Coronavirus Situation

​The Financial Sector has Concluded an Agreement on the Handling of the Coronavirus Situation

FA (the Danish Employers' Association for the Financial Sector) and Finansforbundet have concluded an extraordinary agreement to help companies and employees in the financial sector throughout the period of the Coronavirus/COVID-19 in Denmark.


FA and Finansforbundet have reached an agreement that will help alleviate some of the major challenges faced by the financial sector as a result of the Coronavirus/COVID-19 situation in Denmark.

The agreement covers approx. 43,000 workplaces in the Danish financial sector.

"The situation is so serious that it is also imperative that we all do our utmost to get through it as prudently as possible. It is also a situation, which necessitates the need for us to organise ourselves differently as a company and employee for a period of time, which is why we have now concluded an agreement that provides a basic framework for what we need to address in this extraordinary situation," says Kent Petersen, President of Finansforbundet.

In concrete terms, the agreement contains a number of points, which ensure increased flexibility for employees and companies in the current situation, and which lays certain individual provisions of the collective agreements aside for a temporary period.

"Just like the rest of the country, the financial sector is in a very unfamiliar and uncertain situation due to the outbreak of Coronavirus in Denmark. It is a situation that calls for us to do everything we can to alleviate the serious consequences of the situation for companies, employees and workplaces. The agreement provides companies and employees with a number of tools they can use," says Mariane Dissing, CEO of FA.

The agreement shall take effect immediately and remain in force until the social situation is normalised.

However, the parties may terminate the agreement by giving 14 days' notice.

Joint sector agreement with FA (the Danish Employers’ Association for the Financial Sector) on COVID-19

The situation concerning COVID-19/coronavirus is extraordinary and affects us all – also the financial sector. For this reason, Finansforbundet has negotiated a sector agreement with FA on a framework for how we can address the extraordinary situation we are in as a company and employee.

As of 30 March 2020, the agreement will replace all local agreements and include all OK employees in FA – except insurance agents – and apply as a starting point until the situation is normalised.

The agreement initially addresses the consequences and deviations in weeks 11, 12 and 13 – i.e. until 29 March – and contains, among other things, guidelines on working at home, rules concerning working hours and holidays. The agreement shall be maintained if there is a continued need during weeks 14 and 15.

Questions and answers regarding COVID-19 agreements between Finansforbundet and FA

If I have been sent home to work and have to look after my children at the same time, should I record how many hours I work in order for the remaining hours to subsequently be deducted from my salary?

No, you do not have to record the time you work in order for the remaining hours to subsequently be deducted from your salary. You will have the right to receive full salary while at home, even though you cannot work full-time due to childcare. 

Your employer will also have the right to require that you take all of your remaining holiday immediately. If you do not have any remaining holiday, your employer will be entitled to withdraw 3 days' salary (22.2 hours) from your hour bank account in the period from 30 March and 14 days ahead and again from 12 April and 14 days ahead - a total of 44.4 hours.

Any holiday you are entitled to take during the period from 16 March to 26 April will be offset against the withdrawal from your hour bank account. For example, if you take one week of remaining holiday (37 hours), only 7.4 hours may be withdrawn from your hour bank account. This is because the 37 hours must be withdrawn from the 44.4 hours your employer may withdraw from your hour bank account.

I expect to have more than enough work throughout the period and can therefore envisage that my employer will not allow me to take time off. What do I do when an agreement has been made for no remaining holiday to be transferred?It is true that an agreement has been made for no remaining holiday to be transferred. This applies to everyone, also to those who are working from home. But if your employer says that you may not take time off, the company will not be fulfilling its obligation to ensure holidays are taken – based on the grounds of specific operational reasons. This means that you are not covered by the agreed prevention for the transfer of holiday. You will therefore be entitled to agree on a transfer of holiday or paid holiday.
Is holiday that I have already planned now suspended? For instance, can I cancel my holiday or can my employer cancel it?No – there is now an agreement that holiday or holiday that notice has been given for is respected – but the days taken will be offset, which means that you are not required to take holiday and withdraw hours from your hour bank account at the same time.
I had already agreed with my manager in the spring to transfer one week's holiday to a new holiday year. Due to the new Danish Holiday Act, I had planned a 1-week holiday in May and a 3-week holiday during the summer holiday. I therefore need to transfer one week's holiday in order to have enough for my planned holiday. Has this agreement been suspended?No, agreements on holiday transfer that were concluded before 16/03/2020 will be respected.
What if I am sent home and would like to work but my employer will not or cannot supply me with a computer?

As we cannot stipulate that your employer purchase additional material e.g. computers, you will be in the same position as the employees who have been sent home without being able to work.

Your employer will have the right to require that you, and all others, take all of your remaining holiday immediately.

If you do not have any remaining holiday, your employer will be entitled to withdraw 3 days' salary (22.2 hours) from your hour bank account in the period from 30 March and 14 days ahead and again from 12 April and 14 days ahead – a total of 44.4 hours if you are a full-time employee.

I am a part-time employee. Can my employer still withdraw 22.2 hours from my hour bank account every second week?If you are a part-time employee, the withdrawal from your hour bank account will be reduced proportionally in relation to the percentage of your working hours. If the percentage of your working hours is, e.g. 80, your employer will withdraw 17.8 hours for every 14-day period as of 30 March.
I am an IT employee and work 36 hours per week. How much can my employer withdraw from my hour bank account?We have agreed on a principle of proportionality. We have also agreed that the employer shall withdraw the equivalent of 3 working days from your hour bank account every 14 days. Your daily working hours as an IT employee are 7.2 hours. Your employer is therefore allowed to withdraw 21.6 hours from your hour bank account every 14 days as of 30 March.
My employer expects that I attend work but I have nowhere to leave my children and I have explored the relevant possibilities. How do I stand?

If you do not have the possibility of looking after your children in any other way, you can contact your employer and inform him/her that you are in a situation where you need to be at home to care for your children. You should also offer to work from home at unusual hours if necessary. If it is not possible to work at home, you are covered by the agreement and given the same status as employees who have been sent home without being able to work.

Your employer will have the right to require that you, and all others, take all of your remaining holiday immediately.

If you do not have any remaining holiday, your employer will be entitled to withdraw 3 days' salary (22.2 hours) from your hour bank account in the period from 30 March and 14 days ahead and again from 12 April and 14 days ahead - a total of 44.4 hours.

My employer has sent me home. I have taken all of my holiday and do not have any hours in my hour bank account. Can the 44.4 hours still be withdrawn?Yes, they can, as it has been agreed that the hour bank account may be overdrawn.

Examples for full-time employees (part-time employees are treated proportionately) for the period of 16 March to 26 April 2020

Example 1:
The employee has 2 days of holiday owing to him/her (14.8 hours) in the current holiday year. 

The company gives notice that this holiday must be taken immediately and it is taken in week 13.

Withdrawal of the remaining 7.4 hours (22.2 - 14.8 hours) in the hour bank account may be made in weeks 14 and 15.

Withdrawal of the remaining 22.2 hours in the hour bank account may be made in weeks 16 and 17.


Example 2:
The employee takes remaining holiday (5 days) that was already planned in week 13 and does not have additional remaining holiday owing.

Withdrawal of the 22.2 hours in the hour bank account cannot be made in weeks 14 and 15.

Withdrawal of 7.4 hours (44.4 - 37 hours) from the hour bank account may be made in weeks 16 and 17.

 

Example 3:
The employee has 5 days of remaining holiday (37 days) owing and does not have additional remaining holiday owing. The company gives notice that this holiday must be taken immediately and it is taken in week 13.

Withdrawal of the 22.2 hours in the hour bank account cannot be made in weeks 14 and 15.

Withdrawal of 7.4 hours (44.4 – 37 hours) from the hour bank account may be made in weeks 16 and 17.

 

Example 4:
The employee takes remaining holiday (3 days) that was already planned during Easter (week 15) and does not have additional remaining holiday owing.

The company may not carry out withdrawals of the 22.2 hours from the hour bank account in weeks 14 or 15.

Withdrawal of the 22.2 hours in the hour bank account may be made in weeks 16 and 17.

 

Example 5:
The employee takes remaining holiday (3 days) that was already planned during Easter (week 15) and 5 days in week 17 but does not have additional remaining holiday owing.

The company may not carry out withdrawals of the 2 x 22.2 hours from the hour bank account in weeks 14-17.

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