More flexible holiday planning in industry

According to a report published in autumn 1998, both employers and employees see the benefits of replacing the traditional three-week summer break in Danish industry with more flexible holiday arrangements.

In the Danish industrial sector, it is traditional for plants to close completely for three weeks in the summer, with all employees taking their paid holiday at the same time. This practice is slowly being replaced by various flexible arrangements - a trend confirmed by a recent report published in CO-Magasinet (No. 7-8, 1998), the bulletin of the Central Organisation of Industrial Employees (Centralorganisationen af industriansatte, CO-industri), the industry sector cartel of trade unions affiliated to the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisationen i Danmark). The new trend is reported to be beneficial for both companies and employees.

For companies, the incentives for more flexible holiday arrangements are sharpened international competition, higher consumer demands, shorter delivery and better service, all year round. However, although flexible holidays allow companies to keep producing, and thus meet demand, all year round, there are some disadvantages: it is more difficult to replace machinery and companies run at low speed for a longer period of time, due to the absence of employees. For the employees, the improved possibility of arranging their own vacation times allows for more individual planning in relation to families, children and low-cost travel periods.

The introduction of flexible planning of holidays may be companies' response to the widespread trade union demand for a sixth week of paid holiday (DK9809184N) - a demand that was at the heart of the widespread industrial conflict in spring 1998 (DK9805168F) and is likely to feature in bargaining in early 1999 in the public, financial and agricultural sectors. Many companies want to accommodate their employees' demand by converting the three childcare days for workers with children, introduced as part of the settlement of the 1998 dispute, to days off for all, whether they have children or not. However, the question remain of whether more flexible holiday arrangements can replace the demand for longer holidays.