Implementation of Danish Act on Working Time Registration

On 23 January 2024, the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed a bill that imposes an obligation on all Danish employers as from 1 July 2024 to ensure that their employees can register their working time.

DTU already largely complies with the requirements resulting from the EU directive, based on the existing working time registration which follows DTU’s framework.

The law does give cause to formally decide whether a DTU Employee is a so-called self-organizer. Employees who are self-organizers will receive an addendum to their contract.

The measures taken in the directive on working time are aimed at safeguarding the individual employee’s safety and health also in this area.

It should be noted that some DTU employees are exempt from the statutory requirements on maximum weekly working hours and rest periods, for example – i.e. self-organizers. They are therefore exempt from requirements on registering working time; however, they are still expected to allocate time on projects.

Project time allocation on DTU does not equal working time registration as stipulated in the law (see more on this below).

For employees, who are categorized as “self-organizers”

DTU as an employer is required to ensure that the scheduling of employees’ working time is in accordance with the regulations of the Working Time Directive. These regulations have been valid law since 2003.

Due to Law nr. 89 of 30th of January 2024 (valid from 1st of July 2024), DTU as an employer is now required to document compliance with the regulations by ensuring registration of employees’ daily working hours.

The documentation requirement does not however apply to employees whose working time cannot be measured and/or scheduled in advance and who can decide their own working time. These employees are called self-organizers.

If you are categorized as a self-organizer, you are exempt from the applicable regulations in the Agreement on certain aspects in connection with the organization of working hours ((Aftale om visse aspekter i forbindelse med tilrettelæggelsen af arbejdstiden) regarding breaks, weekly working hours and night work (currently §§ 4, 5 and 6), as well as the applicable regulations in the Working Environment Act (arbejdsmiljølovgivningen) on rest periods and weekly day off (for the current Executive Order on rest period and day off etc.( Bekendtgørelse om hvileperiode og fridøgn mv.) §§ 3 and 4).

An employee is categorized as self-organizer and therefore exempt from the rule on a maximum of 48 weekly work hours, the regulations on resting periods along with the working time registration requirements on the following basis:

• That working hours due to particular traits of the work cannot be measured and/or scheduled in advance.
  or
• That the employee can decide their own working time, meaning employees who work independently or who hold a leadership position.
  For all new employments, the hiring manager assesses the future employee’s individual position in accordance with the legal requirements for self-organizers. All current employees have been assessed in the fall of 2024.

At DTU it is the scientific staff and certain managers in particular, who due to specific traits of their positions are categorized as self-organizers, and therefore they are exempt from the working time registration requirement of Law nr. 89 of 30th of January 2024.

These employees are exempt from the working time registration requirement, but they must still follow DTU practices on time allocation in relation to DTU’s project economy.

The important focus on working environment and well-being

Due to the particular nature of their positions, self-organizers can schedule their own working hours regarding breaks, weekly working hours, night work, daily resting periods and the weekly twenty-four-hour rest.

Working environment is according to the Working Environment Act (arbejdsmiljøloven) still a managerial responsibility – including for self-organizers.

At DTU, the work is expected to be planned out in a manner so that everyone, including self-organizers, experiences a healthy and safe working environment. Managers and employees are expected to have an ongoing dialogue on the planning and scheduling of the work, so that everyone regardless of their status as self-organizers experiences a healthy and safe working environment. All employees including self-organizers are included in DTU’s policy and guideline on flexible working.

Culture at DTU

DTU trusts implicitly that all staff members act responsibly within their own areas of responsibility. DTU’s self-management concept provides all DTU employees with the freedom to organize their work within the applicable framework; a flexibility that is a special feature of DTU. If you have any doubts on this, you are always welcome to discuss the organisation of your work with your manager.