Denmark: Focus on working environment in new health sector collective agreement

The biggest collective agreement in the Danish health sector, signed on 1 April 2015, takes the unusual step of focusing on health and safety.

The agreement (in Danish) was signed by the Collective Bargaining Union (Forhandlingsfællesskabet),  which has 52 member organisations, and by representatives of the Danish regions. The agreement covers 136,000 public employees. In an unusual step, the agreement sets aside DKK 2 million (€270,000) to fund a study on the psychosocial working environment in the sector, which will identify risk factors that affect the working environment. It is unusual to see specific clauses on the psychosocial working environment in collective agreements.