You can, at all times, contact the local 3F trade union to apply for membership and get answers to your questions. Applying for admission to 3F.
These are the rules applying to you who work with e.g. cleaning, at a hotel or in a kitchenWhen you work in Denmark, the labour market is regulated by collective agreements. They are the result of negotiations between employers and employees (whom 3F represents).
3F will ensure that you have decent working conditions and get rights such as pension, paid holiday, sick pay, plus minimum wages. It is therefore important that your employer has entered into a collective agreement.
Contact your local 3F trade union prior to taking on employment in Denmark. We can help you avoid employment with poor wage and working conditions.
Wages
Within the sector of Private Service, Hotel and Restaurant, minimum wages will differ depending on whether your work is waiting at tables, cleaning or cooking when you work for a business that has entered into an agreement with 3F.
Minimum wages constitute the lowest wages you can be paid; and the collective agreement presupposes that the wages actually paid will be higher.
From one work area to the next, minimum hourly wages vary from approx. DKK 132 and up to DKK 176. Moreover, when you work evenings, Sundays, public holidays and at night, you will be paid higher wages.
Therefore, it is a really good idea to become a 3F member in order that the local 3F trade union can make sure that you are paid what you are entitled to according to the collective agreement if your employer and 3F has entered a collective agreement.
If you are employed by a business without a collective agreement with 3F, you will still have rights with which the employer is under an obligation to comply – such as e.g. an employment agreement in which wages and working conditions must be set out. In such cases, it is an equally good idea to get advice and guidance from your local 3F branch.
- Remember: It is important that you write down your working hours.
Pension
In businesses with a collective agreement, you are entitled to payment into a labour market pension scheme after 2 or 6 months' employment in the trade if you are over 20 years of age. If you are already participating in a labour market pension scheme, this rule will come into force from day one.
Holiday
An employee is entitled to 25 days of holiday plus holiday pay or holiday with pay plus holiday allowances. In case the business is covered by a collective agreement, the employee will be entitled to another 5 days off as special holidays.
Illness
Employees in businesses covered by a collective agreement are entitled to sick pay after a certain period when the employment requirement is complied with. There is a slight variation between the collective agreements with respect to the length of the period in which the employee will receive full payment of wages during illness.
Maternity
Permanently employed female employees with 9 months' seniority in the business on the date of expected delivery will be entitled to wages for four weeks of leave prior to the date of expected delivery and, likewise, they will be entitled to paid maternity leave for 14 weeks after delivery.
The father will – under similar conditions – be entitled to 2 weeks' paternity leave with pay.
The employer will pay wages during parental leave for up to 16 weeks.
The wage rates may vary from one collective agreement to the other.
Learn more about conditions and rights in connection with maternity and adoption at your local 3F branch.