From 1 July 2024, all employers must register how many hours each employee works. On 23 January 2024, the Danish Parliament adopted a legal requirement for the registration of working hours, which will have a major impact on all employers.

The legal requirement to record employees' working hours is based on a ruling from the European Court of Justice, which states that EU member states must require their employers to introduce a “objective, reliable and accessible system that makes it possible to measure the length of each worker's daily working hours”. 

What does that mean specifically?

This means that companies must have implemented a time recording system by 1 July 2024 to ensure compliance with the rules on maximum weekly working and rest hours. There is no requirement for how working hours must be recorded – this will be up to the individual employer. However, it is a requirement that the system is objective, reliable and accessible. This means, among other things, that the employee must be able to access their own information in the system. In addition, it is a requirement that the information must be stored for at least five years.

Exception for self-organizers

The new rules apply to all employees, but there is an exception for so-called “self-organizers”. Self-organizers are defined as employees who determine their own working hours or whose working hours are difficult to plan in advance. Examples of this include certain academics, employees in higher management, senior lawyers and others who have a significant degree of independence in the performance of their work.

It will therefore require an individual assessment of the company's employees to determine whether some employees will be defined as self-organizers and thus exempt from the requirement to record working hours. It is also a requirement that if the employee is to be exempt from the requirement to record working hours, this must be explicitly stated in the employment contract or an addendum thereto.

Development of a policy on working time registration

Despite the freedom of method for recording working hours, the change will in future result in a significant administrative burden for employers. Employers must draw up a detailed policy on recording working hours in the company, and update employees' employment contracts with reference to the company's policy. It is also important that the company ensures that the new rules are implemented in its GDPR procedure, in order to avoid fines for violating data protection rules.

Get started now

The new rules will come into effect on July 1, 2024, and it is therefore crucial that you as an employer start implementing the new time recording requirements now.

At Paragraf Advokaterne we can help you ensure that your company is ready for the new rules on recording working hours. You are therefore very welcome to contact Camilla Dam Rasmussen if you have any questions about the new rules.

Read more about our employment law advice.