Prohibition against discrimination

The regulations against discrimination are contained in the Act prohibiting discrimination in employment and specify that qualifications alone can determine whether a person should be offered a vacancy or promotion.

What do the regulations encompass?

The regulations prohibit discrimination and harassment on the grounds of:

• Race, skin colour or ethnic origin
• Religion or faith
• Sexual orientation
• National or social origin
• Political views
• Age
• Disability

The prohibition against gender discrimination is found in the regulations on equal treatment and equal pay for men and women.

Read more about equality and equal pay

You can complain about discrimination

If you have been subject to illegal discriminatory treatment you can complain to the Board of Equal Treatment. Filing a complaint is free and can be done on the National Board of Appeals website. If your claim is upheld you are entitled to compensation.

Click here if you wish to complain about illegal discrimination (in Danish)

Direct and indirect discrimination

The law prohibiting employment discrimination prohibits both direct and indirect discrimination. Direct discrimination is, for example, if an employer fails to hire someone or dismisses an employee on the grounds that he or she has a particular ethnicity, colour, religion or disability.

Indirect discrimination is, for example, if an employer makes demands that are not relevant in relation to the job to be filled, and the demands negatively affect a particular group. For example, if certain language requirements affect a particular group, people with a different ethnic origin than Danish, for instance, it must be assessed whether the requirement is reasonable in relation to the work tasks or if it is a question of discrimination.