When are you as an employer entitled to dismiss an employee? What notices of termination should you be aware of, and how should the termination itself take place? Learn more here.
It can be difficult to navigate through the rules for termination – regardless of which side of the table you are at: employer or employee. Here you get an overview of what you need to be aware of if you, as an employer, want to dismiss an employee.
First of all, the rules for terminating an employment depend on the conditions under which the employee is contracted. You will find the details about this in the employee’s employment contract and in the collective agreement or law the employee is covered by.
Terminating a salaried employee
If the employee is employed as a salaried employee, the rules for termination in the Salaried Employee Act (danish: Funktionærloven) must be kept. The Civil Service Act lays down the rules for the notice of termination that you as an employer must give, and this depends on the employee’s length of employment. Find the notices of termination in the Civil Service Act here: virksomhedsguiden.dk
Does the employer have a collective agreements?
The termination rules in the collective agreements are very different, and you should therefore be aware of the specific agreement under which the employee you wish to terminate is employed. The collective agreement also contains the rules for the length of notices of termination and any special rules for the procedure you must follow.
Is the employee covered by other employment rules?
If the employee is not covered by the Civil Service Act or any other collective agreements, no general rules for notices of termination apply. In these instances, the rules for termination depend on the terms of termination written in the employee’s employment agreement.
Is the employee “specially protected?”
As an employer, you must be aware of the Discrimination Act and the Equal Treatment Act, which ensure certain special employees protection in connection with termination. According to the Acts, you as an employer must not let the following conditions influence the termination of an employee:
- Age
- Gender
- Pregnancy or fertility treatment
- Handicap
- Ethnicity
- Sexuality
- Religion
- Political beliefs
Employees with positions of trust, e.g. trade union representatives and working environment representatives, in the company can also be protected.
The above does not mean that it is impossible to terminate a specially protected employee, but there must be a factual justification for the termination, including clear evidence that the termination is not due to e.g. maternity, age, sexuality, religion, etc
What should be included in the notice of termination?
There are no general rules for how you, as an employer, must terminate the employment, but in the Civil Service Act it is recommended to make a written termination, as it ensures proof. For the same reason, you should ask the employee for written confirmation of the termination.
There is also no requirement for you to give a reason for the termination, but if the employee requests it, you must give one according to the Civil Service Act. Examples of factual reasons are, for example, cutbacks, savings, organizational changes, cooperation difficulties or illness.
To ensure that all parties are in agreement with the circumstances surrounding the termination, you can describe the rules that apply during the notice period and after resignation. This description can, for example, contain information on:
- Vacation days
- Days off
- Salary during the notice period
- Any severance pay
- Loyalty and competition conditions/any clauses
- Supplements/benefits
- Release/suspension
- Return of equipment/keys/key cards
Salary and benefits during the notice period
In the period from the termination of the employee to the actual termination, the employee must, as a starting point, get his or her normal salary including supplements, bonuses, commissions and employee benefits. However if the employee is exempt, you have the option of setting off the salary after 3 months, if the employee gets another job.
Make sure you get a good closure
The termination does not only affect the employee. It is also important for colleagues and potential business partners, whom you as an employer should inform. Please prepare well before you have to share the news with the rest of the workplace, so that there is no insecurity about the situation among those who remain. If the employee has been a link between the company and an external party, these should also be informed and introduced to a possible new point of contact in advance.
You should also consider how the handover of the employee’s tasks should take place. Should a colleague take over the tasks during the notice period? Or is it necessary for a new employee to be employed and trained in the tasks after the employee’s last working day?
Keep track of your employees
Have you just terminated an employee? Or has an employee resigned from their position? With Intempus’ intelligent system for time registration, you can easily keep an overview of the employees in the company. If there are any changes in employee groups, e.g. transfers, dismissals or new hires, you can easily add or remove employees from the system, so that you always maintain a current overview of who is employed on which agreements and in which groups.
Curious to hear more? Feel free to book a free demo here:
Are you an employee and considering resigning from your position?
If you want to resign from your position, you should also be aware of a number of points. Read more in our blog post here.
Sources: Retsinformation.dk, Virksom.dk
