Working Time Rules: Denmark
Denmark: standard working week, public holiday calendar and minimum annual leave rules, with sources, for practical workforce planning.
Statutory working time
Danish normal working hours are agreed in contracts or collective agreements, commonly 37 hours per week. The general adult framework limits weekly hours to 48 on average including overtime, subject to applicable exceptions. This calculator starts with an editable 40-hour planning scenario; use 7.4 hours per day for an evenly spread 37-hour five-day week.
Rest periods
At least 11 consecutive hours of rest in every 24, which may drop to 8 at shift changes in shift work and for up to 30 days a year in agriculture. Within every seven days there is a weekly day off placed directly after a daily rest period, on a Sunday as far as possible.
Record-keeping
Since 1 July 2024 the employer must run an objective, reliable and accessible system that measures each employee’s daily working time, so that the rest and maximum weekly working time rules can be checked. Employees must be able to see their own records, and the records are kept for five years after the end of the period used to calculate average weekly working time.
What to check before you rely on this
- The current statutory limits, reference periods, and any opt-outs.
- Sector or collective-agreement rules that may override the defaults.
- How overtime is authorised, recorded, and compensated.
- What working-time records you must keep and for how long.