Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

WORK PERMITS

How can a work permit holder stay in Denmark after losing a job?

If you have a work permit in Denmark but lose your job, can you remain in the country while looking for new work? The answer depends on several factors.

Published: 13 April 2023 17:20 CEST
Updated: 6 July 2023 16:22 CEST
People working at laptops.
There are differences in what you're entitled to in Switzerland - especially when it comes to work - if you're an EU/EFTA national compared to someone from outside this area. Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash

Becoming unemployed is a huge stress for anyone, but it could be even more of a challenge for foreign nationals.

As a foreign national employed in Denmark, you have the option of joining an A-kasse (or arbejdsløshedskasse), a private unemployment insurance fund which administers unemployment benefits.

In addition to Danish nationals, both EU/EEA nationals and third country nationals are eligible to join an A-kasse. The right to unemployment benefits is the same for everyone provided they have legal residence and a work permit, regardless of nationality.

READ ALSO: A-kasse: Everything foreigners in Denmark need to know about unemployment insurance

But how long can you remain in the country after losing your job may depend on the kind of permit you have.

Work permits are no longer than four years but you can apply for an extension three months before your current permit expires. So you also need to apply for an extension to residency based on your work permit, which will be on the same conditions as you got the first one.

In order to extend your permit, your employment must not have changed. This means that you must be employed in the same position, by the same employer and under the same or improved terms of employment.

If you change jobs, you need to apply for a new work permit or if your salary or other employment terms are diminished, you must inform the Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI), the agency which processes work permit applications.

It should also be noted that if you have a resident permit based on your partner (sponsor’s) employment and their employment is extended, you must also apply for an extension of your residence permit.

On its website, SIRI states that if “significant changes to your terms of employment are made, you must apply for a new residence and work permit.”

However, if you have been granted a residence permit as a researcher or according to the Pay Limit Scheme or the Fast Track Scheme, specific rules apply.

READ ALSO: How have work permit rules been changed in Denmark?

If your permit was granted through one of these specific pathways, your job can change within the same university or company without you having to apply for a new work permit.

This can mean a new job role such as a promotion or a change to your research project does not invalidate your work permit, on the condition that your salary and employment conditions still correspond to Danish standards.

If your permit was granted through the Pay Limit Scheme or Fast Track Pay Limit track, your salary must also continue to meet the minimum salary requirement set by whichever version of these schemes by which you were granted a work permit.

READ ALSO:

If you change employer you must apply for a new permit, including for permits granted under one of these schemes. Your salary must still meet the minimum salary requirement. This applies even if the number of working hours has been reduced.

I’ve lost my job and have a Danish work permit. What do I do next?

If you have a residence (and work) permit in Denmark under the Fast-track Scheme, the Pay Limit Scheme, the Positive List or the Researcher Scheme, but lose your job, you must apply for a new residence permit while you look for a new job in Denmark. The application portal can be found on SIRI’s website.

This new permit is termed a “jobseeking permit” and is valid for six months. It does not allow you to work – if you are offered a new job, you’ll need to apply for a new work permit based on that job.

In some cases, the jobseeking permit might be granted automatically – for example, if you were granted a work permit for four years or less under one of the above schemes, and the permit was the same length as your job contract, which is set to expire.

You must have lost the job through no fault of your own (such as company cutbacks) and you must apply for the jobseekers permit within two days of your employment being terminated.

You cannot receive social security benefits, but this does not include A-kasse insurance which is paid out by a private provider. If you receive social security benefits from public authorities like municipalities, you will breach the terms of the permit.

If I get a new job?

You are allowed to stay in Denmark while you are waiting for a decision on an application for a new work permit.

If you have lost your job and have stayed in Denmark using a jobseeking permit, you may be able to work while your application for a new work permit for your new job is processed.

The rules that apply vary according to the scheme under which you were originally granted a Danish work permit. You can read more about them here.

Member comments

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

WORKING IN DENMARK

‘I can only say ‘tak’: What you need to get a job at a high-end restaurant in Denmark

The Local asked readers working at high-end restaurants in Denmark for their best tips on getting jobs or internships. This is what they said.

Published: 29 May 2024 15:32 CEST
'I can only say 'tak': What you need to get a job at a high-end restaurant in Denmark

There’s been quite a few recent articles, both in Danish newspapers such as Politiken and in international newspapers like the Financial Times, that have highlighted the darker aspects of the restaurant scene in Copenhagen, with excessive use of unpaid interns, borderline inhumane working hours, and reports of workplace abuse. 

But the truth is, this characterises top-level restaurants the world over, and want-to-be chefs and front-of-house staff still stream to Copenhagen looking to get an illustrious name on their CV. 

So what do you need? 

First things first, speaking Danish, particularly if you work in the kitchen, is not at all necessary. 

“There’s no Danish needed,” said an American who had worked at Noma, one of the three restaurants in Copenhagen with three Michelin stars. “90 percent of people there are not Danish. Some people have been there over 10 years and don’t speak it.”

“You absolutely don’t need Danish,” agreed Antoine, a French respondent. “I’m working in a Michelin and the only thing I can say is ‘tak’.” 

It’s not even always necessary if you’re working as a waiter or sommelier. 

“The front-of-house language is English and/or Danish, at least in Copenhagen,” said Max, who works as a restaurant manager at a top-end hotel. “If you have extra languages that’s a big bonus.”

What you might need is specialist kitchen terminology in English, although as you also need some experience, you will probably have picked that up on the way. 

“Do you need Danish? No, but you need to know the kitchen lingo,” said Dominik from Poland, who works for a supplier to the food industry. 

READ ALSO:

What is necessary is experience. If you’ve never set foot in a kitchen or worked tables ever before, you’re unlikely to get a try-out at a Michelin star restaurant in Denmark, even as an unpaid intern. 

“What sort of experence you need depends on what role you are aiming for: front of house will have different expectations compared to the kitchen,” Dominik said. “To get your foot through the door, you need experience and references.” 

The main restaurants encourage applicants to get in touch over email, with people seeking work at Geranium encouraged to send applications to Alessandra Andrioli at [email protected]. Jordnær, the latest addition to the three-star club, has no information on application, but its email is [email protected]. 

Noma, the most famous of the three, has a careers page here, which currently has no jobs on offer. 

Very often though, hiring even at Denmark’s top-end restaurants can be informal, with news on job vacancies shared word of mouth, or on in posts on Instagram or other social media, and jobs filled through personal recommendations, or even simply given to the person who happens to turn up and ask at the right time. 

“To get in as an intern, you just need to be young, and have a background in cooking, ideally at a high-end kind of place,” said the American respondent who had previously worked at Noma.

“Some just show up and ask if they can volunteer, and quite a few get internship positions. Especially if the place is very low on labour. Young chefs would just show up, ask to give their CV in person and if the timing was right, get a position.” 

A Nepalese chef with experience in London, Paris, and Dubai, said he had been given an hour-long interview and then “four hours of unpaid trials starting from cutting tomatoes and going up to plating dishes”, before being offered a position at just 130 kroner an hour. His main tip for getting a job was simply to accept the low wage offered and not try to negotiate anything higher. 

Max also recommended “going to the restaurant itself and asking to speak to the manager”, although he said this worked best at “smaller restaurants and non-chains”. 

“Hospitality is still old school in many places. I get too many CVs which don’t tell me much. Many times I hire purely based on the person’s character and attitude and train the skills I need. Sending a copy/paste email doesnt really cut it for good quality places.” 

Laura, from France, a former head waiter at a Michelin restaurant in Copenhagen, said that networking was a good way into a job, recommending that those seeking a position regularly attend events like cocktail-making competitions, other industry nights, and hang out in bars frequented by restaurant personnel. 

Events like the Mad Symposium or the Copenhagen Cooking and Food festival might be worth a visit. 

Max argued that to get a job at a high-end restaurant in Copenhagen, waiters needed at the minimum a “basic understanding of wine, spirits, barista, mixology skills,” as well as “basic stock/inventory control”.

He said that if they could add to that specialist expertise in either working as a waiter, sommelier, barista, or mixologist this would make it “much easier”. 

For chefs and waiting staff who want to move to Copenhagen from elsewhere, he suggested getting a job in a major hotel chain in their own country, and then transferring to one of their hotels in Denmark. Once you have some experience in a Danish hotel, it will then be easier to move to an independent restaurant. 

So is it worth it? 

“It’s hard work but definitely much easier than in France, Italy or Spain, for exemple,” Laura argued. “Overall fair pay, but it widely differs from one restaurant to another.” 

Others were less positive. 

“Be ready for 14 hour shifts in an extremely competitive and more often that not toxic environment,” Dominik warned. 

Have you worked at a top-end restaurant in Denmark? Please tell us about it by filling in the form at this link (or below) and we’ll add you comments to this article. 

 

SHOW COMMENTS