Job change

Job change

What do you need to know when you want to change career or job?

Changing your job will probably lead to some considerations. It can be a long process and for some it may seem confusing. This article can help guide you so that you can be more informed about what it means to change jobs in general - or in Denmark specifically.

Which job is right for me?

Danes are among the people in Denmark who change jobs the most.

Every year, approximately 750,000 Danes change jobs in Denmark. A study conducted by Danica Pension in collaboration with Jobindsats.dk showed that almost one million Danes in the period from March 2021 to February 2022 had moved to a new job. 

Seniority when changing jobs

Seniority is about the time you have been employed in a particular position, held a particular function or been a member of something. In other words, your experience. Seniority is used to lay down various provisions in an employment relationship, which will most often be salary and notice period. This is primarily true in the public sector. Here it has an impact on the basic salary that you must receive as a minimum.  As your seniority increases, usually this happens every one or two years, you will often be able to look forward to a salary increase and possibly improved benefits.

It can be an advantage if you are a member of a trade union, as this will help you with a salary check should you be unsure whether you get the right salary in relation to your seniority.

New holiday law from 2020

It is important to take a holiday, a holiday can provide an opportunity to recharge your batteries and get ready for when everyday life knocks on the door again. Especially with a job change, a holiday can also be a nice break.

Denmark's first holiday law was passed by the Riksdag in 1938. At that time, the Holiday Act gave all employees the right to two weeks paid holiday. Before then, it was not a legal right to take a holiday from work.

Today, however, it is a little different. For many Danes, a five week holiday entitlement is a matter of course.

If you are an employee and covered by the Holiday Act, you earn the right to paid holiday.

This means that all employees continue to earn 25 days holiday (5 weeks) per year, which equates to 2.08 days of paid holiday for each month you are employed.

In September 2020, a new law was introduced, contemporary holiday. The principles are the same - ie 25 earned holiday days - but before September 2020, Danish employees had to save up a whole year before they could take paid holiday. Under the new holiday law, Danes are able to take holiday days as they earn them.

Under the new holiday law, the holiday year runs from 1 September to 31 August, ie 12 months.

The holidays are not regulated in the Holidays Act, but agreed between the employer and the employee.

Rules for care days when changing jobs

Care days for you who work or are considering a job in the private sector:

As a private employee, you are only entitled to care days if it is stated in your employment contract or stated in the collective agreement, the housing agreement or the personnel policy at your workplace.

Care days for those who work, or are considering a job in the public sector:

As a public sector employee, both parents are entitled to two days of care per calendar year, per child, up to and including the year the child turns 7 years old.  Care days not taken lapse at the turn of the year, with the exception of the child's year of birth, and maternity leave - where the care days are postponed to the following year.

Care days are covered by the Salaried Employees Act.

The act says if you change jobs from a public workplace to a private workplace, you will lose your care days if you do not have time to take the care days before you change jobs. In addition, you will not be entitled to financial dispensation for the care days you do not have time to take.

If you change jobs across the public sector, ie, from region to municipality, you will receive two new care days in the year you take up your new position, even if you may have already taken two days in that year at your previous workplace.

• If you change jobs between the public sector, ie, from one municipality to another municipality, you will have the care days you have for the benefit transferred, but you will not receive two new care days in the year you take up your new position.

Good advice when changing jobs

When you have to change jobs, you may have many questions.  How do I find a new job, how do I make the change, what should I remember? How do I get the best possible start in my new workplace?

Karin Bremer is an independent occupational psychologist and specialist in occupational and organisational psychology. She has many years of experience from assignments in both public and private companies.  She has a few tips for you who may be sitting with the above considerations.

Karin Bremer says that a crucial competence when you come to a new workplace is that you focus on being curious and inquisitive and that you are not afraid to ask questions.

“Many people may focus so much on having to perform and show the new workplace that it has been wise to hire them that they may talk over the heads of experienced colleagues and managers. Here you have to remember to "stick a finger in the ground". Of course you have to perform, but allow yourself to be curious first and foremost.  Think about what kind of workplace you have come to and what is important right here. One has to look at it as a gift for the new workplace that one comes with fresh eyes. It may cause the organisation to reflect on its patterns, that is, why they do as they do in that workplace. So it's okay to ask the 'stupid' questions."

Karin Bremer also says that if you are a manager who changes workplace, you can be so preoccupied with having to leave your old job that you overestimate your own importance for the future of the workplace. You might think that you have to lay a lot of tracks for the future. But when a new leader comes along, a line is usually drawn in the sand as well. Focus on making a clean break when you change jobs and put your effort into your new workplace.

If you are in the mood of searching for a new job, you may start your job seaching here: