The Danish government’s legislative agenda 2020/2021 - employment and labour law
On 6 October 2020, at the official opening of the Danish Parliament, the government announced what bills it planned to introduce in the coming parliamentary year. This article offers an overview of the particularly interesting bills as seen from an employment and labour law perspective.
Amendment to the Danish Act on Secondment of Employees
The bill’s objective is to improve conditions for foreign employees on secondment to Denmark, seeking to ensure for them the same salary and working conditions that are offered to Danish employees. A seconded employee will be subject to the rules of Danish employment law after 12 months. Excluded, however, are rules concerning procedures, formalities and conditions in relation to the entering into and termination of employment contracts, including non-competition covenants and payments to supplementary occupational retirement pension schemes. It will be possible to extend the 12-month period without Danish employment terms to 18 months if the employer notifies the Danish Foreign Services Register (Register for Udenlandske Tjenesteydelser or "RUT").
The Act will take effect retroactively for secondments that had been commenced on 30 July 2020. Also, the bill targets the RUT notification requirement to foreign independent contractors with no employees.
The bill serves to implement the revised secondment directive of June 2018.
The bill was passed on 10 December 2020 2020 and the amendments will take effect on 1 January 2021.
Amendment to the Danish Act on Maternity/Paternity Leave and Pay, the Danish Sickness Benefit Act, etc. - extended bereavement leave
The bill’s objective is to improve leave of absence conditions for parents losing a child. It extends the access to bereavement leave to apply to all parents who lose their child before it reaches 18 years of age, and by extending the leave from 14 to 26 weeks after the death of the child.
The bill was passed on 17 December 2020 and the amendments will take effect on 1 January 2021.
Amendment to the Danish Social Pensions Act
The bill adjusts the Danish state pension age so that with the increasing life expectancy of Danish citizens they will have more active years working. The bill thus increases the state pension age to 69 years of age, effective from 2035.
The bill was passed on 21 December 2020.
Amendment to the Danish Social Pensions Act, etc. - right to earlier retirement
The bill’s objective is to give certain people whose working lives have been particularly long a right to earlier retirement.
The bill was passed on 21 December 2020. It will take effect on 1 January 2021 and the right to an earlier retirement can be obtained from 1 January 2022.
Amendment to the Danish Reimbursement of Maternity and Paternity Payments Act
The bill will make self-employed persons comprised by the reimbursement scheme in respect of maternity and paternity payments on the private labour market.
The objective is to improve maternity/paternity conditions for the self-employed, i.a. through alleviating some of the economic challenges that many self-employed encounter when taking maternity/paternity leave. The bill also intends to offer women greater incentive to become self-employed and to improve pay compensation for men and women alike in connection with maternity/paternity and parental leave.
The bill was passed on 17 December 2020 and the amendments will take effect on 1 January 2021.
Amendment to the Danish Act on the Labour Market Fund for Seconded Employees
The objective behind the bill is to give the Labour Market Fund for Seconded Employees better possibilities to collect penalties in industrial disputes abroad. The bill implements common recommendations by FH – Danish Trade Union Confederation and the Confederation of Danish Employers.
The bill is expected to be presented in January 2021.
Danish Whistleblower Protection Act
The objective behind the bill is to transpose the whistleblowing directive 2019/1937 into Danish law.
Read our news articles on the deadline for implementing whistleblowing schemes (in Danish) and on the adoption of the whistleblowing directive (in Danish).
The bill is expected to be presented in February 2021.
Amendment to the Danish Working Environment Act
The objective behind the bill is to introduce rules enhancing the protection of health and safety representatives against dismissal and other impairment of their conditions in the same was as for shop stewards/employee representatives, also in situations where there is no collective agreement.
The bill is expected to be presented in February 2021.
We will be monitoring the development and will keep you updated.
Read the government’s full legislative agenda for 2020/2021 (in Danish).
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