The Employment Certificate Act - Read here if you are an employee

The Employment Certificate Act

It is important that you, as an employee, familiarise yourself with the terms that apply in the employment relationship between you and your employer.

The Employment Certificate Act has been created to ensure that you, as an employee, receive all the most important information about the terms of the employment relationship. In this post you can read everything you need to know about the Employment Certificate Act.

Who is covered by the Employment Certificate Act?

If you have had your job for more than one month and worked more than 8 hours a week, you have the right to receive a certificate of employment from your employer. This proof must be received no later than one month after the employment takes place. If you do not have an average working time of 8 hours per week at the start of employment, your employer will be required to provide information when you have had an average working time of more than 8 hours per week within the past 4 weeks.

If you have ever wondered what points an employment contract should contain, then read on in the next section.

Information your employment contract must contain

Under the following points, you can see what information the employer is obliged to inform you about on your employment certificate:

1. Name and address of the employer and the employee
2. The location of the workplace

If the work cannot be limited to one address, the employer must state that the work is carried out in different locations. In addition, the employer must provide either the head office of the company or the employee address

1. A description of the work that the employee must perform for the company, or an indication of the employee's title, rank, position or job category
2. Date of commencement of employment
3. If the employment relationship is limited in time, the expected duration of the employment must be stated
4. The employee's rights in relation to paid holiday. It must be stated here whether wages are paid during holidays
5. The current or agreed salary to which the employee is entitled at the start of employment. It is also expected to be disclosed which supplements and other salary components such as pension contributions etc, board and lodging, which employees are entitled to in addition to their salary
6. The normal daily or weekly working hours
7. Indication of which collective agreements or regulate the working relationship. If collective agreements are entered into with parties outside the company, then who these parties are must be disclosed

All this information can be handed over via a written statement, where all the above conditions for the employment relationship are disclosed. The employer can also draw up a written employment contract or a letter of employment. Another possibility is to communicate the information in one or more documents. Here, however, the employer is obliged to disclose points 1-4 as well as points 8 and 9 in at least one of the documents.

If you work abroad, there are some additional points that must be met. These points are elaborated in the following section.

Working abroad

If you work outside Denmark's borders in one or more other countries and you work abroad for more than 1 month, this must be stated in the employment contract and be in your hands before departure. In addition to the above mentioned points, which must be included in the employment contract, it is a requirement that the following points are included in the contract:

1. The duration of the work carried out 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 the employee's return to the home country must be disclosed
5. Whether steps have been taken to obtain the necessary certificates regarding the secondment

It doesn't matter whether you work abroad or in Denmark, there can be changes in your terms of employment. Read more about the employer's obligation to provide information should any such changes occur.

Has there been a change in your terms of employment?

The employer is obliged to notify you in writing of any changes made to your employment relationship. This must be done no later than 1 month after the change comes into effect. However, there is an exception. If the change is due to changes in laws, administrative provisions, statutory provisions or collective agreements, the employer can refer to these.

An employment contract is important. Therefore, you also have the opportunity to react if you have not received your employment contract or it is defective. This is elaborated in the next section.

My employer has not complied with the disclosure obligation, what do I do?

If you are in doubt as to whether your employer has complied with its obligation to provide information, you can report the matter to the Labour Market Board of Appeal, where they will decide on your case.

If it is the case that your employer has not complied with the duty to provide information, you can receive compensation from the courts. The size of the compensation depends on the circumstances of the case, where emphasis will be placed on whether the lack of employment contract has had consequences for you as an employee. As a rule, the compensation will not exceed 13 weeks' salary, unless there are aggravating circumstances which may lead to the compensation being increased to 20 weeks' salary.

It will not be possible to receive more than DKK 1,000 in compensation if the lack of employment contract has had no effect on the employment relationship.

If you want to know more about the Employment Certificate Act, you can find more information about it here.

Now you are ready for the next phase, namely: