A guide to the (unwritten) rules of a Danish workplace
Get an overview of important documents at your new job
Your employment contract is the most important document at your new job. You have probably already read it thoroughly and had it reviewed by IDA's legal advisors.
But there are other documents that are important because they set the framework for your new workplace.
Ideally, your onboarding plan will include the following materials, as well as time to read through them, but if not, you will need to ask for them yourself:
- Staff or employee handbook
This sets out the relevant rights, rules and policies that apply to your employment. This may include, for example:
- Employer-paid days off
- Parental leave conditions
- Handling of illness
- IT policy
- Fringe benefits (holiday pay, etc.) - Collective agreement
If you are covered by a collective agreement, your employment contract must state which agreement you are employed under. The collective agreement supplements your employment contract with rights relating to your employment.
See agreements and contracts in the private sector (in Danish)
See the public sector agreements that IDA has entered into (in Danish):- As a public sector employee, it is also a good idea to check any local agreements that supplement the public sector agreement with guidelines on, for example, flexitime, working from home and salary negotiations.
- Bonuses and performance-related pay
If you are entitled to bonuses and/or performance-related pay, the criteria for payment should be clearly stated in your bonus and performance-related pay agreement, as you may otherwise risk a dispute arising at a later date regarding the terms of payment of bonuses/performance-related pay.
Read more about bonuses and performance-related pay - Privacy policy
Your employment means that your employer collects a range of information about you for administrative purposes. The privacy policy provides insight into how your employer processes your personal data, for what purposes and on what basis.
Read more about your rights regarding surveillance at work - Time registration policy
Guidelines for registering your working hours and a description of the system you must use to register your working hours.
Get answers to your questions about time registration
Other documents you may be asked to sign
You may be asked to sign documents other than the employment contract itself. These may include:
- Agreement on share options and warrants
You may be presented with an agreement on share options or warrants.
Share options are the right, but not the obligation, to purchase existing shares in a company at a later date at a predetermined price. As an employee, you are free to decide whether you want to exercise the option and buy shares at a later date. If you have share options, you will normally only have to pay out of your own pocket when you convert the options into shares in accordance with the terms of the share option agreement.
A warrant is roughly the same as a share option, but unlike a share option, it gives you the right to acquire a newly issued share. We recommend that you send the agreement to us at IDA before signing it:
Write to IDA's Advisory Service
Read more about employee shares and whether they are an advantage for you (in Danish) - Document on copyright, patents and inventions
You may be asked to sign a document regarding ownership of the inventions you develop in connection with your work. We recommend that you have IDA's legal advisers review the document before signing it:
Write to IDA's Advisory Service - Non-disclosure agreement (NDA)
You may be asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement, often referred to as an NDA.
A non-disclosure agreement is often presented in connection with a collaboration where you are given information that your employer wishes to keep confidential.
We recommend that you have IDA's legal advisors review the agreement before signing it:
Write to IDA's Advisory Service
How to navigate the unwritten rules
You will quickly discover that there are so-called unwritten rules at your new workplace. These also existed at your previous workplace, but you probably did not think about them, as they had become a natural way for you to work and interact with others.
Unwritten rules include everything you cannot read about in contracts, agreements, staff handbooks and various policies.
These may include unwritten rules about dress code, meeting times, working from home, doctor's appointments or leaving early for a child's birthday party. Should you ask for permission or just do it? Should it be noted in the calendar?
To get a handle on the unwritten rules, ask your colleagues how they usually do things. But be aware that colleagues who have been at the workplace for a long time are no longer aware that these are unwritten rules.
So ask a colleague who has not been there for long and who can remember what it is like to be new. All in all, it is a good idea to team up with the second-newest person in the department.
How to deal with unspoken narratives
You may also be employed in a place where you sense that there are some unspoken narratives or a history that affects your colleagues. This could be, for example, the dismissal of a colleague, a dramatic organisational change or cases of harassment.
You may need to be careful not to ask too directly about these things. You should also consider whether it is necessary for you to know anything about it at all.
If it is just for your own understanding, it is wisest to be patient, as you will probably find out in due course.
However, if the unspoken stories are a persistent barrier to you being able to do your job, or if they negatively affect your relationships, you should ask about them with colleagues with whom you have built a good relationship.
You must recognise that it is your colleagues' story, not yours, and you should not take it on as your own. In fact, you should enjoy being new and enjoy not being weighed down by a heavy history.
Create your own onboarding log
It is the workplace's responsibility to provide an onboarding plan, but you can supplement it with your own onboarding log.
A logbook can help you create structure and get an overview of all the new information and impressions. Here are some suggestions for what you can note in the logbook:
- Questions you can save for later
You probably ask a lot of questions every day, and you should continue to do so. But it can also be a good idea to pace your questions, as not everything needs to be answered right away.
Write them down in your logbook to make sure you remember them. And you may get answers to some of them along the way without even asking. - Who's who?
You will probably meet many new colleagues, and if you write down their names and job titles as you go along, it will be easier for you to get in touch with them again. For example, write down ‘Book Hans from Finance for a one-to-one chat’ or ‘Remember Lotte when I need the latest political analyses’. - Practical tips
There is a lot to learn when you are new to a workplace. What is the code for the bicycle storage room? Where can I find IT support? And what do I need to do to get a locker for my things?
Write down practical tips so you can refer back to them, because you won't be able to figure everything out in your first week. - Ideas and suggestions
Being new is an asset in itself. You see the company, the products, the customers, etc. with fresh eyes, and that's why you're sure to come up with new ideas for your workplace.
Write them down so you're ready to share them when you know the decision-making processes and the forums where it's relevant to contribute your ideas. - Small victories
Write down the positive things. These could range from experiencing good professional chemistry with a colleague, finding your bike straight away after work, or creating a case in the case management system yourself. Becoming aware of and noting down these small victories in your new job will increase your well-being.
You may not think it is worth prioritising time for a logbook because it is invisible work and just something you do for yourself.
And yes, initially it may be mostly for yourself, but you can benefit from continuing your onboarding log as an employment logbook.
You can benefit from this when preparing for a development meeting with your manager or when you need to remember your professional achievements for a salary negotiation.