As a member of staff, you are covered by the agreement on working hours for state employees if you are employed under any of the following trade union agreements. In your letter of employment it states which trade union agreement you are employed under.

Trade union agreements covered by the multi-union collective agreement for the Organisation of Public Employees (OAO)

• Office employees, laboratory technicians and IT employees (National Union of Commercial and Clerical Employees - HK)
• Non-seagoing machinists
• Cleaning assistants, cleaners, semiskilled workers and certain vocationally trained employees employed by the state
• Kitchen assistants employed in the state sector
• Skilled tradespeople and technicians
• Canteen managers
• Members of security staff employed in the state sector
• Building maintenance workers
• Graphic designers

Trade union agreements covered by the Danish Confederation of Public Employees of 2010 (CO10)

• Dental hygienists
• Members of IT staff (Danish Association of IT Professionals) - with one exception
• Catering staff (kitchen staff)
• Pharmacologists and dispensing chemist’s assistants
• Social workers employed in the state sector
• Biomedical laboratory scientists
• Nurses employed in the state sector
• Constructing engineers, surveyors, cartographers and cartographic technicians
• Agricultural technologists, agricultural technicians and experimental technicians
• Occupational therapists and physiotherapists

Trade union agreements covered by the Confederation of Teachers Unions of 2010 (LC10)

• Specialist teachers and teaching assistants at the School for Dental Assistants, Hygienists and Clinical Technicians (SKT) – with some exceptions, which are stipulated in the trade union agreement (for example, the standard period is 1 year).

Employees with standard working hours work between 06:00 and 19:00 on the first 5 days of the week – Monday to Friday.

Employees with non-standard working hours work at any time of the day or night, also outside standard working hours.

These two groups of employees are subject to different working hours regulations, but there are some rules that apply to both. In the sections below, we indicate whether the rules apply to one or both groups. The vast majority of employees at Aarhus University work standard hours.

Standard period

The standard period is the time period by which working hours are calculated. In the agreement on working hours for state employees, the standard period is 1 month. Working hours in a standard period are calculated as 7.4 hours times the number of calendar days minus days off and any public holidays (but not public holidays that fall on days of the week that are already non-working days for the employee).

If you have standard working hours, your days off are Saturday and Sunday. If you have non-standard working hours, you have 26 days of per quarter.

Example

In May 2024, there are 31 calendar days, including 8 Saturdays/Sundays and 2 public holidays. This means there are 21 working days in May 2024.

• For full-time employment: 21 days x 7.4 hours = 155.4 working hours
• For part-time employment (20 hours/week): 21 days x (20/37) x 7.4 hours = 84 working hours

How your working hours are calculated

If you are covered by a formal flextime agreement, you must calculate your working hours in your local flextime form or in your working hours registration form, which you will find at XXXX. You should include all the time you have worked in the calculation – without rounding up or down.

1. The working day: The time between your arrival at work and the time at which you leave work. Breaks lasting less than half an hour are included provided you are available and may not leave the workplace during this time.
2. Paid leave: Days such as sick days, time off in lieu, holidays and paid leave are included in the number of hours you have worked. If no set number of hours is specified for the day in question, 7.4 hours are included for full-time employees. A proportionate number of hours are included for part-time employees.
3. Travel time: Time spent on work-related trips is included in full up to a maximum of 13 hours per 24-hour period. The 13-hour limit only applies to travel time.
4. Time spent on call:
   • If you are on call at home, this time is included at 1/3 hours per hour.
   • If you are on call at the workplace, this time is included at 3/4 hours per hour.
5. Being called into work: Being called in to work with less than 24 hours notice is included as at least 3 hours unless it is an extension of your planned work or unless you were on call at the time. Being called in to work means actually going in to your workplace. If you do the work from home, only the actual time you work is included.

Weekend work that is remunerated with a weekend allowance – see below – is not included in the standard calculation of working hours.

Payment for overtime

If you have worked more than the full-time standard in a given month, and you were instructed to do so or required to do so in order to perform your work tasks properly, you may receive:

• Time off in lieu plus 50%
• Hourly pay plus 50%
• A combination of the two

If you are a part-time employee, you will only receive the 50% supplement once your hours exceed the full-time standard. Until then, you will receive time off in lieu or your regular hourly pay for the extra hours you have worked.

Employees who do not receive payment for overtime

If any of the following apply to you, you do not receive payment for overtime work:

1. You are covered by the executive pay agreement (LR35 and above).
2. You are exempt from the rules on overtime pay under another agreement, e.g.:
   • You receive a supplement as remuneration for overtime
   • You are exempt from the rules on overtime pay in the new pay systems.
3. You have a decisive influence on how your work is organised and scheduled, or your work is not easily verifiable, for example if you are a manager with delegating responsibilities.

In these cases, there is no 50% supplement rule. Any remuneration you receive is determined by management following a discussion with you, and can be in the form of payment, time off in lieu or a combination of the two.

Flextime schemes and remote working

Flexitime schemes, which enable you to organise some of your working hours, have no bearing on whether you are covered by the rules for pay for overtime or additional work, but your flextime scheme may contain specific guidelines on this. Ask your local HR staff member whether you are covered by a flextime agreement.

Remote working – i.e. work performed outside your official workplace and facilitated by digital communication (https://medarbejdere.au.dk/administration/hr/rekruttering-og-ansaettelse/distancearbejde) – is covered by the regular provisions on payment for overtime and additional work. Working hours provisions for remote working may be adapted in local agreements.

Inconvenience allowance for employees with standard working hours

If you work at the following times in accordance with instructions or an approved duty roster, you receive a supplement of 25%:

• Weekdays: From 17:00 to 06:00
• Weekends: From 00:00 on Saturday to 24:00 on Sunday
• Public holidays that fall on a working day: From 00:00 to 24:00

You receive an inconvenience allowance independently of any payment for overtime or additional work. If you are a part-time employee, you receive an inconvenience allowance regardless of whether the number of hours you’ve worked exceeds the full-time standard. Subject to agreement between you and your manager, the allowance can be converted to time off in lieu.

You do not receive an inconvenience allowance for work time that you have scheduled yourself or for time that you are on call at home – even if these hours fall outside standard working hours.

Weekend allowance for employees with standard working hours

If you work at the following times in accordance with instructions or an approved duty roster, you receive a supplement of 50%:

• Weekends: From 00:00 on Saturday to 24:00 on Sunday
• Public holidays that fall on a working day From 00:00 to 24:00

Remuneration may be in the form of:

• Time off in lieu plus 50%
• Hourly pay plus 50%
• A combination of the two

You may receive both an inconvenience allowance and a weekend allowance if the conditions for both are met. The weekend allowance is paid independently of any payment for overtime or additional work. 

If you are a part-time employee, your weekend allowance will be paid regardless of whether the number of hours you’ve worked exceeds the full-time standard.

Days off and cancellation of days off for employees with non-standard working hours

You have non-standard working hours if you work at any time of the day or night. As an employee with non-standard working hours, you are entitled to 26 days off per quarter, which are deducted from the calendar days when calculating the standard period. Your number of days off increases by the number of public holidays that fall on a working day, unless the public holiday falls on a day that you would usually have off. For example, if you usually have Fridays off, you will not receive an extra day’s holiday because of Good Friday.

A day off must be at least 40 hours, or at least 36 hours if it includes a full calendar day.

Your work time should be scheduled so that you receive two consecutive days off a week, and at least 30 days off a year should be on Sundays or bank holidays.

If one of your planned days off is cancelled, you must be compensated with time off in lieu plus 50% or with hourly pay plus 50%. In these cases, you are compensated for a minimum of 6 hours.

Inconvenience allowance for employees with non-standard working hours

For each 37 hours you work between 17:00 and 06:00, you earn 3 hours of time off in lieu. When working evening and night shifts (more than 4 hours between 15:00 and 07:00), you also earn 3 hours of time off in lieu for each 37 hours you work. In other words, unlike employees with standard working hours, employees with non-standard working hours are not paid a 25% supplement but get time off in lieu instead.

Night pay for employees with non-standard working hours

If you work between 17:00 and 06:00 in accordance with instructions or an approved duty roster, you receive an additional DKK 17.03 per half hour started (at 1997 level). You do not receive this supplement for being on call, unless you are on call at your workplace with no sleeping quarters (in this case, you receive half rate).

If you work at the following times, you receive an additional DKK 30.46 per half hour started (1997 level):

• Weekends from 14:00 on Saturday to 06:00 on Monday
• Saturdays before 14:00 if at least half of your shift is after 14:00
• Public holidays that fall on a working day: from 00:00 to 24:00
• Weekdays following a public holiday that falls on a working day: from 00:00 to 06:00
• Denmark’s Constitution Day (5 June): from 12:00 to 24:00
• Christmas Eve (24 December): from 14:00 to 24:00

You do not receive a supplement for being on call, but you can receive the DKK 17.03 supplement and the DKK 30.46 supplement simultaneously.

As an AC employee in an academic position, you cannot be covered by a flextime agreement and, as a general rule, you do not receive compensation for additional work.

As an AC employee in a technical/administrative position, you are expected to organise your own working hours and to inform your manager of these working hours. If your working hours go over 37 hours or under 10 hours per week, you must inform your manager. This is managed on a local level. For example:

• If you are adjusting for less than 1 day, you can do this yourself by writing “time off” in your calendar for the hours you are not at work.
• If you are adjusting for more than 1 day, you must agree this with your manager.

In some cases, you can receive a one-off bonus as remuneration for additional work. To receive a one-off bonus, the following criteria must be met:

• The additional work must have been assigned in accordance with special instructions or have been required in order to perform your work duties properly.
• The additional work must have been large in scope.
• The additional work must have extended over a long period, usually more than 4 weeks.

If you are an administrative officer with an availability requirement, you may only be remunerated for additional work when it amounts to significantly more than 20 hours per quarter.

If you are a special consultant, a senior consultant or a senior consultant with staff management responsibilities, you may receive a one-off bonus, which is determined by management following a discussion with you. For example, one-off bonuses can be paid to reward you for an extraordinary contribution or to compensate you for additional work.

Gardeners are not covered by the agreement on working hours for state employees. If you are a gardener, you are covered by the following rules instead:

1. Collective agreement:
   • Trade union agreement for agricultural assistants, gardener’s assistants, gardeners and experiment assistants
2. Night pay:
   • As described under the regulations for employees with non-standard working hours

Working hours:

• The average working week for a gardener is 37 hours.
• Working hours are calculated over a period of 4 weeks.
• Breaks lasting less than half an hour are included, provided you are available and leave your workplace. All other breaks are not included.

Overtime:

• You can agree to save up any hours that you work over the weekly standard and to take them off at a later date. As a general rule, these hours should be taken off no later than 3 months after they were earned.
• If you work more than the standard period in accordance with instructions or an approved duty roster, you will be compensated for this additional work with a supplement of 50%. This can be in the form of payment or time off in lieu.
• You must be notified the day before if you are required to work longer than usual. If you are not informed the day before and you work more than 1 additional hour, you will receive an unregulated supplement of DKK 9.70 per hour.

On-call duty:

• Time off in lieu for overtime must be taken within 3 months of the overtime taking place.
• If you are asked to work when you are not on call, you will be paid for a minimum of 3 hours.

For journalists employed by the Danish state, working hours are calculated quarterly.

As far as possible, overtime that significantly exceeds the quarterly standard and which has been ordered, verified and approved as overtime by your manager should be remunerated with time off in lieu plus 50%.

Overtime that is not remunerated with time off in lieu may be remunerated with a bonus calculated on the basis of an hourly rate, which is calculated as 1/1924 of your annual net salary plus 50%.