In Denmark employment relations are governed primarily by collective bargaining agreements, which are supplemented by employment legislation. Industrial relations are self-regulated, and the legal framework is determined by the social partners themselves and developed by the case law of the industrial judiciaries.
Thus, there is no cross-cutting definition of what constitutes an employment relationship, or who has the status and rights as an employee. The same is the case for access to collective bargaining. Information and consultation rights are found in both employment legislation and in collective bargaining agreements.
Case law from both the ordinary courts interpreting employment legislation, and from the industrial courts interpreting collective bargaining agreements, has over time developed a list of set criteria, that are used more or less stringently in cases determining status of a person performing work.
Access for non-standard workers therefore depends less on a general legal standard, and more on how far the existing institutions, and the will of the social partners, can stretch to cover new situations – policy rather than legal barriers.
There are signs of a shift in orientation, from treating non-standard work mainly as something to be absorbed back into standard contracts, towards accepting that non-standard contracts are here to stay and trying to secure quality and access within them.
Project
Commisioned by
- Horizon Europe