On 23 January 2024, the Danish Parliament passed the Bill which, among other things, requires employers to install, by 1 July 2024, a system allowing employees to record their daily working time.

What is new since the Bill was tabled?

No amendments had been proposed, and the Bill was therefore passed unchanged. However, the committee debate has resulted in various substantive clarifications and/or supplementary responses regarding the Bill. By way of example, the Minister for Employment has confirmed that an employee's daily working time can be prefilled in the working time recording system so that only deviations from the agreed and/or scheduled working time need to be recorded in the system. The Minister for Employment has also confirmed that the Bill requires recording of employees' daily working time only and not the exact start and end time of the work.

Nevertheless, in order to ensure documentation of compliance with rest time rules, employers may consider a recording system that also records the start and end time of each employee's daily working time, including breaks.

New employer obligations

As of 1 July 2024, employers must have an objective and reliable working time recording system that meets at least the following requirements:

  • records each employee's daily working time (some employees may be exempt, see below);
  • is accessible and allows each employee to access their own information in the system; and
  • retains working time records for a continuous period of 5 years from expiry of the reference period.

In addition, each employer is allowed significant freedom to design the working time recording system in a way they consider suitable. The Bill does not require purchase and/or use of a specific time recording system. If an employer already has an existing working time recording system, it may be possible for the employer to continue using it or to customise it.

Can certain employees be exempt from the time recording requirement?

Certain employees can be exempt from the requirement subject to a concrete and individual assessment. According to the legislative history behind the Bill, the scope is very limited and cannot apply to entire categories of employees. Note that the scope of employees who can be exempt from the registration requirement is disputed and may give rise to various delimitation issues. If you need to discuss your organisational structure and the work patterns and freedom of work of individual employees/managers, please do not hesitate to contact us.

What else should I be aware of as an employer?

The Bill does not regulate the employee's right to remuneration for work done. The right to pay/remuneration for overtime, etc. does not depend on the number of hours recorded in the working time recording system, but will still be regulated by each employee's employment contract and/or applicable collective agreements.

Our advice

Our team of employment and labour law experts advise on all legal and practical aspects of the working time recording requirement, including: whether your current system meets the minimum requirements of the Act; which of your employees may be exempt from the recording requirement; and what specific changes need to be made to current employment contracts, including drafting of addenda. The new legislation introduces significant changes, for which reason it would be worthwhile to review and update existing staff policies regulating working time. We are ready to help you.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.