Unpaid wages when posted to Denmark

If you are a posted worker and have unpaid wages from your employer, The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers can recover unpaid wages for you. In addition to your wages, you can, for example, recover holiday pay and pension.

You can recover unpaid wages when:

• Your work is covered by a collective agreement
• Your wages have been determined by the Danish Labour Court
• Your employer is registered as a company in an EU/EEA country
• You as a posted worker have tried, in vain, to have the wages paid out by your employer following the consideration of the case by the Danish Labour Court
• Your claim for unpaid wages has not become time-barred. Claims for unpaid wages are generally time-barred five years after your wages should have been paid.

Unless you include a tax exemption certificate with your claim form, The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers will withhold Danish tax from the amount paid to you.

What do I need to report a claim?

When reporting a claim for unpaid wages, you must include documentation. The documentation you need to include with your claim is a copy of:

• The judgment or decision of the Danish Labour Court, stating your name and your unpaid wages
• The request for payment concerning your unpaid wages sent to your employer and the employer’s contact person in Denmark
• Your employment contract
• Your posting agreement
• Your passport or national ID-card, if you do not have a Danish CPR no. (civil registration number)
• Your tax exemption certificate, if you are exempt from paying Danish tax on your wages.

If you have already received part of your unpaid wages from your employer, you must also include documentation for the amount you have received.

Get help from your trade union

You can contact the trade union conducting your case and ask for their help in reporting your claim. This requires that you authorize (grant power of attorney to) the trade union to report the claim on your behalf. Here you can find a form to grant power of attorney to your trade union:

• Download form to grant power of attorney (pdf)

When you grant power of attorney to your trade union, they act on your behalf in the case. This means that if you have any questions or comments regarding your case, you must contact your trade union, which will contact The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers.

Report your claim on your own

You can report your claim for unpaid wages on your own. You can do so by completing a claim form:

• Report a claim for unpaid wages

When you have completed the claim form, you must print and sign the form. When you have signed the claim form, you can send the form and documentation to The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers:

The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers
Kongens Vænge 8
DK-3400 Hillerød.

You can also send your claim and documentation by e-mail:

• Send a message to The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers  

You must report your claim for unpaid wages to The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers within four months. The four-month deadline starts from:

• the date your claim for unpaid wages was established by judgement in the Danish Labour Court, or
• the date the settlement between you and your employer was confirmed by the Danish Labour Court.
• The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers can grant an exemption from the four-month deadline, if there is special circumstances.

When The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers has received your claim, we will usually pay out the money within two months. If information or documentation is missing, it may take longer.

The processing time is used, among other things, to determine whether all necessary information has been included. Then The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers contacts your employer, who has four weeks to document whether he has already paid you the money. At the end of the four-week period, The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers will settle the amount and pay out the money.

Your employer has four weeks to pay your unpaid wages. If your employer does not pay within the four-week period, The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers usually pays out your wages within two months of receiving your claim.

Your unpaid wages will be paid into the bank account stated in your claim. If you have a Danish NemKonto (automatically assigned personal bank account), your wages will be paid into this bank account. If you have issued a power of attorney to your trade union, The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers will pay the money to them.

Tax

When The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers pays you unpaid wages, your current tax card is used to calculate how much tax you have to pay in Denmark. If you do not have a tax card, The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers will deduct 8% in labour market contribution and 55% in Danish income tax from the amount paid to you.

If you include a tax exemption certificate with your claim form, The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers will not deduct tax from your pay. The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers will instead inform the Danish Tax Agency in Denmark that you are exempt from paying Danish tax. Instead you become tax liable in your home country.

The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers will ensure that you as a posted worker can recover unpaid wages if your employer does not pay you what you are owed. In addition to your wages, you can, for example, recover holiday pay and pension.

You can report your claim for wages on your own to The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers, or you can ask the trade union conducting your case to help you. When you or your trade union report your claim for unpaid wages, The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers is responsible for getting your employer to pay.

Read the rules on The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers:

• Danish Act on The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers (in Danish - new window)

• The Danish Act on the Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers
• The Executive Order on the Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers (Bekendtgørelsen om Arbejdsmarkedets Fond for Udstationerede)
• See how the Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers processes your personal data

If your trade union has reported your claim, you must contact your trade union for information on the case. If you have reported your claim on your own, you can contact The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers on telephone +45 70 11 40 20.

Office hours:

Monday to Thursday: 08.00 – 16.00
Friday: 08.00 – 15.30

If you do not agree with the decision

If you do not agree with a decision made by The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers, or if you have any questions regarding the decision, you can call The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers on telephone +45 70 11 40 20.

Alternatively, you can appeal to the Appeals Board for ATP. The Appeals Board for ATP must receive your appeal within four weeks from the day you received the letter with the decision made by The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers. The address of the Appeals Board for ATP is:

Appeals Board for ATP
Holmens Kanal 20
DK-1060 Copenhagen K.

You can read more about The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers at Virk:

• The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers at Virk

Contact the customer ambassador

If you are dissatisfied with the service you received from The Danish Labour Market Fund for Posted Workers, you can contact ATP’s customer ambassador:

• ATP's customer ambassador