Answer ... Denmark has no statutory minimum wage. Market-level wages are regulated in collective bargaining agreements, but these agreements have no general binding effect.

Answer ... Outside of collective bargaining agreements, there are no general regulations regarding payment for overtime or time off in lieu; such entitlements are thus for the employer to decide.

In practice, under collective bargaining agreements employees are often entitled to overtime payment or time off in lieu.

Answer ... According to the Danish Holiday Act, an employee is entitled to 25 days of holiday per holiday year, which is currently the period from 1 May to 30 April.

An employee accrues 2.08 days of paid vacation for each month of employment during the calendar year, to take during the subsequent holiday year.

During the first year of employment, the employee is still entitled to take 25 days of holiday per holiday year. However, the employer can deduct 4.8% of the employee’s salary for each day of holiday in respect of which no right to paid holiday has been accrued.

Effective 1 September 2020, a new Holiday Act will come into force in Denmark. After the transition to the new Holiday Act, Danish employees will accrue 2.08 days of paid vacation for each month of employment, which the employee can take during the new holiday year which runs concurrently with the accrual of paid holiday – that is, in the period from 1 September to 31 August. The employee will therefore be able to accrue and take paid holiday from the commencement of employment.

Answer ... Salaried employees who are covered by the Danish Salaried Employees Act are entitled to receive full pay while on sick leave, regardless of seniority and length of absence.

Hourly paid employees are entitled to pay from their employer while absent due to illness according to the rules in the applicable collective bargaining agreement. Usually, employees must have reached a certain level of seniority before they are entitled to pay from their employer while absent due to illness.

Employees who are not entitled to receive pay while absent due to illness may be entitled to sickness benefit for the first 30 days of sickness. To qualify for sickness benefit, the employee must have been employed for eight weeks and have worked 74 hours during that period.

If the employee does not fulfil these conditions or has been absent due to illness for more than 30 days, he or she may be entitled to sickness benefit from the employee’s municipality.

Answer ... The retirement age in Denmark is determined by law and is regulated every five years. The retirement age is increased gradually in line with Danish employees’ life expectancy.

The retirement age in Denmark thus depends on the year in which the employee was born. The younger the employee, the older he or she must be to receive early retirement and state pension.

The retirement age varies from 65 to 68 and is expected to reach 72 in 2050.