Denmark: Employment protection in relation to business transfers

In case of business transfer the acquirer takes over directly the rights and duties that existed at the time of the business transfer regarding

• collective agreements,
• regulations about wage and working conditions, and
• individual agreements on wage and working conditions.

An acquirer must inform the relevant union(s) if the acquirer does not want to take over the agreement in force. The notification must take place within 5 weeks after he or she has been aware that the employees in the acquired enterprise are covered by a collective agreement; or 3 weeks after the transfer at the earliest. Otherwise, the acquirer is considered as having taken over the agreement.

If the acquirer does not take over the agreement in force, and if the acquirer is already covered by an agreement with another union concerning the work in question, the affected employees at the enterprise have a right, through their union, to demand negotiations with the management of the enterprise about wage and working conditions. In case one of the parties applies for it after the negotiations have begun, the question can be taken to the Labour Court or the Industrial Arbitration Court to be resolved.