Fixed-Term Employment

Act on Fixed-Term Employment: 

The Danish Act on Fixed-Term Employment (Loven om tidsbegrænset ansættelse, Act no. 370 of 28 May 2003) came into effect on 1 June 2003. 

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

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

However, in cases of appointment to a completely new position – for example employment as a PhD and subsequent employment as a postdoc or tenure-track assistant professor, this is considered a new employment relationship rather than renewal of the same position.

 

Section 5 of the act

Section 5(1) Renewal of successive fixed-term employments 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 employments 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 employment 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 employment is to be continued.

However, it will be possible to renew the fixed-term employment 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 employment) 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 employment 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 employment 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.