Rules concerning working hours

Finansforbundet and FA agreed a number of transition provisions during OK 2020, linked to the switch to the new pay and working hours system in STOK.

If you were employed before 1 April 2020, and are one of the employees who stand to lose payment for overtime, or will be switching to job pay, you are entitled to compensation, thanks to the agreement on the transition being cost-neutral for employees. Neither can pool funds determined by a collective agreement be used to finance employee compensation for the transition to job pay, or from overtime payment to extra work payment.

In relation to the new working hours system in STOK, two transitional mechanisms have been agreed, concerning:

• 1. Transition from overtime payment – extra work payment 
• 2. Switching to job pay and independent work organisation

If you will switch from overtime payment to extra work payment on 1 July 2021, you will be compensated for the extra overtime payment you lose.

Compensation is calculated by converting the full value of the supplement for overtime over the last 24 months to a monthly supplement. The value of the 6th week of paid holiday is then deducted, because you gain the right to a 6th week when switching to extra work payment. You also continue to have the right to extra work payment, which means that only the supplement for overtime of 50-100% is what you receive compensation for.

If you are employed on 1 July 2021 on job pay and have independent work organisation, it has been agreed that you will be compensated for the amount of overtime/extra work and inconvenience supplement for the last 24 months.

Specifically, the amount of overtime/extra work and inconvenience supplement over the last 24 months will be added up, and the total converted to a monthly supplement to your pay. If the last 24 months do not give a correct indication, a more representative period of 24 months will be used.

Your annual working hours depend on the type of employee you are. The standard collective agreement (STOK) contains three different annual norms for full-time employees, depending on whether you are a finance worker, service/technical worker, IT worker or shift worker:

• Finance and service/technical workers: 1924 hours p.a./37 hours per week
• IT worker: 1872 hours p.a./36 hours per week
• Shift worker: 1690 hours p.a./32.5 hours per week

Remember that there can be local agreements raising an IT worker’s working hours from 36 hours to 37 hours per week with extra pay.

When your working hours can or must be worked depends on which STOK rules you are covered by. STOK operates with the following four rule sets in relation to working hours:

• Working hours set by the company (Sect. 5)
• Agreed working hours (Sect. 6)
• Extended working hours (Sect. 7)
• Job pay and independent work organisation (Sect. 8)

In other words, you are either covered by working hours set by the management, agreed/extended working hours agreed between the management and you, or – something new from 2020 – by job pay and independent work organisation, under which you have a say in when you work, and consult with your manager to arrange your working hours with regard to flexible, efficient work, and your own requirements for flexibility.

Read about Sections 5, 6, 7 and 8 of STOK in the FA and Finansforbundet Guide to Working Hours, and in the FA and Finansforbundet Guide to Job Pay and Independent Work Organisation.

We are working on a Guide to Job Pay and Independent Work Organisation that will include the changes from OK 2020.

Guidelines

Working hours 

Participation in meetings and course events

Fixed salary and independent work organisation

Local agreements

Dependants' leave

Special work assignments

Every employee is entitled to an hour bank account. This is set out in Sect. 12 of STOK. An hour bank account keeps an account of how much time off you are entitled to, and how many working hours you owe. In principle, an hour bank account can be 481 hours in credit and 21 hours in debit. However, your employer and head of local branch can agree other limits. You can choose whether to take the balance of your hour bank account as time off in lieu, or pay. But as a rule, flexitime has to be taken as time off in lieu, unless otherwise agreed locally. Payments are made at actual hourly rate at the time, and bear pension entitlement.

Something new in STOK 2020 is that your 6th holiday week and dependants’ leave can also be banked in your hour bank account, unless you have agreed otherwise locally. Remember that the 6th holiday week is not credited to your hour bank account until after 1 September 2021.

And that many companies have entered into local agreements on hour bank accounts between them and the head of local branch. It’s therefore advisable to contact your union representative to find out whether there is a local agreement, and what it entails.

Read more on what can be credited to your hour bank account and what happens to the balance when you leave or are made redundant in the FA and Finansforbundet Guide to Working Hours.

We are working on a new Guide to Working Hours that will include the changes from OK 2020.

In principle, every employee is entitled to flexitime. This is set out in Sect. 13 of STOK.

Flexitime is your right to adapt the times you start and stop working to your needs. But flexitime has to be used with reason, and with regard to the requirements of your employer. The company can oppose flexitime for individuals or groups of employees if their work is incompatible with it.

Remember to avoid confusing flexitime with overtime/extra work. The latter are when you work beyond your contractual/agreed daily or weekly working hours, and have to be ordered by the management, whereas flexitime is your right to start and leave work earlier or later.

In other words, you cannot use flexitime to ‘create’ overtime or extra work by arriving earlier or leaving later on your own initiative.

And also remember that many companies have entered into local agreements on flexitime between them and the head of local branch. It’s therefore advisable to contact your union representative to find out whether there is a local agreement, and what it entails.

Read more on Sect. 13 of STOK in the FA and Finansforbundet Guide to Working Hours.

We are working on a new Guide to Working Hours that will include the changes from OK 2020.

OK 2020 included agreement on a new working hours system, that abolishes overtime in STOK for employees hired after 1 April 2020 and for those hired before 1 April from 1 July 2021.

That means that freedom of choice between overtime/extra work and the rules below on overtime only apply to employees hired before 1 April 2020 up to 1 July 2021. The rules on extra work will then apply to all employees.

Overtime and extra work are work ordered additional to your agreed/contractual daily or weekly working hours. Whether you are covered by the rules for overtime or extra work depends on what you choose.

If you were hired before 1 April 2020, you can choose once a year whether to be covered by the rules on overtime and 5 weeks holiday, or extra work and 6 weeks holiday up to 1 July 2021.

Remember that employees with independent work organisation and a monthly salary of at least DKK 53,000 on 1 April 2020 can be employed from 1 April 2020 or from 1 July 2021 on job pay, and are therefore not entitled to pay for extra work.

If you have opted for overtime, you are entitled to 5 weeks holiday. Overtime is paid as your hourly rate +50% for the first 3 hours. Thereafter (and on Saturdays, Sundays and weekday public holidays) overtime is paid as your hourly rate +100%.

If you have opted for extra work, you are entitled to 6 weeks holiday. Extra work is paid 1:1.

Read more about Sections 5, 6, 7 and 8 of STOK in the FA and Finansforbundet Guide to Working Hours, and in Sections 17 and 18 of STOK.

We are working on a new Guide to Working Hours that will include the changes from OK 2020.

You must have had 11 hours of consecutive rest when your working hours start. For each period of 7 days, you must have a day off of at least 24 hours. Your day off must be in extension of your daily rest period, so that you are off work for at least 35 hours. This is set out in the STOK agreement on rest periods and days off, the Danish Working Environment Act and in the FA and Finansforbundet Guide to Working Hours.

You can also read in the latter about the rules for reducing and postponing rest periods, payment of postponed rest periods and rearranging days off.

We are working on a new Guide to Working Hours that will include the changes from OK 2020.

Which supplements you are entitled to if your contractual/agreed working hours are changed depends on whether the change was made at the request of you or your employer. This is set out in Sect. 8, Para. 3 of STOK.

If it is your employer that requested the change, you are entitled to a supplement on 50% of your hourly rate for the working hours additional to your scheduled working hours. However, this is contingent on agreement on changing your working hours being made with notice of less than 4 weeks.

If the change means that you have to work on a scheduled day off, the supplement rises to 66 2/3%.

You will only get the supplement if the changes to your scheduled working hours are agreed. That means, for example, that you will not receive a supplement according to Sect. 8, Para. 3 if overtime or extra work is ordered.

If the changes were made at your request, you have no right to a supplement.

You are entitled to a supplement if you agree to work unsocial hours. This is set out in Sect. 9 of STOK.

In the event of illness, holiday etc., you will be paid the standard supplement.

If you work on a public holiday that falls on a weekday, you are entitled to payment for the number of hours you work on that day, plus a supplement. This is set out in Sect. 9, Para. 4, and Section 13, Para. 6 of STOK if you are a shift worker.

Furthermore, you are entitled to time off in lieu equal to the number of hours you worked on the public holiday. This is set out in Sect. 4 of STOK.

You should also remember that there are a number of bank holidays that are comparable with working on a weekday public holiday.

If you are a part-time worker in terms of only working a reduced number of days per week, you are entitled to time off in lieu if your scheduled day off falls on a weekday public holiday.

If you work irregular hours and work in the evenings/night or at weekends, for example, you are entitled to time off in lieu if your days off fall on a weekday public holiday.

In both instances, there must be a local agreement in place on how time off in lieu is calculated. Time off in lieu will be credited to your hour bank account, unless locally agreed otherwise.

There are examples of payment for working on a weekday public holiday under ‘Other Working Hour Types’ in the FA and Finansforbundet Guide to Working Hours.

We are working on a new Guide to Working Hours that will include the changes from OK 2020.

For IT workers who have opted for a 6th week of holiday, machine-/system-dependent work ordered within the following times:

• Between 20.00 - 06.00 on weekdays
• Saturday 00.00 - Sunday 24.00
• Weekday public holidays 00.00 - 24.00

must be paid per hour at the following predetermined rates:

• DKK 505 as at 1 July 2019
• DKK 515 as at 01 July 2020
• DKK 525 as at 01 July 2021
• DKK 535 as at 01 July 2022

This is set out in Sect. 19 of STOK.

Your employer can ask you to do special promotional work inside and outside the company. The rules on payment and supplements for special events are set out in STOK's Sect. 10.

There are examples of special work and descriptions of how the rules should be interpreted and understood in practice in the FA and Finansforbundet Guide to Special Work.

We are working on a new Guide to Special Work that will include the changes from OK 2020.

The scheduled weekly working hours for shift workers are up to 32.5 hours a week, which can be broken down into max. 5 periods. That means your scheduled working hours cannot exceed 32.5 hours, but if less than 32.5 hours are planned for certain weeks, you will not end up ‘owing’ any hours.

Your working day cannot exceed 10 hours on weekdays, 12 hours on weekends/weekday public holidays.

The rules on scheduling shift work, changing shift rotations and payment for shift work are set out in Sect. 14 of STOK.

However, it can be hard to enforce the rules on shift work and planning rotas in practice. That's why we have prepared a short guide to the rules on shift work in the FA and Finansforbundet Guide to Working Hours.

We are working on a new Guide to Working Hours that will include the changes from OK 2020.

On-call time cannot exceed 24 hours, with payment for 6 hours or part thereof with payment and 30 minutes to 1 hours' time off in lieu, depending on when the on-call time falls. The rules on on-call time, call-outs and consultation are set out in STOK's Sect. 20.

Definitions and interpretation of the rules can be found in the FA and Finansforbundet Guide to Working Hours.

We are working on a new Guide to Working Hours that will include the changes from OK 2020.

Pay for attending meetings is dependent on the meeting being mandatory – when payment is in accordance with the applicable rules. If not, attendance is voluntary. If the course or meeting is necessary for your work, attendance is mandatory. The rules on payment for attending meetings and courses are set out in STOK's Sections 22 and 23.

Examples of how attending meetings and courses is paid can be found in the FA and Finansforbundet Guide to Attending Meetings and Courses.

We are working on a new Guide to Attending Meetings and Courses that will include the changes from OK 2020.

Time spent on domestic and European business travel is paid as normal working hours.

Remember that only the time that exceeds your normal travelling time between home and work can be paid as working hours.

Rules on business travel are set out in STOK's Sect. 23.

You are entitled to having your travel expenses refunded. How they will be refunded is subject to local agreement. Contact your union representative for details on what has been agreed for your company.

Rules on travel expenses are set out in STOK's Sect. 24.