As a posted worker you have the same right to a safe and healthy working environment as Danish citizens. Other areas covered by posted worker’s rights are: discrimination at the workplace, equal rights and equal pay for men and women and some of the regulation on working hours. Besides this, you are assured the minimum rights arising from the Danish Holiday Act, if the holiday regulations in your home country are less generous.

Definition of posting and a posted worker

A worker posted to Denmark is an employee who is usually employed in another country and is sent to Denmark by their employer to work for a limited period of time.

An enterprise is considered to have posted workers to Denmark in the following situations:

• The enterprise has sent an employee to Denmark to provide a service to an enterprise or private person in Denmark
• The enterprise, a temporary work agency, for example, has hired out an employee to a user enterprise in Denmark
• The enterprise has sent an employee to an enterprise in Denmark within the same group or which is otherwise affiliated to the posting enterprise.

One of the conditions that must be fulfilled in order for a situation to be characterised as posting is that an employment relationship exist between the worker and the posting enterprise or temporary work agency.
Another condition is that the enterprise making the posting has to be genuinely established in the country of origin, which means that the enterprise must have substantial activity in that country.

Your rights as a posted worker

According to the Act concerning the Posting of Workers that workers posted in Denmark by a foreign enterprise are covered by the following legislation:

The Working Environment Act (in English)
The Offshore Safety Act (in Danish)
The Act on Aviation (in Danish)
The Equal Treatment Act (in Danish)
The Equal Pay Act (in Danish)
The Act on Prohibition against Discrimination on the Labour Market etc. (in Danish)
Paragraph 7 and Section 9(1) of the Salaried Employees Act (in Danish)
The Act on Implementation of Parts of the Working Time Directive (in Danish)
The Act on the rights of temporary agency workers upon assignment by a temporary-work agency, etc. (in English)
Certain rules regarding holidays (in Danish)
Act on certain working condition in agriculture etc. - Sections 5 and 6 (in Danish)
The Consolidation Act concerning Posting of Workers etc. (in Danish)

The Act concerning the Posting of Workers etc. protects posted workers against victimization and ensures that posted workers can file a lawsuit in Denmark concerning his or her rights as a posted worker.

Posted drivers

The posting rules applies to foreign drivers when they are hired in a transport company that is established in another EU member state. When the driver is performing cabotag with goods or passengers, the initial or final road leg of a combined transport, where the loading and unloading is in Denmark or Non-bilateral international transports (cross-trade) the driver is considered as posted to Denmark.

Rules applicable to posted drivers

Minimum wage?

In Denmark, there is no statutory minimum wage. The wages is primarily set and agreed to in the national collective agreements. We therefore recommend any transport operators to contact the social partners regarding working conditions before posting their drivers to Denmark.

Posted drivers, that are employed by a transport company in another EU member state and who performs certain transports in Denmark, are covered by the sector specific rules. This means, among other things, that in certain cases they are entitled to a minimum wage.

Remuneration of posted drivers
Pay and working hours in Denmark

Other terms

Posting within agriculture – requirements for accommodation

If a posted worker carries out agricultural or domestic work while working away from home, where accommodation is part of the remuneration, the employer shall ensure good, modern living conditions and that the employee has clean bed linen and towels.

The employer shall also pay for insurance of the employee’s possessions at a level corresponding to normal family insurance.

Posted workers carrying out “salaried work” 

If a posted worker is carrying out salaried work, the employer shall cover any expenses for travel and stay in Denmark. This applies if the employee is sent from the normal workplace in Denmark to carry out work temporarily at a different location. “Salaried” work is understood to refer typically to work in the trade, office and sales sectors.

Long-term posting

If a worker is posted in Denmark for a period exceeding 12 months, the employer shall provide the employee with a number of further conditions and rights that apply to work in Denmark.

The employer can extend the period up to 18 months before the additional conditions and rights are to apply. The additional regulations which may apply when an employee is deployed away from home for more than 12 or 18 months are:

The part-time Act

The legislation ensures that part-time employees are not discriminated against in comparison to full-time employees. In addition, the Act aims to facilitate the possibility of part-time work.
The Part-time Act

The Act on fixed-term employment

The Act contains regulations to improve the quality of fixed-term employment.
Act on fixed-term employment

Some of the provision of the salaried employee Act

The Act lays down conditions and regulations for the employment conditions for salaried employees, e.g. for sick pay (Section 5) and the right to organise and negotiate with the employer (Section 10).
The Salaried Employee Act

Act on the use of health information in the workplace

The Act ensures that the employer does not use the employee’s health information to limit the possibilities of the employee to obtain or retain employment.
Act on the use of health information in the workplace

The Act on the right to leave for family circumstances

The Act ensures the right of employees to leave from work for special family reasons, including in the event of sickness or accident.
Act on the right to leave for special family circumstances

The Act on Posting of Workers guarantees your rights

The Act concerning the Posting of Workers etc. implements the EU Posted Workers Directive. The purpose of the Directive is to ensure fair competition and to safeguard employees’ rights when they are posted to work in another member state. The Directive ensures that employees posted to another EU member state or to a member state of the European Economic Area (EEA) are assured certain working conditions in the host country.

Furthermore, the act on posting implements the Enforcement Directive. The Enforcement Directive is intended to ensure better enforcement of the rights stemming from the Posted Workers Directive, and to avoid abuse and circumvention.