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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?

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POLITICS

ANALYSIS: Is left-wing party’s EU election win good news for foreigners in Denmark?   

Denmark’s EU election returned a dream result for the Socialist People’s Party (SF), a centre-left opposition party. Could it have any long-term impact for foreigners who live in Denmark?

ANALYSIS: Is left-wing party’s EU election win good news for foreigners in Denmark?   

What happened in the election? 

Sunday’s EU elections can be considered a huge win for the Socialist People’s Party (SF).

The party reeived 17.4 percent of the vote, up 4.2 points from 2019, making it the largest Danish party in the EU parliament and giving it 3 of Denmark’s 15 seats.

It also means SF now has as many EU parliament seats as the goverining Social Democrats, who lost 5.9 points to end on 15.6 percent, with their mandate allocation staying at 3.

The two parties are closely aligned in domestic Danish politics, despite SF currently being in opposition and the Social Democrats being the senior partner in a tripartite coalition with the centre-right Liberals (Venstre) and centrist Moderates.

Like the Social Democrats, the Liberals also had a damaging evening. The party lost 8.8 points and is now Denmark’s third-largest in the EU on 14.7 percent and 2 seats – 2 fewer than it had in 2019. However, they remain the largest Danish right-wing party in the EU by some distance, seeing off any challenge from the libertarian Liberal Alliance (LA) along with the far right. 

The Moderates, meanwhile, took a single seat in the EU parliament for their lead candidate Stine Bosse with a 5.9 percent share in their first EU election.

READ ALSO: Four key takeaways from the EU elections in Denmark

What is the potential impact on domestic politics? 

Speaking on election night, SF leader Pia Olsen Dyhr said the party’s excellent result could be used as a “catalyst” for a new political landscape in Denmark.

The EU election result can fuel further gains for SF when the next general election comes around, Dyhr said in the midst of her party’s celebrations.

“There’s an alternative to this government. There’s an alternative that wants [more] welfare and [to do more for] the climate and we are willing to deliver this in the EU parliament,” she told broadcaster DR.

“It gives us a tailwind and enthusiasm for the party and it means people will be even more ready for local elections next year and the general election further ahead,” she said.

During a press briefing on Monday, chief political analyst at Think Tank Europe Christine Nissen said that the resounding result for SF could indeed have implications for future national elections.

“We won’t see any direct results or change in government right away but there’s no doubt that the power balances are reflected in such a result as yesterday because it was so significant,” Nissen said, highlighting in particular the poor outcome for the Social Democrats.

“I think that looking towards the next national election, the Social Democrats might well have a very strong party on the left. And this will also matter,” she said.

During Prime Minister Frederiksen’s first term between 2019 and 2022, the Social Democrats ruled as a minority government propped up by parties to its left – including SF.

Theoretically, this structure or a similar one could return but with a stronger and more influential SF, if that party can transfer its European vote return to a national one. Neither the Social Democrats nor SF have given any hint of this happening, it should be noted.

Would a more influential SF change anything for foreigners?

The answer to this question is speculative, but SF and Social Democrats are generally allies. SF says it favours a “sensible” approach to immigration and in practice agrees with the Social Democrats more often than not.

SF has, occasionally, set out areas on which it does not agree with Social Democratic policies.

This has included accepting quota refugees from the UN – a question on which the Social Democrats eventually changed stance and agreed with SF.

The smaller party has also advocated more accommodating rules for family reunification of refugees, and opposed some controversial policies such as the “Jewellery Law” which was supported by the Social Democrats (but proposed by the Liberals).

On broad issues such as citizenship and residency permits, SF has not often broken with the Social Democrats during Frederiksen’s time in office – so much so, that the party has been criticised by its own youth wing for taking too tough a line on immigration.

While other left-wing parties like the Red-Green Alliance and Social Liberals, for example, want to change citizenship rules to better accommodate Danish-born non-citizens, SF is yet to explicitly support this.

On work permits, the party sometimes votes against rule adjustments that make it easier to hire from abroad (as can be seen here), ostensibly because one of its core identities is as a workers’ party which protects Danish labour. 

It is therefore far from certain, if SF had many more seats in parliament than it does today, that the party would pursue a significantly changed approach on immigration and integration.

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