LO has asked labour market researcher and Professor, Steen Scheuer, from the University of Southern Denmark, to carry out a study of the conditions for atypical employees in Denmark.

Atypical forms of employment are becoming an issue, which is increasingly debated, both in Denmark and internationally. Atypical work is becoming an alternative to the non-fixed term full-time employment which has been the norm throughout the 20th century. LO has therefore asked Professor Steen Scheuer to examine how the number of atypical employees is developing and how opportunities and rights differ according to the different types of employment.

Summarized findings on conditions for atypical workers

The study shows a number of differences between the regular wage earners, atypical employees and the so-called solo self-employed. Among others, the professor concludes the following:

  • The share of temporary workers has been stable at approximately 8 percent of the total workforce in employment from 2000 to 2015. During that time, the share of part-time workers has grown from 20 percent to close to 25 percent.
  • Fewer atypical employees become members of a trade union or an unemployment insurance fund, and far fewer of them have a shop steward, even though the collective agreement coverage is practically the same as for regular employees.
  • As for fundamental insurance and rights, atypical employees stand a much greater risk of not getting pay during sickness, pay when taking time off to care for a sick child, pay during maternity/paternity leave or the collective agreement-guaranteed sixth week of paid holidays.
  • Atypical employees run a much greater risk of unemployment, far fewer experience some extent of financial security, fewer have labour market pensions and fewer estimate that their pension savings are adequate.
  • Fewer atypical employees are offered training and continuing education and more of them feel that they do not use their skills fully in their job, fewer have an influence on their own job and fewer feel they are ?one of us?, i.e. part of a workplace community.
  • Seen from a dynamic perspective, it is interesting that the conditions for temporary workers have improved since 2010. As shown, these workers are still lagging behind the regular workers, but they are slowly catching up.