SHARE
COPY LINK

WORKING IN DENMARK

Danish company gives unlimited sick days to employees with kids

A Danish energy company has said it will not limit sick days for staff with children. More businesses could eventually adopt the model according to an expert.

Danish company gives unlimited sick days to employees with kids
Staff at a Danish energy company have been granted unlimited days off work to take care of their children if they are sick. Photo by Andrew Ebrahim on Unsplash

Denmark has labour rules in place providing for parents to take time off work if their children are sick, but the number of days that can be taken is limited.

This will no longer be the case at energy company Norlys, which has announced unlimited sick days for staff with children, broadcaster DR reports.

READ ALSO: Can you take sick leave in Denmark if your child is ill?

Norlys, which has energy, internet and TV divisions, has around 3,000 employees according to DR.

It will not deduct wages for employees when they stay home to take care of unwell children, nor will the employee lose any holiday or time off in lieu.

“Many of my colleagues were stressed when one of their children got sick. Because of work, many of them – myself included – have dropped off a half-unwell child at kindergarten, nursery or with carers,” Maria Østergaard, a Norlys employee committee member who raised the issue with company leadership, told DR.

She called the decision by Norlys a “huge vote of confidence” and said staff were “happy and very proud” of the move.

The new arrangement took effect on March 1st.

The seemingly generous offer from Norlys to its staff is unusual, even in Denmark, a country known for its work-life balance ethic and with a reputation for good labour conditions.

Professor in labour market research at Aalborg University Thomas Bredgaard told DR he had not seen anything similar before at Danish companies, but said it was likely the idea could spread if it is successful at Norlys.

A current high demand for labour in Denmark means workplaces must make themselves attractive, he noted.

“It’s about offering some good conditions at workplaces so they can attract competent staff. And this is a good example of that,” he said.

Negotiations for collective bargaining agreements could eventually enable the measure to be implemented more broadly, he said.

“If you, for example, can’t get higher salaries or other benefits, you could put this proposal on the table. Good ideas have a tendency to spread,” he said.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: What is a Danish collective bargaining agreement?

Norlys director of HR Agnete Lundemose told DR she expected the new staff benefit to boost the company as well as support employees.

“We think we’ll get more satisfied and less stressed staff and we’ll get something back in the form of increased loyalty from employees,” she said.

The HR director added she did not expect a hefty bill arising from increased staff absence.

“We do not expect it to give us a lot of extra costs because we believe that staff are fully capable of balancing it themselves,” she said.

The Confederation of Danish Industry and Danish Chamber of Commerce declined to comment to DR regarding the story, citing ongoing collective bargaining negotiations.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: What are the rules for taking sick leave in Denmark?

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

WORKING IN DENMARK

Why are Danish experts recommending closure of all job centres?

Recommendations made by an expert commission to the government on employment and welfare advocate for closure of all municipal job centres.

Why are Danish experts recommending closure of all job centres?

Denmark’s job centres, which are responsible for administration of social welfare benefits for people seeking employment and of facilitating training and work placements under welfare lows, should be closed according to recommendations handed to the government on Monday.

Additionally, over half of the current rules related to unemployment benefits should be scrapped and 9 in 10 sanctions for people who fail to comply with criteria such as attending meetings or applying for a set number of jobs.

Denmark has two broad tiers for those out of work: dagpenge, which provides an income calculated on the person’s tax payments while in employment, and the more basic kontanthjælp.

Dagpenge is available to people who a paying members of a semi-private uninsurance provider called an Arbejdsløshedskasse or A-kasse, while kontanthjælp is available to everyone.

Both groups must comply with legal requirements related to job searching in order to receive the benefits they qualify for – these are administered by municipal job centres.

READ ALSO:

When the coalition government took office at the end of 2022 it stated that it wanted to save three billion kroner annually by reforming the municipal unemployment area and improving its efficiency – specifically by targeting job centres.

This has led to an expert group, appointed by the government, making six specific requirements – those announce on Monday.

The government is not obliged to follow the recommendations.

But the expert group says there is much to gain from closing job centres.

“There’s great potential in replacing the current one-size-fits-all system with a new approach where individual needs are in focus,” group chairperson Claus Thustrup Kreiner said in a press statement.

The six broad recommendations are as follows:

  • Fewer target groups and special rules
  • Individual programmes
  • More balanced sanctions system
  • Abolish job centres and introduce free organisation at municipalities
  • Give more influence to A-kasse and private interests
  • Results, not system-based approach

|Source: DR

“Our report includes recommendations for the biggest reform of the jobseeking area ever, and will make the system cheaper, simpler and more dignified without weakening employment,” Kreiner said.

The national confederation for trade unions, Fagbevægelsens Hovedorganisation (FH), criticised the costcutting element of the recommendations in comments to broadcaster DR, and also said it would reduce the options and rights of jobseekers.

“I thought this was about giving unemployed people more freedom to decide what they need,” FH chairperson Nanna Højlund said.

“But the expert group clearly sees it as being about allowing municipalities to do exactly what they want,” she said.

The Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) welcomed the proposals.

“The expert group has proposed a simplification of employment with fewer rules and benefit categories and with a large saving” DI deputy director Steen Nielsen said in a statement.

“That is a good idea because it’s difficult to run a job centre efficiently with the many different criteria and rules that must be met for each of the many categories,” he added.

SHOW COMMENTS