Dismissed in a mass redundancy: What are your rights?

The term mass redundancy is commonly used to describe layoffs where a large group of employees are dismissed.

In Denmark, the Collective Redundancy Act lays down the rules companies must follow if dismissing a large number of employees at the same time. However, a number of conditions must be met before these rules come into effect. On this page, you can learn more about how mass redundancies work in Denmark.

When is it a mass redundancy?

The size of the company and the number of people laid off determine whether something is a mass redundancy – In Danish known as a masseafskedigelse - and which rules apply.

A mass redundancy is when:

The company has between 20 and 100 employees, and at least 10 of these are planned to be made redundant within 30 days.
The company has between 100 and 300 employees, and at least 10 per cent of these are planned to be made redundant within 30 days.
The company has more than 300 employees and at least 30 of these are planned to be made redundant within 30 days.

What should you do when mass redundancies are announced?

If a company is going to carry out mass redundancies, it is obliged to call for negotiations on the terms with a group of employee representatives.

Ideally, you will be invited to a meeting with your colleagues where you will be informed about the mass redundancies and jointly decide who will represent the employees in the negotiations.

However, in large workplaces, it may be impossible to organise a joint meeting and you may find yourself in a situation where you lack knowledge about the process. If this is the case, there are several places you can try to get more information:

If you have a union representative or company group at your workplace, it's a good idea to start by contacting them.
If you don't have a union representative or company group, you can contact your immediate manager or the HR department at your workplace.
IDA rarely has knowledge about mass redundancies at individual workplaces. However, you are always welcome to contact IDA's legal department, who can try to advise you on where you might be able to get the necessary information.

Contact IDA's legal department

What should you do while mass redundancies are being negotiated in your workplace?

If you are not part of the group representing the employees, you should wait for the outcome of the negotiations.

However, if you are elected to negotiate with the employer, you should contact IDA for advice. Among other things, IDA can help with the following:

Participating in member meetings where those affected by a round of redundancies are informed about their legal position in the event of dismissal, conditions in connection with the transition to unemployment benefits and opportunities for further training, job search and networking.
Coaching the members' local representatives in negotiations on legal and strategic issues.
Participate in the negotiations if possible and if it can have a beneficial effect on the outcome.
Contribute with negotiation proposals to provide inspiration for the negotiations.
Provide concrete examples of severance agreements as inspiration for negotiations.
Contribute with proposals for severance agreements and comment on the agreement before it is signed.
Provide input for the termination procedure itself

Contact IDA's legal counsellors

What should you do if you are made redundant in a mass redundancy?

If you are among those who have been made redundant in a mass redundancy, you will receive an agreement with the terms that apply. You can not be offered less favourable conditions than those included in your employment contract or collective agreement.

If you are dismissed, you should always contact IDA's legal advisors who can help you ensure that your rights are respected.

Contact IDA's legal counselling

Why is it important to have local representation in the workplace?

Once the contact between IDA and the members concerned has been established, the first step is to establish local representation. If there is already a company group, academic club or union representative, they constitute the local representation.

If IDA does not have a local organisation, members are encouraged to appoint one or a few contact persons who can act as a liaison between IDA and the members and possibly represent the members in relation to management.

A local representative is not absolutely necessary, but it will definitely be a clear advantage in the process. Once the logistics are in place, two tasks must be tackled: informing members about the status and perspectives, and negotiating with management about the terms of the redundancy process.

How does IDA help in the event of a mass redundancy?

IDA and Akademikernes A-kasse can participate in member meetings where those affected by a round of redundancies are informed about their legal position in the event of dismissal, conditions in connection with the transition to unemployment benefits and opportunities for further training, job search and networking.

IDA also participates in the negotiation process for severance terms. This can be either as a sparring partner for local representatives or as a direct party in the negotiations. How and to what extent IDA should be involved in the negotiations is decided based on the circumstances of the redundancy round and the members' wishes