Regulation basis for employment terms at DTU

By letters of 21 May and 12 June 2003, the Staff Administration informed the heads of departments about the Danish Act on Fixed-Term Appointments.

The Act came into force on 1 June 2003.

According to the Act its purpose is to improve the quality of fixed-term appointments and to lay down a framework to prevent abuse as a consequence of several successive fixed-term appointments. Therefore, section 5 of the Act stipulates when fixed-term appointments may be renewed without it constituting "abuse".

Section 5 of the Act has the following wording:

Section 5(1) Renewal of successive fixed-term appointments may only take place if such renewal is motivated by objective reasons, but with the exception of (2) below. This applies e.g. to renewals:

1. due to unforeseeable events such as sickness, pregnancy, maternity, leave, civil duty,
2. due to discontinuance of time or assignment specific piecework, or
3. necessary to solve, including remedy, an originally specific task of a fixed-term nature.

(2) In so far as employees are concerned who are engaged in teaching and research activities at government institutions as well as independent institutions mainly financed by government grants and for which the government fixes or arranges the terms of pay and appointment, it applies that successive fixed-term appointments may not be renewed more than twice, always provided that this provision shall not apply to employees concerned with teaching at private independent basic schools, continuation schools, schools of home economics and handicraft as well as private upper secondary schools.

It has now been established that section 5(2) of the Act only applies to academic staff and that section 5(1) applies to technical and administrative staff, though item 2 concerning the discontinuance of time or assignment specific piecework will never be applicable (it primarily applies to fixed-term appointments in the building and construction sector).

It applies to both academic staff and technical and administrative staff that appointments already in force at 1 June 2003 will be regarded as the first appointment in relation to the Act.

Technical and Administrative Staff 
A technical and administrative employee whose appointment is for a fixed-term period must subsequently be employed for an indefinite period when the first fixed-term period expires if the appointment is to be continued.

However, it will be possible to renew the fixed-term appointment by another fixed-term period if the reasons for the renewal are objective. Examples of objective reasons are:

• if the renewal of the appointment is necessary for the completion or solving of a fixed-term task, e.g. if it has not been possible to solve the task for which the employee was appointed within the agreed period.
• if the appointment is renewed due to another employee’s sickness or leave. First the employee in question could be temping (fixed-term appointment) for another employee on maternity leave. That same employee could subsequently be given a new fixed-term appointment if the temporary position is renewed or if the employee in question subsequently temps for another employee who is on maternity or sick leave.

If a technical and administrative employee works in a fixed-term appointment under an external grant, the employee in question must be given a permanent position when the first appointment expires, as a renewal for finance reasons cannot be regarded as an objective reason.

If it subsequently turns out that means are no longer available, the person in question must be discharged giving the usual notice of termination and with a deadline for a hearing of the employee of 14 days.

This means that the Staff Administration must be given notice of the termination of an appointment in such good time that the deadline for a hearing of the employee and the notice of termination can be complied with.

Academic Staff 
An academic fixed-term employee may have his/her fixed-term appointment renewed twice.

This means that an academic employee must be employed in a permanent position when a third renewal is desired.

A discontinuance of or lack of external financing must thus be regarded as a formal discharge with a hearing of the employee concerned etc., cf. above under technical and administrative staff.

Source of Financing 
It applies to both academic staff and technical and administrative staff paid from external means that it must appear specifically how the employee in question is paid so that it is clearly evident for how many months the external financing of the employee concerned will last. This allows the department to inform the Staff . Administration in due time of when a discharge is to take effect.

Further information
Finally, it should be mentioned that section 6 of the said Act stipulates that the employer is obliged to inform fixed-term employees about the possibility of obtaining a permanent position with the business. This provision will be complied with if the fixed-term employees keep themselves updated with regard to open positions at DTU by means of DTU’s job page. The departments are consequently requested to ensure that the fixed-term employees are aware of this possibility.

Ministerial Order Regarding the Appointment of Lecturers and Academic Staff at Universities, etc., under the Ministry of Research and Information Technology

The following is laid down pursuant to section 2 (2) (3) and section 11 (2) of the Danish Universities Act, cf. Consolidation Act No. 1177 of 22 December 1999:

Part 1
General provisions

Section 1. Appointments shall be handled in accordance with the following rules, the Danish Public Administration Act and the provisions that otherwise apply, including the provisions contained in the statute of the individual institutions and supplemen-tary rules laid down by the institutions themselves.

(2) Appointment shall be conditional upon the person in question having attained the basic general research and teaching qualifications required for the particular post in the provisions laid down in the job structure, and also having satisfied the other qualification requirements laid down for the specific post.

(3) Temporary appointment to full-time posts shall comply with the provisions of parts 2-4, with the departures that follow from part 7.

(4) The provisions of part 8 shall apply to appointments to teaching posts, etc., paid by the hour.

Part 2
Advertisement

Section 2. Posts shall be filled in open competition following advertisement, unless it is a matter of appointment without ad-vertisement pursuant to part 5 or a temporary appointment for up to 1 year, cf. section 13 (3) and section 14 (4).

Section 3. The content of the post and the qualification requirements shall be described in the advertisement in such a way that they form the basis for open competition.

(2)Advertisements for vacant posts shall be published in such a way that they come to the attention of suitable candidates.

(3)As a rule, professorships shall be advertised internationally.

Part 3
The assessment committee and its recommendation

Section 4. Immediately after the deadline for applications expires, at the latest, the administration of the institution shall ap-point an expert assessment committee, paying attention to creating a balance between women and men. At the same time, the administration of the institution shall appoint a chair for the committee and lay down a time limit for the committee's submission of its assessment.

(2) The assessment committee shall be made up of the chair and two or four members. The individuals in question must be experts in the post's field at a level that corresponds to that required for the post, but not below associate professor level.

(3) At least one member of an assessment committee of three and at least two members of an assessment committee of five shall not be employed at the institution in question. The rector may amend this provision if special circumstances are in evi-dence.

(4) Only the chair and committee members may participate in the work of the committee, but the institution may appoint a secretary to the committee if necessary.

(5) The institution shall inform the applicants of the composition of the assessment committee as soon as its members have been chosen.

Section 5. The institution may lay down general rules for the scope of material that applicants can include in the assessment.

(2) In special cases, the administration of the institution may decide, after consulting with or receiving a recommendation from the assessment committee, that applicants should have an opportunity to include additional scholarly material for the assess-ment. In this case, a time limit shall be set and all the applicants informed accordingly.

(3) The assessment committee may suggest to the administration of the institution that the post should be re-advertised if after studying the applications and the other available information it expects that better qualified candidates may submit applications.

Section 6. The assessment committee shall decide which applicants are considered qualified concerning research and teach-ing capabilities, and in relation to the other professional qualification requirements specified in the job advertisement. The as-sessment committee shall submit a well-reasoned, written assessment to the administration of the institution. The assessment shall be confidential. If the members of the assessment committee agree that one or more applicants are not qualified for the post, the committee may confine itself to indicating in brief which qualification requirements have not been satisfied. The as-sessment committee shall not prioritise who among the qualified applicants should be appointed to the post. The committee, however, may submit a suggested prioritisation of qualified applicants at the specific request of the administration.

(2) The assessment committee may recommend to the administration of the institution that one or more applicants should give a trial lecture. The administration shall decide whether the recommendation should be followed and, if so, who may attend the lectures.

(3) The committee's assessment shall either be unanimous or be an assessment by a majority and one or more minorities. If there are differences of opinion between the members of the committee, this shall be made clear in the committee's assessment.

(4) As soon as the committee has submitted its assessment, the institution shall send each applicant the part of the assess-ment that relates to him/her.

Part 4
Further procedure

Section 7. The administration of the institution shall decide who shall be appointed, or recommended for appointment if the case has to be submitted to the Ministry according to the rules. An applicant may only be appointed if a majority of the assess-ment committee regards the person in question as qualified for the post.

(2) A decision under section 1 should normally be made no more than 6 months after the deadline for applications expires.

(3) Before the administration of the institution makes a decision on the appointment, it may call one or more applicants for an interview and/or a trial lecture.

(4) If the administration does not wish the post to be filled with one of the available applicants, it shall decide whether the post should be re-advertised or left unfilled for the time being.

Section 8. If a post falls vacant within 6 months of being filled, the administration of the institution may decide to appoint an-other of the applicants whom either all or a majority of the assessment committee regarded as qualified for the post.

Part 5
Appointment without advertisement

Section 9. In special cases the administration of the institution may decide that a professorship or associate professorship should be filled without being advertised if an expert assessment committee has made a unanimous reasoned recommendation to this effect. The committee shall be composed in accordance with the rules in section 4.

(2) The qualifications of the person in question must be adequately substantiated and the person must be regarded by the committee as clearly better qualified than others who might come into consideration.

Section 10. If external funding has been made available for the appointment of a specific person, the institution may, irre-spective of the provisions of section 2, appoint that person without advertising the post, but only after a positive assessment. The assessment shall be made by an expert at the same level as that required for the post, but at least at the associate profes-sor level.

Section 11. Visiting professors and associate professors from abroad may be appointed without advertisement after a posi-tive assessment by an expert at the same level as that required for the post.

Part 6
Combined posts

Section 12. The rules contained in section 13 (1) and (2) concerning advertisement and assessment shall apply to appoint-ments to combined posts (posts shared by two institutions).

(2) In the case of appointments for less than 1 year or for a limited number of hours, reappointment to the same job category when a period of employment expires, or if the institution is under an obligation to offer appointment under current regulations, the appointment shall be made in accordance with the rules contained in section 13 (3).

(3) In the case of appointments to clinical professorships, the Order shall apply with the modifications that follow from special agreements.

Part 7
Special rules concerning temporary appointments to full-time posts

Section 13. In the case of temporary appointments, the period of employment shall be specified in the advertisement.

(2) In the case of temporary appointments for longer than 1 year in a job category in the current job structure, apart from pro-fessorships, associate professorships and assistant professorships, the administration of the institution may appoint an assess-ment committee consisting of a chair and a minimum of one member of at least associate professor level, irrespective of section 4 (2) and (3). An appointment may only be made if the person in question is regarded as qualified for appointment to the post by both or a majority of the committee's members.

(3) Periods of employment of up to 1 year in one of the job categories in the current job structure, apart from PhD, post-graduate or research fellowships, shall not require advertisement or an assessment committee. This assumes, however, that a positive statement by an expert of at least associate professor level (at least professor level concerning professorships) is avail-able regarding the qualifications of the person in question for appointment in the particular job category.

(4) A temporary appointment may be extended beyond 1 year following assessment in accordance with (2).

Part 8
Appointment to teaching posts, etc., with hourly pay

Section 14. In the case of appointments to teaching posts paid by the hour, etc, for more than 1 year, including external lectureships, the post shall be advertised in accordance with the provisions of part 2. The period of employment shall be speci-fied in the advertisement.

(2) The administration of the institution shall appoint an assessment committee consisting of a chair and at least one member of at least associate professor level, but cf. (3). An appointment may only be made if the person in question is regarded by both or a majority of the committee's members as qualified for appointment to the post.

(3) In the case of teaching assistants, the assessment requirement may be satisfied by a positive statement from an expert of at least associate professor level regarding the qualifications of the person in question for appointment.

(4) In the case of appointments for up to 1 year or for a limited number of hours, reappointment of a person in the same job category when a period of employment expires, or if the institution is under an obligation to offer appointment under current regulations, an appointment may be made without advertisement or an assessment committee. This assumes, however, that a positive statement by an expert of at least associate professor level is available regarding the qualifications of the person in question for appointment to the particular job category.

Part 9
Exemptions and appeals

Section 15. In special cases, the Ministry of Research and Information Technology may grant exemptions from the provisions of the Order.

Section 16. Decisions made by the institution in accordance with this Ministerial Order may not be appealed to the Ministry of Research and Information Technology.

Part 10
Effective date and interim provisions

Section 17. The Ministerial Order shall enter into force on 9 September 2000 and shall apply to posts advertised after that date. Cases in progress shall be completed in accordance with the rules in force hitherto.

(2) Ministerial Order No. 650 of 31 August 1998 Relating to the Appointment of Lecturers Academic Staff at Universities, etc., under the Ministry of Research and Information Technology is revoked.

Section 18. The administration of the institution may decide to appoint assistant teaching professors to a full- or part-time post of indefinite duration without research duties up to 1 September 2004.

(2) Appointment as an assistant teaching professor requires the person in question

1. to have been a teaching assistant and/or external lecturer and/or amanuensis at one or more universities, nor-mally for at least 5 of the last 8 years, after passing his/her master's degree,
2. not to have been simultaneously employed in a principal occupation other than any employment as an amanuensis and
3. normally to have been employed for at least 450 hours a year on average for at least 5 years.

(3) Appointment as an assistant teaching professor shall be by advertisement pursuant to part 2. The administration of the institution shall also appoint an assessment committee consisting of a chair and at least one member of at least associate pro-fessor level. An appointment may only be made if the person in question is regarded by both members or a majority of the committee's members as qualified for appointment to the post.