Every country has rules and regulations in place to protect employees. And if you want to employ workers in Denmark, it’s your responsibility to understand what those rules look like so you can ensure your operations comply. In this section, we’ll take you through some of the most important employee protection laws in Denmark to help you keep your Danish employees safe, including the rules related to whistleblowing, data protection, and discrimination and harassment. Read on to learn everything you need to know about the protection of employees in Denmark.
Whistleblowers play an important role in society by calling out wrongdoing they witness in the workplace. For this reason, most countries have specific laws to both facilitate disclosures and protect whistleblowers from retaliation and discrimination.
Denmark’s Whistleblower Protection Act was passed on 24 June 2021, making Denmark the first EU country to transpose the EU Whistleblowing Directive into national law. The Whistleblower Protection Act requires all Danish employers with more than 50 employees to put in place internal reporting channels to enable whistleblowers to more easily come forward with information about wrongdoing (or potential wrongdoing) in the workplace.
Internal reporting systems must allow whistleblowers to make reports either orally or in writing. Businesses in Denmark are also advised to accept anonymous reporting in order to encourage whistleblowers to use internal reporting channels, although this is not a legal obligation. Under the Whistleblower Protection Act, whistleblowers can also choose to report directly to the Data Protection
Agency instead of using their company’s internal reporting channels.
Denmark’s whistleblowing law defines whistleblowing as reports of EU law breaches, violations of Danish law and other serious matters such as criminal offences, theft, fraud, embezzlement, or bribery, for example. The act also covers reports of sexual harassment or other severe interpersonal conflicts in the workplace.
Under Denmark’s whistleblowing law, it is illegal for employers to retaliate against whistleblowers. Retaliation might include:
This helps to encourage employees to come forward about any wrongdoing they become aware of without fear of being punished. If an employer does discriminate against a whistleblower in Denmark because of their disclosure, the whistleblower could be entitled to compensation.
As in many countries, there are limitations on the data that employers can collect and process about their employees in Denmark. As an employer, you need to know what you can and can’t do with your employees’ data, or you could be in breach of both Danish and EU law.
Denmark’s data protection law is based on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which is an EU-wide law that limits how businesses can process personal data. In Denmark, Act No. 502 of 23 May 2018 expands on the GDPR by adding several other limitations to data processing. The Danish Data Protection Agency is the authority responsible for ensuring compliance with Denmark’s data protection laws.
Under Denmark’s data protection laws, employers can only process employee data in the following situations:
Employees also have the right to request detailed information about the processing of their data, which the employer must provide in a concise, easily accessible, transparent, and understandable format.
The rules about employee monitoring and surveillance are an important element of employee data protection in Denmark. Employers have the right to monitor and surveil their employees, as long as this is objectively justified on operational grounds and the monitoring or surveillance has a reasonable purpose. This might include putting in place measures like CCTV cameras, or software that monitors employees’ activity on work computers.
However, employee monitoring must comply with the GDPR. Employers also have to inform employees about the control measures they have in place, their purpose, and the employees’ rights under the GDPR.
Companies in Denmark can hire workers through temporary work agencies if they only need their services for a limited period. In this case, the workers are employees of the temporary work agency and are leased out to the end user.
There are certain rules that both temporary work agencies and the companies that use them have to follow regarding the treatment of temporary workers. For example, the end user employer must inform temporary agency workers of any vacant positions that become available within the company to give them the opportunity to secure a permanent position. Temporary work agencies can’t include clauses in their contracts that forbid workers from taking a job with the end user company after their temporary placement is over.
Under Danish law, temporary agency workers are entitled to the same conditions that they would be entitled to under the law, collective bargaining agreements, or other legally binding general provisions if they were employed directly by the end user. For example, they must receive equal treatment in terms of:
Temporary agency workers must also be given access to the same collective amenities and facilities as permanent workers, including canteens, childcare facilities, and transport facilities. These rights are in place from day one of employment. Temporary agency workers can also request information from the agency they are employed by for information about the working conditions of the company where the work will be carried out.
Discriminating against an employee due to a protected characteristic like their gender, race, or skin colour is illegal in Denmark under the Act on the Prohibition of Differences of Treatment in the Labour Market. This applies during hiring, employment, and termination. The law applies to both Danish employers and foreign businesses with posted workers in Denmark.
The law on discrimination in Denmark specifically prohibits both direct and indirect discrimination. Direct discrimination is when an employee is disadvantaged (e.g. dismissed, not hired, or refused a promotion) because they hold a particular protected characteristic. Indirect discrimination is when rules are put in place that disproportionately impact one group, even if they apply to everyone in theory. An example would be putting in place specific language requirements for a job that didn’t require them.
Each country has a slightly different set of characteristics that are counted as protected under anti-discrimination laws. In Denmark, the Act on the Prohibition of Differences of Treatment in the Labour Market makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of any of the following factors:
Discrimination on the basis of gender is prohibited under a different piece of legislation, the Danish Act on Equal Treatment between Men and Women.
Under Denmark’s discrimination laws, employees who feel they have been discriminated against can report the discriminatory treatment to the Board of Equal Treatment. This can be done for free on the National Board of Appeals website. Employees might be entitled to compensation if their claim is upheld.
The Danish parliament recently adopted a new act that amends the Danish Act on Equal Treatment between Men and Women. Its intended purpose is to reduce sexual harassment (and other types of harassment) in the workplace. Under the new rules, employers will be explicitly responsible for ensuring a harassment-free working environment and responding to incidents of harassment. The law also clarifies the compensation that is due to employees who experience harassment in the workplace, which is payable by both the employer and the offender.
Under the Danish Act on Equal Treatment between Men and Women, employees in Denmark have the right to equal treatment at work regardless of their gender. This applies to:
The right to equal pay for equal work in Denmark is set out in the Consolidation Act on Equal Pay to Men and Women. This law means that men and women must receive the same compensation if the work they perform is the same or of equal value.
In some circumstances, employers can give men or (usually) women preferential treatment if this is necessary to promote gender equality. For example, they could choose to prioritise female candidates for a role to improve gender parity within their organisation. However, they must get permission from the Ministry responsible for their sector if they want to do this.
Denmark’s Equal Pay Act requires companies with 35 or more employees to share pay information, broken down by gender, with employee groups. The idea is to inform employees if there is a gender pay gap in their organisation. Currently, employers in Denmark are not required to share this information publicly or with a regulatory body.
The EU recently approved a new directive on pay transparency, which will come into effect across member states by 2026. This will amend the Equal Pay Act in Denmark by introducing several new obligations for employers and rights for employees. For example, the directive will mean that:
Understanding your obligations as an employer is one of the biggest challenges of hiring in Denmark. Missteps can lead to legal action and reputational damage.
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