New rules on registration of working hours are on the way

Pursuant to a new draft bill, companies must introduce time-tracking systems in the workplace. The purpose is to ensure that companies comply with the rules on working time. Therefore, the new systems must track the daily working hours. In this connection, the system must comply with some specific requirements:

• Employees must have access to their own data
• Data must be kept for five years after the end of each reference period

No rules without exceptions

The new draft bill proposes to exempt two groups of employees from the rules on registration of working hours, the 48-hour rule, and the rules on breaks, as well as the rules on night work. Companies can apply the exemption when employees:

• Cannot determine their working hours in advance due to the nature of the work
• Can choose their own working hours

Unless the employees are subject to the exemption, the so-called 48-hour rule still applies under the new draft bill. The so-called 48-hour rule means that employees can have a maximum average weekly working time of 48 hours over four months.

If applicable, companies must state in the employment agreement that the 48-hour rule, the rules on breaks, and night work do not apply.

IUNO’s opinion

Companies will become subject to a financial and administrative burden with the new rules for registering working hours. However, at the same time, the new rules will provide a clearer framework for deviating from the 48-hour rule, as well as the rules on breaks and night work.

IUNO recommends companies to consider how to implement time-tracking systems. In addition to the existing rules relating to the employment, time-tracking systems must also comply with the applicable data protection rules. Therefore, it is important how the system is set up in practice. Although the draft bill was only recently sent for consultation, the rules are expected to enter into force on 1 January 2024.

The new draft bill is the result of an EU ruling from 2019 that established that companies must track the working hours of employees. We have previously written about the ruling here.

[Draft bill to amend the Danish Act on the Implementation of Parts of the Working Time Directive and the Act on the Labour Court and Industrial Arbitration Courts of 14 September 2023]