Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has published the legislative programme for the 2020/2021 parliamentary year.(1)
Amendment to Maternity Leave Act and Sickness Benefits Act
As a follow up to the political agreement on extended rights to bereavement leave, the government will present a bill to improve the conditions for the right of absence for parents who lose a child. Under the bill, bereavement leave will be extended to include all parents who lose a child before the age of 18 and the leave period will be extended from 14 to 26 weeks after the child's death.
New rules for reporting occupational accidents
A new bill aims to ensure simpler rules in the area of occupational injuries. The bill will do away with the fact that at present there are different sets of rules for reporting the same accidents.
Amendment to Posting of Workers Act
The government will present a bill to implement the revised EU Posted Workers Directive (2018/957/EU). The bill, which has been in consultation, aims to improve conditions for posted workers in Denmark and contains a number of amendments to the Posting of Workers Act, including a new provision on long-term posting. The provision implies that if the duration of a secondment exceeds 12 months, the employee must be covered by Danish employment law rules regardless of the contractual choice of law. However, there are certain exceptions to this (eg, relating to non-competition restrictions and occupational supplementary pensions). The period can be extended to 18 months if the posting employer notifies the Register of Foreign Service Providers.
The government proposes that the act enter into force on 1 January 2021. However, according to the bill that was sent for consultation, posting periods from 30 July 2020 will, as a starting point, be included in the calculation of the total secondment period.
Ensuring recovery of penalties abroad
The purpose of this bill is to increase the options for the Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers to collect penalties abroad. The bill implements joint recommendations from FH – the Danish Trade Union Confederation and the Confederation of Danish Employers and follows up on the outcome of the so-called 'OK20' collective bargaining negotiations in the private labour market in April 2020.
Increasing state retirement age
Danes' life expectancy is rising and to ensure more active years in the labour market, the government will present a bill to increase the state retirement age to 69 years with effect from 2035.
Right to early retirement for special groups
The purpose of this bill is to introduce a new right to early retirement and pensions for certain individuals who have been active in the labour market for many years.
Protection for health and safety representatives
With this new bill, the government introduces rules to improve the protection of health and safety representatives against dismissal and downgrading of their status in the same manner as union representatives, even in situations where a collective agreement does not apply.
Full compensation in connection with workplace violence
The government will present a bill aimed at facilitating access to full compensation for employees who have been exposed to violence and threats at work.
In 2019 the EU Whistleblower Directive (2019/1937/EU) was finally adopted. The government will present a bill aimed at implementing the directive to protect individuals who report violations of EU law.
Strengthened protection of LGBTI people against discrimination
The purpose of a new bill is to strengthen the protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people against discrimination, hate crimes and hate speech. The bill entails, among other things, the introduction of an explicit ban on discrimination and harassment in the labour market on the basis of gender identity, gender expression and gender characteristics. It proposes to establish access to bringing complaints to the Equal Treatment Board and to give the Institute for Human Rights the authority to raise cases in this area.
The government will present a bill which aims to ensure that all foreign nationals have the same right to perform unpaid voluntary work. This applies to foreign nationals who already have the right to stay in Denmark.
Adjustment of employee share tax scheme for new, small companies
The purpose of a new bill is, among other things, to adjust the employee share tax scheme for new, small companies.
Endnotes
(1) The entire legislative programme can be read here (in Danish).
