The Employment Certificate Act - Your guide as an employer

The Employment Certificate Act

It is absolutely essential that companies comply with the Employment Certificate Act. It is 100% the company's responsibility that an employee gets their employment certificate. If you want to ensure that your company complies with the rules in relation to the Employment Certificate Act, then you have come to the right place. Read on in this post and learn about everything that is important to know about the Employment Certificate Act.

What is the Employment Certificate Act?

The Employment Certificate Act was created to ensure that employees acquire all the most important information about the terms of the employment relationship. Therefore, all companies in Denmark have a duty to provide information. Perhaps you are wondering whether all your employees are entitled to an employment contract? You can read more about this in the next section.

Who is covered by the Employment Certificate Act?

All employees who have been employed by the company for more than a month and have worked more than 8 hours a week are entitled to receive an employment certificate. It is a requirement according to the legislation that the proof must be in the hands of the employee no later than one month after employment. You must be aware that the employment certificate must be given to your employee as soon as they have had an average working time that exceeds 8 hours per week.

In the section below, you can read about how an employment contract can be structured and which essential points an employment contract must contain.

Template for an employment contract

Under the points below, you can read about what information the company is obliged to inform its employees about on their employment certificate:

1. Name and address of the employer and the employee
2. Location of the workplace. If the place of work cannot be limited to one address, the company must state that the work is carried out in different places. In addition, the company must either state the headquarters of the company or the address of the employer
3. A description of the work the employee must perform for your company, or an indication of the employee's title, rank, position or job category
4. Date of commencement of employment
5. If the employment relationship is limited in time, the expected duration of the employment must be stated
6. Your employees' rights in relation to paid holiday. It must be stated here whether wages are paid during holidays
7. The applicable or agreed salary to which your employee is entitled at the start of employment. It is also expected that you state which allowances and other salary components such as pension contributions etc, board and lodging to which the employee is entitled in addition to the salary
8. The normal daily or weekly working hours
9. Indication of which collective agreements or regulate the working relationship. If collective agreements are entered into with parties outside the company, you must disclose who these parties are

When the employment certificate must be handed over, it can be done in three different ways. The following explains how this can be done:

1. A written statement in which all the above mentioned points about the terms of the employment relationship are included
2. The company can write an employment contract or a letter of employment in which all the above points are mentioned
3. One or more documents can be created. The company is obliged to disclose points 1-4 as well as points 8 and 9 in at least one of the documents

Sometimes changes in your employees' work tasks can occur. When this happens, it is important that you deal with this. The next section details what you must do in your company if there are changes in the employment relationship.

Changes in the employment relationship between the company and employee

As an employer, it is important that you are aware of changes in the working relationship between your company and your employees. You have a duty to inform your employees about changes in the employment relationship, should this occur. This must take place in writing and no later than 1 month before the change is implemented. You are not obliged to disclose changes in the employment relationship if the change occurs due to changes in laws, administrative provisions, statutory provisions or collective agreements, however it is a good idea that you refer to these.

If your company has employees who work abroad, there are some additional points that you must be aware of. You can read about this in the next section.

Employees abroad

If your employee works abroad in one or more countries for more than a month at a time, it is your job in the company to disclose this in the employment contract. Your employee is entitled to receive the contract no later than one month before they are due to travel.

Below you can read about all the points in the employment contract regarding work abroad, which must be disclosed:

1. The time period for the work abroad
2. The currency in which the salary is paid
3. If applicable, the benefits in kind and cash in connection with the stay abroad
4. If applicable, the conditions for your employees' return to their home country must be disclosed
5. Whether steps have been taken to obtain the necessary certificates regarding the secondment

The next thing to do is to: