age has gradually increased, resulting in fewer years between early retirement and receipt of the state pension. At the end of 2018, it was still 60 years for those born before the second half of 1953, making retirement 5 years before state pension age a possibility for those eligible. For those born between January 1967 and December 1970, the early retirement age has reached 66 years. For individuals born after July 1959, only 3 years’ retirement before receipt of the state pension are available.
A new law on early pension (tidlig pension) took effect from 1 January 2021, with the first payments made from January 2022. The entitlement is based on the number of years that a person has been in the labour market at the age of 61. If the individual has worked for 44 years, they are eligible for retirement 3 years before state pension age, 43 years entitles them to retirement 2 years early and 41 years to retirement 1 year early.
