New collective agreement for employees in the Danish state sector

On 11 February, IDA reached an agreement on a new three-year collective agreement for IDA's approximately 12,000 state employees. 
 
Malene Matthison-Hansen, IDA's political negotiator in OK26 and chair of the Council of Employees, says about the process:
 
‘It has been really difficult, and we have experienced a great deal of political pressure from the government in these negotiations. But we have managed to reach an agreement that secures our three highest priority demands and ensures that the Danish model will continue to govern the development of wages and working conditions in the public sector,’ says Malene Matthison-Hansen.

The agreement between Akademikerne, of which IDA is a member, and the Ministry of Finance includes the following:

• A total economic framework of 8.9%, including a technical correction of 0.2%.
• General salary increases totalling 6.37% have been agreed for the period. This will be implemented as 1.94% in 2026, 1.88% in 2027 and 2.55% in 2028, provided that the regulatory scheme is implemented as expected.

IDA achieved its three most important demands

Malene Matthison-Hansen points out that IDA entered the negotiations with three clear demands: Securing real earnings. Better opportunities to balance work and leisure time, and finally, the establishment of a Free Choice Salary Account in the public sector, which not only gives the right to convert salary into pension, but also the right to time off.

'Our members have demanded higher salary and more flexibility in their working lives. We are delivering on those demands. We are implementing a number of improvements that will make a difference to our members' everyday lives. Both now and in the years to come,' says Malene Matthison-Hansen, who is also pleased that the collective agreement includes the option of taking paid leave on a child's third day of illness.

‘We fought to have this included as an unconditional right in the agreement text. We did not succeed, but it is still an improvement in the conditions for families with children that we got it included as an option,’ says Malene Matthison-Hansen.

At the same time, a Free Choice Salary Account will be created in the public sector. In concrete terms, it functions as a savings account into which the employer regularly pays a percentage of the employee's holiday-entitled salary. The employee can decide how the money is to be used – it can be used as extra pay, holiday days, senior or care days, or a payment into an extra pension scheme.

Prior to the negotiations, public sector employers had proposed an uneven distribution of the financial framework in order to prioritise higher salaries for soldiers in the Armed Forces at the expense of academics, among others.

‘There has been a great deal of political focus on accommodating specific groups in the Armed Forces. For me, it is crucial that we look at the overall package. We have achieved our highest priority goals, and at the same time we have taken responsibility and agreed to allocate extraordinary funds to other professional groups in the Armed Forces,’ says Malene Matthison-Hansen.

Now the work continues in municipalities and regions.

Read: The Academics' Agreement (in Danish)
•    Appendix to the Academics' Agreement
•    Fact sheet on the state sector