Seniority

Seniority is the time you have been employed with the same employer — not your total career experience. It is a central concept in Danish employment law because many rights and obligations depend directly on seniority.

When dismissed by the employer, seniority determines the length of the notice period. Salaried employees are covered by the Salaried Employees Act, which gives increasing notice with seniority: from 1 month (under 6 months' employment) to 6 months (over 9 years). For hourly and collectively agreed employees, notice is set by the applicable agreement.

Seniority also plays a role when several employees are dismissed: the "last in, first out" principle is still used in many agreements, although it is not legally mandatory. It means newly hired staff in a given role are more easily dismissed in cutbacks than colleagues with long seniority.

For salaried employees, seniority also gives the right to severance pay: 1 month's extra salary after 12 years and 3 months after 17 years. The right applies only when dismissed by the employer — not when you resign yourself.

In pay negotiations, seniority is a legitimate argument. Many companies and agreements use seniority steps that automatically raise pay each full year of service. Document your seniority date (employment date) — it appears on your employment contract and payslip.