The new legislative programme from an employment law perspective

Amendment of the Equal Treatment Act (Oct I)

The bill to amend the Equal Treatment Act will implement a "Tripartite Agreement on Initiatives to Counter Sexual Harassment in the Workplace" from March 2022.

The bill aims to ensure a clear regulatory framework in sexual harassment cases, and to ensure higher compensation in serious cases and a better legal position for students and apprentices who have been subjected to sexual harassment. 

Law on requirements for employers providing accommodation to employees (Oct I)

The bill aims to introduce a general requirement that an employer who provides accommodation for one or more employees must ensure good and up-to-date housing conditions. In this context, it is proposed that the Danish Labour Inspectorate (Arbejdstilsynet) will supervise compliance with the requirements on accommodation. 

The proposed legislation will be of particular importance for companies employing foreign workers and providing accommodation for their employees. 

Law on employment certificates and certain working conditions (Nov I)

The bill implements Directive 2019/1152 on transparent and predictable working conditions for workers in the EU (Working Conditions Directive). The Directive requires the establishment of a set of minimum rights for all workers in the Union.

The bill aims to improve working conditions for employees by promoting more transparent and predictable employment relations. We have previously written a newsletter on the Directive which can be read here. 

Amendments to the Working Environment Act, the Workers’ Compensation Act, the Aliens Act and the Act on the Posting of Workers, etc. (Nov I)

The purpose of the bill is to ensure that companies that repeatedly violate the Working Environment Act and the posting rules without showing the will to rectify the situation are monitored more closely by the Labour Inspectorate than at present, and that, as a last resort, construction sites may be closed until working environment conditions are put right (construction site ban). 

The bill also aims to strengthen the fight against the use of illegal labour by introducing a requirement for employers to ensure that employees produce identification documents at the request of the Labour Inspectorate and the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) and by requiring more information to be entered in the Register of Foreign Service Providers (RUT). 

In addition, the bill aims to implement parts of the recommendations of the Danish Temporary Committee on Working Environment and Safety on improving the protection of the safety representative and on clarifying the rules on workplace assessment. 

Finally, the bill aims to implement parts of an agreement on initiatives in the asbestos field between the government and a number of parties and to give the Labour Inspectorate and the National Research Centre for the Working Environment access to additional information in the income register, etc.