Danish Employment Contract
When you are agri LIDA intern you always obtain a work contract from your prospective employer before you start working.
The contract of employment states all the terms and conditions of applying to the employment.
The general terms of your employment are regulated by a collective agreement, the employment contract will typically include a reference to this specific agreement.
Written Employment Contract
The Danish Employment Contract Act applies mandatory requirements to a contract. These include:
- The employer’s and employee’s name and address
- The address of the workplace
- Your job title or a description of your work tasks
- The date employment commences and possibly the end date for employment on a project basis
- The employee’s rights – for example whether they are paid during holidays
- Rules for notice of termination
- Salary, additional salary, when pension is paid
- Working hours (daily or weekly) as well as any agreement for overtime work
- Indication of the current collective agreement or other agreements
- Other important factors that can affect the employment relationship
The Danish model
In many countries, most rules concerning areas such as work hours, overtime, notice period and pay are solely stipulated in laws, passed by politicians.
This is not the case in Denmark. Instead, the so-called ‘Danish labour market model’ is based on a division of responsibility between the Danish state and the labour market parties, collective agreements and a high percentage of the population organised in unions.
There is no statuary minimum wage. Instead, employees’ work conditions are primarily negotiated and agreed between the labour market parties, i.e. the unions and employers’ associations. Such agreements are known as collective agreements. The national legislation only covers specific areas such as health and safety, holiday entitlement, sickness benefits, equal treatment and equal pay.