Working hours and overtime: the rules in Denmark
Weekly working hours in Denmark
Denmark has no general law on working hours. Instead your working time is determined by your employment contract, collective agreement or local agreement.
However, by law there are three rules on working time, breaks during your shift, and how much time off you are entitled to between shifts.
If you are an academic employed in the public sector, your weekly working hours should be 37. However, you are obliged to work overtime to a certain extent. On this page, you can read about the most important rules for working time.
Maximal weekly working hours: The 48-hour rule
During a period of 4 months, your average working time per week cannot exceed 48 hours. Your weekly working time may be higher in some weeks if you are compensated by working fewer hours in other weeks. The 48 hours include overtime work.
Daily rest period: You must get 11 consecutive hours off every day
You are entitled to a rest period of at least 11 consecutive hours within a period of 24 hours.
For certain types of positions, the rest period can be shortened, but never to below 8 hours. This exception is however rarely the case for IDA members.
See typical exceptions to the 11-hour rule at at.dk (in Danish)
Twenty-four hour rest: You are entitled to a weekly full day off
You are entitled to a weekly day and night time off. This means that you may not work for more than six days consecutively before you get a full day off.
Is the lunch break paid in Denmark?
At most workplaces, the lunch break is 30 minutes. For public sector employees, the lunch break is always paid by the employer and counts as normal working time. This right can only be changed if the collective agreement is altered.
If you are employed in the private sector, your lunch break is not paid by the employer - unless this is stated in your employment contract or collective agreement.
Overtime work: Your rights and duties
You have to work overtime if you are asked to do so. You can only deviate from this main rule if something very urgent or pressing forces you to.
Also, the more important the overtime work is to your employer, the more urgent your personal reasons have to be to refuse it.
There are no set regulations for the notification of overtime work unless it is stated in your contract or an agreement. Essentially, this means that you may have to agree to work overtime with very little or no notice if you are asked to.
However, the shorter the notice, the less it requires for you to refuse to do it. Whether the notice and your reasons for refusal correspond to each other will always be based on a concrete estimation of the situation. Additionally, an evaluation of whether the employer at an earlier time could have/should have predicted the need for overtime work will be part of this estimation.
When employed in the private sector, you are only entitled to take time off in lieu or get paid for overtime when it is stated in your contract or an agreement with your employer.
You have the same entitlement if you are employed on a part-time basis. This means you are entitled to payment or time off in lieu for overtime whenever you work more than the specific number of hours agreed in your contract – and not only when your working hours exceed 37 hours. If you have not received such compensation, you may be entitled to back pay. Read more here:
New ruling: Part-time employees are entitled to payment for overtime
Whether the grounds for refusal are important enough will always be based on a concrete estimation of the situation. Contact IDA if you are in doubt about whether you can refuse to work overtime in a specific situation.
Log in and contact IDA's legal advisers
Remuneration for on-call and standby shifts
On-call time outside normal working hours (Rådighedsvagt/tilkaldevagt) is an essential condition of your employment that requires an agreement. Such an agreement can either be made at the start of employment or later if the employer wants to introduce on-call and/or stand-by duty.
At IDA, we recommend that the framework for the scheme is established: What times should you be available? How many people are included in the scheme, and therefore how often should you be on call? How quickly should you respond to an enquiry and how should you do so?
Once the above is established, it's easier to agree on compensation. There are two models here:
- Remuneration based on the number of specific enquiries combined with a fixed fee for being available. The advantage here is that there is full transparency and correlation between workload and payment. The disadvantage is that it can be administratively cumbersome and your income varies.
- Remuneration is a fixed payment, either as a fixed monthly salary supplement or as a payment when you're on call, regardless of how many calls you receive. The advantage here is that it is administratively easier to handle and you can count on a concrete fixed amount on top of your normal salary. The disadvantage is that the workload in the shift can vary, and therefore the payment can sometimes be perceived as more or less inadequate.
The rate of remuneration should be seen in the context of the workload. If there are, or are expected to be, relatively few calls while you are rarely on call and the times you are available are within your normal waking hours, this may explain a lower remuneration than for frequent 24-hour shifts with many calls.
If you are a public sector employee, agreed rules and remuneration for on-call and call-out shifts may be part of your collective agreement. Contact your union representative or IDA if you do not have a union representative and want advice on your rights.
Plus time for public sector employees
Plus time (plustid) is an opportunity for public sector employees to increase their weekly working hours to 42 hours instead of 37 hours on average.
Your salary and pension will be adjusted proportionally as a result of the increased hours.
Plus time is a voluntary agreement that you can make with your employer. Some collective agreements require you to have been employed for at least 3 months before you can make a plus-time agreement.
Both you and your employer can terminate a plus-time agreement with your individual notice period under the Danish Salaried Employees Act. After the notice period has expired, you will return to the number of hours that applied before the plus-time agreement was entered into.
There are several advantages to a plus-time agreement:
- You will receive a higher salary in relation to the additional hours
- You will be compensated for your time and effort
- There is more flexibility as you can organise your working hours according to your needs
- You will be compensated for absences
- Perhaps your career prospects will also improve as your manager sees that you are willing to put in more hours.
The downside of plus hours can be that it can lead to increased work pressure in the long run, as you will have more working hours per week. In addition, the work may feel less flexible as you have to put in more hours.
Overtime for public sector employees
If you are a public sector employee, you may be commanded to work overtime if this is necessary for your employer - also on evenings and weekends.
Overtime work for public employees is defined as work that exceeds the normal working hours, that is either imposed by the employer or necessary for the responsible carrying out of duties, and that has taken place over a period of normally 4 weeks or more.
If the overtime work takes place in a period of time exceeding 4 weeks, you are entitled to renumeration in one of the following ways:
- Taking time off in lieu corresponding to the number of hours of overtime, including an added extra 50%.
- A payout of the number of hours in salary, including an added extra 50%.
Different rules apply to specialist and senior consultants in the state sector and academic staff at universities.
If you are employed on a part-time basis, you are entitled to payment or time off in lieu for overtime when you work more than the individual number of hours agreed in your contract – and not only when your working hours exceed 37 hours.
If you have not received any, you may be entitled to back pay. Read more here:
New ruling: Part-time employees are entitled to payment for overtime
Working hours for special and senior consultants in the public sector
Special and senior consultants in the public sector work an average of 37 hours per week and may be required to work overtime.
Flexitime and fixed-time working
There is a significant difference in whether special consultants and senior consultants are covered by flexitime agreements.
Flexitime is not regulated by individual collective agreements in the public sector, but is agreed locally. These agreements may vary from institution to institution in terms of how many surplus hours may be held in the ‘flexitime account’.
IDA recommends that you contact your local union representative if you are unsure about the flexitime or fixed-time rules at your workplace.
Overtime
The State
Under the collective agreement, ordinary staff may claim time off in lieu and payment for overtime at a rate of 1:1.5, provided a number of conditions are met:
- The overtime must have been imposed
- The hours must be of a significant amount
- The hours must have been spread over a period of not less than 4 weeks.
Under the collective agreement, consultants are not covered by the same provisions and are therefore not entitled to the same time off in lieu or payment for overtime. Under Appendix 4 of the collective agreement, they are entitled to a one-off payment determined by management following negotiation as remuneration for overtime. This will usually not be anywhere near a 1:1 rate, and there is no provision under the collective agreement for the hours to be taken as time off in lieu.
Locally, agreements on flexible working hours may be entered into, offering employees better conditions for taking time off in lieu than the rules in the collective agreement. Similarly, it may be agreed that working hours are increased, thereby accruing the right to days off to be taken at a later date – 39/11 schemes.
Municipality and regions
The rules on time off in lieu and payment for overtime in the regional and municipal collective agreement broadly correspond to those in the state collective agreement. The difference here, however, is that special consultants are also covered by the provisions to a certain extent.
The requirements for compensation for overtime are the same, with the addition of a single point:
- The overtime must be imposed
- The hours must be of a significant amount
- The hours must have been spread over a period of not less than 4 weeks
- For consultants, compensation may only be granted if the total overtime significantly exceeds the overtime deemed to be compensated through remuneration.
Working time agreements on flexible working hours may also be entered into, providing employees with better conditions for time off in lieu than the rules in the collective agreement. However, there is no legal basis for agreeing on 39/11 schemes.
Transition from administrative officer to special consultant – what should I be aware of?
Special consultant
As a special consultant (specialkonsulent) in the state sector, you generally negotiate your own salary and allowances – but you always have the option of asking your union representative to negotiate on your behalf. For consultants in municipalities and regions, it is the union representative who negotiates on their behalf.
Unlike administrative officers (fuldmægtige), special consultants are not covered by the agreement on on-call allowances (rådighedstillæg). Consequently, there may be very little difference in pay between an administrative officer at the top pay grade with on-call allowances and a special consultant at the lower level.
As a general rule, special consultants are not covered by the flexitime agreement, but there is an expectation of mutual flexibility, and that work can be organised independently to a certain extent, so that there may be opportunities for time off in lieu.
For special consultants in the municipal and regional sectors, you may be paid for extra work if it can be demonstrated that it significantly exceeds the overtime that can be expected in the role.
Special consultants in the state sector are, as a general rule, covered by the local flexitime scheme, but there may also be provisions that do not apply to special consultants. All of this depends on the local agreements in the individual institution. IDA therefore recommends that you contact your local union representative or IDA prior to entering into an agreement on transfer or appointment as a special consultant, so that you are aware of which local working time rules apply to you in the individual institution. Any remuneration for overtime may be agreed individually, typically in the form of a one-off payment, see the section above on overtime.
Senior Consultant
Transition from special consultant to senior consultant (chefkonsulent) often occurs because one wishes to work towards a management position or to secure a further increase in salary.
As a senior consultant in the state sector, the starting point is that you negotiate your salary and allowances yourself, but you always have the option of being assisted by your local union representative during the negotiations. For consultants in municipalities and regions, it is the union representative who negotiates on their behalf.
Senior consultants are not covered by the agreement on on-call allowances (rådighedstillæg), and as a general rule, you are not covered by a local agreement on flexitime. However, the role involves an expectation of mutual flexibility, and that the work can, to a certain extent, be organised independently, allowing for time off in lieu.
As a senior consultant in the municipal and regional sector, you may be paid for overtime if it can be demonstrated that the overtime significantly exceeds what can be expected in the role, see the section on overtime.
Part-time work
Part-time is when your working hours are shorter than the normal working hours at your workplace, which in Denmark is typically 37 hours per week.
You must be employed for more than 8 hours per week to be covered by the Danish Salaried Employees Act.
Read about pay and terms if you are employed part time
Part-time salary and rights
Normally, the salary is calculated proportionally to the reduced working hours. For example, if your working hours are reduced by 7 hours in a 37-hour job, the salary is typically 30/37. You should also be aware that transitions to and from part-time work may affect your holiday pay.
It is illegal to discriminate against part-time employees. This means that as a part-time employee, you cannot be treated less favourably than your colleagues simply because you are a part-time employee. Nor can you be dismissed because you have either refused or been refused part-time work.
If you are employed part-time, you earn the same number of holiday days as a full-time employee. That is, 25 days of holiday, so that a normal working week with both working days and days off is included in the holiday with a proportional number.
Flexitime and core time
Flexitime (flekstid) means that your working time may be within certain set intervals. Thus, your daily working time can vary according to your needs and your work assignments.
With flexitime you can save up extra work hours for later time off in lieu – similarly it will often be possible to owe work hours as well.
Most flexitime schemes have a core time and a flexitime. The core time specifies the period in which you have to be at work. Flexitime indicates a certain number of hours before and after the core time where you can either be at work or take time off in lieu.
Typically, there are rules for taking time off in lieu. Examples of rules could be whether you are allowed to take whole days off or only a few hours (e.g. outside the core time), and whether your manager has to approve it or you can manage it yourself.
Fixed salary: No maximum for working hours
The term ‘fixed salary’ (jobløn) means you do not have a specified maximum number of weekly hours, nor the right to time off in lieu or overtime payment. Fixed salary is introduced when management on the one hand want a fixed salary cost to calculate with, but on the other hand do not want an upper limit on your working hours.
This way you know the size of your monthly paycheck, but you do not know how many hours you have to work for your money.
Even though you have a set working time in your contract – e.g. 37 hours per week – you may still be employed on a fixed salary basis. It is important what your contract says about compensation for working hours exceeding the set working time. Can you take time off in lieu or get paid for extra working hours?
What options do I have as a private employee if I want to increase my working hours?
As a private sector employee, you have no legal right to increase your working hours. Your opportunity to work more hours depends primarily on your employer's specific needs and the terms and conditions of your employment contract and any collective agreement.
The concept of managerial authority is also important in this context. Your employer has the overall right to manage and distribute work, including determining working hours and deciding whether there is a need for an employee to increase their working hours. This means that, as an employee, you can only get more hours if the company assesses that the tasks and operations require it.
If you agree to increase your working hours, it is also important that you are aware of your salary and pension conditions. As a private sector employee, your salary and pension are generally clearly agreed in your employment contract or the collective agreement at your workplace. It is therefore important to ensure that your increased working hours are clearly reflected in your total remuneration – including basic salary, allowances and pension contributions – so that you do not work more hours without being paid correctly for them.
You should therefore ensure that you have clear, written agreements so that you are paid for the work you actually do and to avoid misunderstandings about future salary and pension contributions.
If your workplace is covered by a collective agreement, special provisions may apply that give employees better opportunities to work more hours. Such rules vary between industries and should always be examined specifically in the relevant collective agreement.