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This is an Act to consolidate the provisions of Act on Equal Treatment of Men and Women as regards Access to Employment and Maternity Leave etc., cf. Consolidation Act No. 875 of 17 October 1994 with the amendments following from Section 2 of Act No. 1111 of 29 December 1997.
Part 1
1. - (1) For the purpose of this Act equal treatment of men and women means that no discrimination may take place on the ground of sex. This applies to both direct discrimination and indirect discrimination, in particular by reference to pregnancy or to marital or family status.
(2) The Act shall be without prejudice to provisions on protection of women, especially in connection with pregnancy or maternity, cf. part 3 of the Act.
(3) The provisions of this Act shall not apply to the extent that a similar obligation to equal treatment follows from a collective agreement, cf., however section 18 (2).
Part 2
Equal treatment of men and women
2. Any employer shall observe the principle of equal treatment of men and women in connection with recruitment, transfers and promotions.
3. - (1) Any employer who employs men and women shall treat them equally as regards access to vocational guidance, vocational training, vocational continued training and retraining.
(2) The obligation to observe the principle of equal treatment shall also apply to any person who undertakes guidance and training activities as mentioned in subsection (1).
4. Any employer who employs men and women shall treat them equally as regards working conditions. This shall also apply in connection with dismissal.
5. - (1) The obligation to observe the principle of equal treatment also applies to any person who lays down provisions and makes decisions concerning access to exercise activities on the basis of self-employment. This shall also apply to the establishment, organisation or extension of an enterprise and the taking-up or extension of any other form of self-employment, including the financing hereof.
(2) The obligation to observe the principle of equal treatment also applies to any person who lays down provisions and makes decisions concerning vocational training etc. and concerning the terms governing the performance of such activities.
6. No advertisement may state that persons of a specific sex are wanted or preferred in connection with recruitment or vocational training etc.
Part 3
Pregnancy, maternity and adoption
7. - (1) A female employee shall be entitled to absence from work due to pregnancy and maternity from the date estimated to be 4 weeks before the birth. After the birth the parents are entitled to absence from the work for a total period of 26 weeks. Up to 10 weeks of this total period can be taken by the father after the 14th week after the birth. The right to absence may only be used by one parent at a time. For a further period of up to 2 weeks after the 24th week after the birth the right to absence can only be used by the father.
(2) The mother of the child has a duty to absence for 2 weeks after the birth.
(3) The father of the child shall be entitled to absence for up to 2 weeks after the birth or reception of the child in the home or - as agreed with the employer - within the first 14 weeks after the birth. This right is independent of the right to absence under subsection (1) above.
(4) If the child is hospitalised, the right to absence under subsection (3) may be postponed, cf. section 10 (6).
(5) Furthermore, an employee has the right to absence from work in connection with pregnancy, maternity, and adoption in periods where the employee is entitled to daily cash benefits according to Part 7 of the Act on daily cash benefits in connection with sickness or birth.
(6) A female employee has the right to absence from work in connection with pregnancy examinations when these are to take place during working hours.
7a. - Periods during which the right to daily cash benefits is reduced or lapses under section 16a (1), (2), and (4) of the Act on daily cash benefits during sickness or birth because the employee has resumed work, are included in the calculation of the periods where the employee has the right to absence according to section 7.
8. The time during which the employee has been absent under section 7 shall be included in connection with calculation of seniority in the employment relationship. This provision shall not apply to pension questions.
9. An employer may not dismiss an employee for having put forward a claim to use the right to absence or for having been absent under section 7 or for any other reason related to pregnancy, maternity or adoption.
10. - (1) A female employee who uses her right to absence under section 7(1) shall within 8 weeks after the birth inform her employer of the date on which she intends to resume work.
(2) A male employee who uses his right to absence in connection with the birth or reception of the child in the home under section 7 (3) shall with a notice of 4 weeks inform his employer of the date on which he expects the absence to start and of the duration of the absence.
(3) A male employee who uses his right to absence under section 7(1) shall not later than 8 weeks after the birth inform the employer of the date of the start of the absence and its duration. A male employee who uses his right to absence under section 7(1) clause 5 shall not later than 14 weeks after the birth inform the employer of the date of the start of the absence and its duration.
(4) If the right to absence after the 14th week after the birth is shared between the parents so that the absence of the female employee falls in several periods, she shall in connection with the notice to the employer under section (1) above inform the employer of the date of commencement and the duration of later absences.
(5) In connection with absence by virtue of section 7 (5) adoptive parents shall, if the duration and time of the leave has not been fixed when the child is received, observe the time limits laid down in subsections (1) to (4).
(6) A female employee who uses the right to absence under section 7 (5) because the child is hospitalised within the first 26 weeks after the birth or reception in the home shall, without undue delay, inform her employer about the hospitalisation. At the same time. the male employee shall inform his employer hereof. The parents shall, without undue delay, inform their employers about the date on which the child is received in the home after the hospitalisation. If the child is received before notice has been given under subsections (1) to (4), the time limits shall be extended with the time during which the child has been hospitalised. If not, the notices given shall lapse and new notices shall be given within 2 weeks after the reception.
(7) An employee who uses the right to absence under section 7 (5) because the employee is subrogated to the other parent's entitlement to daily cash benefits shall, without undue delay, inform the employer hereof and of the duration of the absence.
Part 4
Void agreements, etc.
11. - (1) Provisions laid down in agreements and in regulations, etc. of enterprises which are in contravention of sections 2 to 5 shall be void. This shall also apply to rules, etc. governing independent professions.
(2) Provisions in agreements and in regulations etc. of enterprises which concern more than one employer shall also be void if they allow discrimination on the ground of sex in the fields mentioned in sections 2 to 4. This shall also apply to rules, etc. governing independent professions.
12. No deviation from the provisions laid down in this Act may take place to the detriment of the employee.
Part5
Exemptions
13. - (1) Where the sex of a person is of decisive importance for the exercise of certain types of professional and educational/ training activities, the Minister under whose competence the activities fall may grant exemptions from the provisions laid down in sections 2 to 6 after having consulted the Minister of Labour and the Equal Status Council.
(2) The Equal Status Council may - after having consulted the Minister under whose competence the matter falls - permit measures which deviate from the provisions laid down in sections 2 to 6 with a view to promoting equal opportunities for men and women, mainly by redressing actual inequalities which have an impact upon the access to employment, vocational training, etc.
(3) A permission under subsection (2) above is conditional upon the approval of the representatives of the social partners in the Equal Status Council.
(4) The Minister of Labour may - at the recommendation of the Equal Status Council and after consultation of the Minister under whose competence the matter falls - decide that measures may be initiated in specific fields with a view to promoting equal opportunities for men and women without permission under subsection (2) above.
Part 6
Compensation, etc.
14. Persons whose rights are violated by non-compliance with sections 2 to 5 may be awarded compensation.
15. - (1) If an employee is dismissed for having put forward a claim for equal treatment under sections 2 to 4, the employer shall pay compensation.
(2) The amount of the compensation under subsection (1) above which may not exceed 39 months' pay shall be fixed taking into account the seniority of the employee and other circumstances of the case.
(3) Subsections (1) and (2) shall be correspondingly applicable where the obligation to observe the principle of equal treatment follows from a collective agreement, but where the collective agreement does not give the person concerned a right to compensation in the case of dismissal which is not reasonably justified by the conditions of the employee or the undertaking. The claim shall be dealt with under the procedures set up for settlement of industrial disputes.
16. - (1) If an employee is dismissed in contravention of section 9, the dismissal shall be set aside if a claim to this effect is made, unless it is - in special cases and after a balancing of the parties' interests - considered unreasonable to claim the employment relationship maintained or restored.
(2) If an employee is dismissed in contravention of section 9 and the dismissal is not set aside, the employer shall pay compensation.
(3) The amount of the compensation - which may not exceed 78 weeks' pay - shall be fixed with due regard to the seniority of the employee and other circumstances of the case.
(4) If the dismissal takes place in connection with pregnancy, maternity or adoption, it shall be incumbent on the employer to prove that dismissal was not based on these grounds.
(5) If an employee is dismissed during the periods mentioned in section 7, the employee shall have the right to a document in writing giving adequate particulars of the reason for the dismissal.
Part 7
Miscellaneous provisions
17. The Minister of Labour shall lay down special rules on the maternity leave, etc. of seafarers.
18. - (1) The Equal Status Council may - at its own initiative or at request - examine matters related to this Act.
(2) Employers and employees as well as their organisations shall at request give the Equal Status Council any information of importance to the activities of the Equal Status Council.
Part 8
Penal sanctions
19. - (1) Violation of sections 2 to 6 and of the section 18 (2) shall be punishable by a fine.
(2) Penal sanctions may be imposed upon companies etc. (legal persons) under the rules laid down in Part 5 of the Penal Code.
Part 9
Commencement
20. - (1) This Act shall come into operation on 1 May 1989.
(2) The Act on Equal Treatment of Men and Women as regards Employment, etc, cf. Consolidation Act No. 572 of 28 August 1986 and the Act on Maternity leave, etc., cf. Consolidation Act No. 101 of 6 March 1987 are hereby abolished.
21. This Act shall not extend to the Faroe Islands and to Greenland.
Act No. 268 of 2 May 1990 amending the Act on Equal Treatment of Men and Women as regards Employment and Maternity Leave etc. contains the following provision on commencement:
Section 2
(1) This Act shall come into operation the day after its publication in the Danish Law Gazette and shall be operative from 2 April 1990.
(2) However, section 1, par.5 shall come into operation at a date to be fixed by the Minister of Labour,*)
*I.e. section 21 of the Act.
Act No. 412 of 1 June 1994 amending the Act on Equal Treatment of Men and Women as regards Access to Employment and Maternity leave etc.* contains the following provision on commencement:
* This Act concerns the implementation of Council Directive 92/85/EEC of 19 October 1992 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvement in the safety and health at work of pregnant workers and workers who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding, (10th special Directive under Article 16 (1) of Directive 89/39 1/EEC).
Section 2
This Act shall come into operation on 1 October 1994.
Act no. 416 of 1 June 1994 amending the Act on Equal Treatment of Men and Women as regards Access to Employment and Maternity Leave etc.*) contains the following provision on commencement:
*I.e. section 7 of the Act.
Section 2
This Act shall come into operation on 1 July 1994.
Act no. 1111 of 29 December 1997 amending the Act on daily cash benefits during sickness or birth and the Act on Equal Treatment of Men and Women as regards Access to Employment and Maternity Leave etc.* includes the following provision on commencement:
*I.e. sections 7 (1), 7 (4), 10 (2), 10 (3), 10 (5), 10 (6), 10 (7), and 19 (2) of the Act.
Section 3
This Act shall come into operation on 1 April 1998 and shall be applicable to cases where the birth or the reception of the child has taken place on 15 October 1997 or later.
Ministry of Labour, 3 April 1998
Ove Hygum
/E. Edelberg
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