The Danish Government’s law program for the parliamentary year 2021/2022

On 5 October 2021, the Danish Government will present the law program  for the parliamentary year 2021/2022. For the first time, the Government’s law program must be scrutinized against  the UN’s 17 sustainable world goals and 169 sub-goals. In the area of ​​employment, the law program includes, among other things, amendments to the Maternity Act, the Sickness Benefit Act, and the Equal Treatment Act. Changes to the Maternity Act, the Equal Treatment Act and the Working Environment Act will have the greatest interest for private employers. In addition, we await with interest the implementation of the Working Conditions Directive, which has an implementation deadline of 1 August 2022. Mette Klingsten Law Firm will provide regular updates as the law program is tabled.

Below is a summary of the most salient points of the law program.

Amendment of the Social Pension Act (Special access to information from the National Archives for applicants for early retirement, etc.) (October I)

The purpose of the bill is to make it possible for applicants for early retirement to obtain information from the National Archives via a special access. The information will be used as a statement of seniority in the labor market, if there is insufficient register information available to the managing authority, Udbetaling Danmark. The bill is presented as an extension of the agreement on the right to early retirement between the government (Social Democrats), the Danish People’s Party, the Socialist People’s Party and the Unity List from October 2020.

Amendment of the Maternity Compensation Act (Annual adjustment of the contribution rate in the maternity compensation scheme in the private labor market) (Oct II)

The purpose of the bill is to change the contribution rate to the maternity compensation scheme on the basis of a recommendation from the Board of Directors of Arbejdsmarkedets Tillægspension.

Amendment of the Act on Active Employment Efforts (Extension of the right to education for persons who have worked in the mink profession or ancillary occupations, within a pool until 2022, etc.) (Nov I)

The bill extends the right to education of the unemployed who have worked in the mink profession or ancillary occupations and gives the unemployed in the target group the right to education in 2022. The bill is a follow-up to point 7 of the agreement on compensation, etc. to the mink breeders and ancillary professions affected by covid-19 between the government (Social Democracy), the Left, the Radical Left, the Socialist People’s Party, and the Liberal Alliance from January 2021.

Amendment of the Act on Active Employment Efforts, the Act on Sickness Benefits, the Act on the Organization and Support of Employment Efforts, etc., the Act on Active Social Policy, the Act on Social Pensions and the Act on Compensation for the Disabled in Occupation, etc. (First sub-agreement on rethinking employment efforts) (Nov I)

The bill aims to realize the agreed saving and rethinking of the active employment effort from the first sub-agreement on rethinking the employment effort between the government (Social Democracy), the Danish People’s Party, the Socialist People’s Party and the Unity List from June 2021, which follows up on the agreement on a new right to early retirement between the same parties from October 2020.

Amendment of the Maternity Act (Implementation of parts of Directive (EU) 2019/1158 and repeal of Directive 2010/18 / EU) (Dec II)

The bill is earmarked for parental leave with maternity benefits for each parent with the overall purpose of encouraging a more equal distribution of leave and care obligations between men and women to strengthen equality in the labor market. The bill implements parts of the European Parliament and the Council Directive (EU) 2019/1158 from June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers and repealing Council Directive 2010/18 / EU in Danish law.

Amendment of the law on equal treatment of men and women with regard to employment, etc. and the law on employees’ right to absence for special family reasons (Implementation of parts of Directive (EU) 2019/1158 and repeal of Directive 2010/18 / EU) (Feb I)

The bill secures employees’ right to care leave of five days per year as well as the employment law protection of employees in connection with taking such leave with the overall purpose of encouraging a more equal distribution of leave and care obligation between men and women to strengthen equality in the labor market. The bill implements parts of the European Parliament and the Council Directive (EU) 2019/1158 from June 2019 on the balance between work and private life for parents and carers and on the repeal of Council Directive 2010/18 / EU in Danish law.

Amendment of the Working Environment Act (Protection of the working environment representative and publication of the working environment of companies) (Feb II)

(A recurrence from the government’s bill for the 2020/2021 parliamentary year)

The bill increases the protection of the working environment representative, so that the working environment representative is protected against dismissal and any other detriment in the same way as shop stewards. The bill is a follow-up to the working environment agreement between the then government (Venstre, Liberal Alliance and the Conservative People’s Party), the Social Democrats, the Danish People’s Party, the Alternative, the Radical Left and the Socialist People’s Party from April 2019. The bill also allows for the publication of fact-based findings, following from the Danish Working Environment Authority’s inspections. This is intended to support the Work Environment Authority’s efforts and the preventive work environment work in the companies and at the same time create increased transparency in the Danish Working Environment Authority’s administration.

Legislation resulting from the implementation of the Working Conditions Directive (Feb II)

The bill aims to improve the working conditions of employees by promoting a more transparent and predictable employment. The bill implements Directive 2019/1152 on transparent and predictable working conditions for workers in the European Union (the Working Conditions Directive), which requires the setting of minimum rights for all workers in the Union.

The entire government’s law program for the parliamentary year 2021/2022 can be read here (in Danish):

https://www.stm.dk/statsministeriet/publikationer/lovprogram-for-folketingsaaret-2021-2022/