More information on the term ”self-organizer”

The term ”self-organizer” as referring to employees who are exempt from the regulations on maximum weekly working hours and resting periods, is new. However, the notion that some employees are exempt from these regulations in the Working Time Directive is nothing new.

The reason for this new focus on the employees who are exempt from the regulations on maximum weekly working hours and resting periods, is a new ruling from the European Court of Justice. This ruling states that employers must document their compliance with the regulations, which have been valid since 2003. This court ruling has led to the passing of Law nr. 89 of the 30th ofJanuary 2024.

The requirement for employees to register their working time does not apply to those employees who are exempt from the regulations in the Working Time Directive.

Parts of the Working Time Directive was implemented in 2003 by collective agreement on the public state sector labour market. Employees without an upper working time limit was then made exempt from the regulations on a maximum of 48 weekly working hours over a reference period of 4 months, as well as the regulations on night time working and breaks. Scientific and academic staff were specifically mentioned in the agreement as an employee group who were exempt from these regulations.

The regulations on daily and weekly resting periods were incorporated into the Working Environment Act (arbejdsmiljølovgivningen), which entails the option to exempt scientific staff from the regulations on daily and weekly resting periods.

In the instruction, provided by the Danish Working Environment Authority, on the amended executive order of 2024 on resting periods, weekly twenty-four-hour rest etc., the group of potentially exempt employees include lecturers and scientific staff employed at universities.

It is therefore not a new notion that scientific staff, due to the particular nature of their work, are exempt from the directive’s regulations on maximum weekly working hours and resting periods.

However, it is new that the exemption must be made based on a specific individual assessment, and that information about the status as a self-organizer must be provided in the employment letter.

The requirement to notify employees of their status as self-organizer in the employment letter follows from the agreement which forms the basis for Law nr. 89 of 30th of January 2024.

This requirement to notify current employees via an addendum to the employment letter applies, even though in practice there are no changes for the employees who are categorized as self-organizers.