The Bill does not introduce a definition of "worker." It amends the existing Danish Equal Pay Act, which applies to all workers as defined under mandatory Danish labour law. Pursuant to Danish labour law, "a worker" is defined as a person performing personal work for remuneration under the direction and control of an employer, including part-time, fixed-term and agency workers. Therefore, as a starting point, a Managing director is not protected by the provisions laid down in legislation concerning workers since a managing director is, in principle, not employed in a subordinate position. The Bill also extends certain pre-employment transparency obligations to job applicants in accordance with the Directive.

The Bill does not provide additional clarification on "pay structures" beyond closely following Article 4 of the Directive. It requires every employer to apply pay structures enabling an assessment of whether workers perform work of equal value. These structures must be based on objective, gender-neutral criteria encompassing skills, effort, responsibility, working conditions and any other relevant factors. The general remarks to the Bill confirm that pay structures do not themselves set pay. They serve only as a framework for assessing whether work is of equal value. Collective bargaining agreements continue to determine pay where relevant.

The Bill codifies the definition of "work of equal value" as established by existing EU case law, now consolidated in the Directive article 4(4). Work of equal value is therefore assessed by reference to objective, gender-neutral criteria, including skills, effort, responsibility and working conditions. This aligns with the existing obligation under the Danish Equal Pay Act, which requires every employer to pay women and men equally for the same work or work of equal value, based on an overall assessment of relevant qualifications and other relevant factors.

Certain employers already report gender-disaggregated pay statistics to Statistics Denmark (in Danish: "Danmarks Statistik") using the 6-digit DISCO code, which categorises workers by job function and status. However, the Bill notes that DISCO codes alone will often be insufficient, as they capture the same job function rather than work of equal value. Employers will therefore need to supplement the Statistics Denmark pay report with their own categorisation of workers performing work of equal value. Employers have methodological freedom in making that categorisation but remain subject to the criteria of skills, effort, responsibility and working conditions.

However, the general remarks to the Bill provide examples of soft skills such as cooperation, communication, social and emotional competencies, informal responsibility and knowledge sharing, but emphasise that what constitutes a relevant soft skill will always depend on a concrete assessment of the specific role.

The Bill closely follows the Directive in requiring employers to inform job applicants of the starting salary or pay range for the relevant position. It does not further specify what the "initial pay range" must include beyond the definition of pay. Pay is broadly defined to encompass all remuneration or other benefits that workers receive, directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind, from their employer in respect of their employment, including supplementary or variable elements.

Purely discretionary elements (e.g. bonuses dependent entirely on employer discretion) are difficult to present as an "objective, gender-neutral" range, which is a precondition of the disclosure obligation. Where such elements cannot be expressed on that basis, they may not need to be separately quantified. However, an employer must not rely on this to avoid disclosure.

The employer has methodological freedom as to when the information is provided. It may be disclosed prior to or at the interview stage, or otherwise before conclusion of any employment contract. The employer also has freedom as to the format of disclosure. There is no requirement that the vacancy be advertised in a written job posting. The manner in which the vacancy is made known does not determine whether the obligation applies. In accordance with Article 8 of the Directive, the information must be accessible to persons with disabilities.

The Bill does not address the distinction between external and internal candidates in respect of the prohibition on pay enquiries. Greater certainty on this issue is expected to follow as the Bill advances through the legislative process.

The Bill does not expressly address whether an employer may use salary history information already in its possession when determining pay for internal hires or promotions. Greater certainty on this issue is expected to follow as the Bill advances through the legislative process.

The current Danish Equal Pay Act already requires that job vacancy notices and job titles be gender-neutral. The Bill does not introduce further provisions on this point.

Every employer must make it easy for its workers to access the objective, gender-neutral criteria used to determine pay, pay levels and pay progression. The Bill closely follows the Directive's wording in this regard. Pay progression is defined in the general remarks to the Bill as the process by which a worker moves to a higher pay level.

The employer has methodological freedom as to how this information is made available, provided it is easily accessible. Examples given in the general remarks to the Bill include a personnel policy, a reference to the applicable collective agreement and the pay-setting criteria it contains, or publication on the employer's intranet. The information must be provided in a format accessible to persons with disabilities.

The Bill does not introduce any additional definition of "objective and gender-neutral criteria" beyond those set out in the Directive: skills, effort, responsibility, working conditions, and any other factors relevant to the specific job.

No exemption based on headcount applies. The Bill implements this obligation as applying to every employer regardless of workforce size.

The Bill adopts the Directive's definition of pay without modification. The same broad definition applies throughout, with no narrower or special definition for the purposes of the individual information right. 

The Bill provides no basis for excluding any category of pay component from the calculation. The definition is deliberately broad and non-exhaustive, covering all supplementary and variable elements - all benefits beyond the ordinary basic or minimum pay that the worker receives directly or indirectly in cash or in kind. The Bill does not address how unvested or unexercised stock options should be valued. Please also see our comments under "Recruitment and job applicants" regarding discretionary pay.

The employer must provide the requested information in writing within two months of the request. If the worker requests further clarification, the employer must respond in writing within a reasonable time, which the general remarks to the Bill specify as four weeks.

The information must be provided in writing. It must also be made available in a format accessible to persons with disabilities.

No exemption based on headcount applies. The obligation extends to all employers regardless of workforce size.

A worker may request the information individually, through a workers' representative (in Danish: "tillidsrepræsentant"), through a labour union, or through AIFL. Please also see our comments under "Data Protection" regarding disclosure of pay information would directly or indirectly reveal the pay of an identifiable worker.

Where the information received is inaccurate or incomplete, the worker may request further and reasonable clarifications. The employer must provide a reasoned written response within a reasonable time (generally four weeks). This right does not entitle the worker to request additional information beyond what should have been provided in the first place. It is limited to obtaining clarification and precision of the information already received.

Pursuant to the Bill, the employer must inform all workers once a year of their right to request pay level information and how to access it. The employer has methodological freedom as to how this notification is given, provided it is made annually. For example, by drawing attention to the right on the employer's intranet.

The Bill does not specify a required language. The employer has methodological freedom as to the form in which the information is made available as long as it is presented in a manner that workers can read and understand.

Under the current Danish Equal Pay Act, workers have an unrestricted statutory right to disclose their own pay to anyone for any purpose. Contractual pay secrecy clauses are therefore unlawful and void. The Bill does not alter this position. 

However, the Bill introduces a limited restriction on pay information obtained through a request concerning other workers' pay levels. The employer may require that such information be used only for the purpose of asserting the requesting worker's own equal pay rights. This restriction does not apply to information about the worker's own pay or pay level.

Pay secrecy clauses have been unlawful and void under Danish law since 2001. No formal rescission or amendment of existing contracts is required. However, we recommend updating all employment contracts containing such clauses to ensure compliance with Danish labour law. 

The Bill departs from the Directive's reporting deadlines. The Directive requires employers with 250 or more workers and those with 150-249 workers to first report by 7 June 2027, and employers with 100-149 workers by 7 June 2031. The Bill sets the following deadlines instead:

• 250 or more workers: first report by 1 September 2028, then annually.

• 150-249 workers: first report by 1 September 2028, then every three years.

• 100-149 workers (and 50-99 workers where the extended threshold applies): first report by 1 September 2031, then every three years.

The pay report obligation applies to employers with 100 or more workers. In addition, items (a)-(f) below also apply to employers with 50-99 workers where there are at least 8 workers of each gender in the same worker group classified by 6-digit DISCO code (excluding agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing). The required information closely follows Article 9 of the Directive.

Statistics Denmark (or the relevant employer organisation) prepares and sends a free pay report to the employer covering the following data for the preceding calendar year:

(a) the gender pay gap;

(b) the gender pay gap in supplementary or variable pay elements;

(c) the median gender pay gap;

(d) the median gender pay gap in supplementary or variable pay elements;

(e) the proportion of female and male workers receiving supplementary or variable pay elements;

(f) the proportion of female and male workers in each pay quartile; and

(g) the gender pay gap between workers in each category of workers, broken down by ordinary basic pay and supplementary or variable elements.

Items (a)-(f) are prepared by Statistics Denmark on the basis of existing payroll data submissions. Item (g) is always the employer's own responsibility, as it requires the employer to categorise workers performing the same work or work of equal value. Where the Statistics Denmark report does not accurately reflect the employer's workforce categories, the employer must prepare its own supplementary report for item (g).

The Statistics Denmark report covers only workers remunerated on the basis of hours worked. For workers paid on another basis (e.g. per unit delivered or per kilometre driven), the employer must prepare its own report.

An employer may choose to prepare its own pay report in lieu of the Statistics Denmark report, provided it contains all elements set out above. Where the employer prepares the report itself, it must explain the methodology and pay concepts used to its workers.

The Bill does not specify a uniform snapshot date for assessing headcount or pay data. The reference period for pay data is the preceding calendar year. Headcount is assessed on the basis of annual payroll data submitted to Statistics Denmark. Statistics Denmark operationally uses Q1 of the year before the reference year as an internal selection filter for determining which companies must submit pay data, but this is an administrative tool rather than a statutory snapshot date imposed on employers.

There is no requirement for employers to publish pay report information on their own website. The pay report must be made available to the employer's workers and worker representatives.

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Before submitting the report to AIFL, the employer must confirm that the information and methods underlying the report are correct. The employer must submit its pay report to AIFL no later than one month after receiving the finalised report from Statistics Denmark (or an employer organisation, or after completing its own report). AIFL is required to publish items (a)-(f) in an accessible and user-friendly manner enabling comparison between individual employers, across sectors and across regions. Individual employers will therefore be identifiable in the published data.

The Bill does not address how employers should consider workers who do not identify with a particular gender.

The Bill follows the Directive's pay reporting thresholds of 100, 150 and 250 workers without change. However, following a recommendation by the social partners, the Bill extends the pay report obligation to employers with 50-99 workers where there are at least 8 workers of each gender in the same worker group classified by 6-digit DISCO code. This extension covers items (a)-(f) only. Item (g) obligation applies only to employers with at least 100 workers. This is an additional national measure exceeding the Directive's requirements.

Where workers have equivalent rights and obligations under a collective agreement, the collective agreement provisions apply in place of the statutory regime.

The agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing sectors are exempt from the extended 50-99 worker threshold. However, employers in these sectors remain subject to the other pay transparency and reporting obligations provided they employ at least 100 workers.

Where a request for clarification of the pay report reveals pay differences not justified by objective, gender-neutral criteria, the employer must remedy the situation within a reasonable time in close cooperation with workers' representatives. The Bill specifies that a reasonable time is, as a starting point, two months. If the employer has not remedied the unjustified gap within six months of receiving or completing the pay report, and the report shows an unjustified difference of at least 5% in a given worker category, the employer must conduct a joint pay assessment. Following the joint pay assessment, the employer must implement the resulting measures within a reasonable time agreed with workers' representatives. The timeframe will depend on the number and nature of the measures required. Where measures require changes to collective agreements, implementation must await the next round of collective bargaining.

The Bill does not prescribe a specific method for remedying unjustified pay differences. The employer has methodological freedom in determining how to address the situation.

The Bill requires that follow-up on a pay report showing unjustified gender pay differences be carried out in close cooperation with worker representatives on the workplace, where such representatives exist. The Bill does not specify how this cooperation with workers’ representatives or AIFL should be conducted in practice.

The Bill does not define "close cooperation."

A joint pay assessment is required where all of the following conditions are met:

(i) the pay report shows an unjustified difference of at least 5%  in average pay between female and male workers in a given worker category; and

(ii) the employer has not remedied the unjustified pay difference within six months of receiving or completing the pay report. 

These triggers closely follow Article 10 of the Directive.

The joint pay assessment must include: 

(i) an analysis of the proportion of female and male workers in each worker category;

(ii) average pay levels for female and male workers and supplementary or variable pay elements for each worker category; 

(iii) any differences in average pay levels between female and male workers in each worker category; 

(iv) the reasons for such differences based on objective, gender-neutral criteria as established jointly by the worker representatives and the employer;

(v) the proportion of female and male workers who received a pay increase after returning from parental leave or care leave;

(vi) measures to remedy unjustified pay differences;

(vii) an analysis of existing gender-neutral job evaluation and classification systems, or the introduction of such systems; and

(viii) an evaluation of the effectiveness of measures from any previous joint pay assessments.

Item (h) applies only where a previous joint pay assessment has been conducted. 

The employer has methodological freedom in preparing the assessment, provided all elements (a)-(g) are included.

The employer must proactively make the joint pay assessment available to workers and worker representatives. It must also be made available to AIFL upon request.

Where disclosure of pay information would directly or indirectly reveal the pay of an identifiable worker, the Bill restricts access. Such information may only be disclosed to (i) a workers' representative or (ii) AIFL. The workers' representative or AIFL may then advise the requesting worker on any potential equal pay claim but must not disclose the actual pay levels of individual workers performing the same work or work of equal value.

All processing and disclosure of personal data in this context must comply with the GDPR as implemented in Danish law.

Under the current Danish Equal Pay Act,  fines may be imposed for breach of the gender-disaggregated pay statistics obligation. Pursuant to the Bill, the scope of fines is significantly expanded to cover breaches of the following provisions:

(i) the obligation to make pay-setting criteria accessible to workers;

(ii) the annual notification obligation informing workers of their right to request pay level information;

(iii) the employer's own pay report obligation for item (g);

(iv) the pay report prepared by Statistics Denmark or an employer organisation;

(v) the self-prepared pay report obligation;

(vi) the confirmation of accuracy and historical availability obligations; and

(vii) the joint pay assessment obligation.

Separately, a worker may be awarded compensation - without needing to establish a violation of the equal pay principle - where the employer has failed to comply with certain transparency obligations. This applies where the employer has: 

(i) failed to provide starting pay or pay range information to a job applicant; 

(ii) enquired about the applicant's pay history; 

(iii) failed to respond to a request for clarification of pay level information; or

(iv) failed to provide the requested information within the two-month deadline.

In addition, where a worker's equal pay rights have been violated, the compensation awarded must take into account, among other factors, whether the employer has failed to comply with its transparency and reporting obligations. Non-compliance with these obligations therefore operates as an aggravating factor that may increase the quantum of compensation in equal pay claims.

Remedies

i) A worker paid less than others in violation of the Danish Equal Pay Act has a direct statutory right to recover the pay difference.

ii) Where a worker's rights have been violated through gender-based pay discrimination, the worker may be awarded compensation. Compensation is assessed by reference to the worker's length of service and the overall circumstances. Under the Bill, the assessment must additionally take into account whether the employer has failed to comply with its transparency and reporting obligations.

iii) A worker may be awarded compensation - without needing to establish a violation of the equal pay principle - where the employer has: 

1. failed to provide starting pay or pay range information to a job applicant;

2. enquired about the applicant's pay history; or 

3. failed to provide a timely or adequate response to a request for pay level information.

iv) A worker subjected to victimisation in response to an equal pay claim or disclosure of pay information may be awarded compensation for adverse treatment.

v) Where a worker is dismissed or subjected to adverse treatment in reaction to a claim under the Danish Equal Pay Act, the worker may seek to have the dismissal overruled unless it would be unreasonable to require the employment relationship to be maintained or reinstated. Alternatively, the worker may claim compensation.

Forums for bringing a claim

i) A worker who considers that the employer is not complying with the equal pay obligation may bring the claim before the civil courts. This right remains available after the employment relationship has ended.

ii) Where the equal pay obligation arises under a collective agreement, the claim must be pursued through the industrial relations system (in Danish: "fagretlig behandling").

iii) A worker may also bring a complaint before the Board of Equal Treatment (in Danish: "Ligebehandlingsnævnet"), which provides a free administrative alternative to court proceedings.

iv) Once established, AIFL will advise workers on possible violations of the equal pay principle, assess whether the worker's right to equal pay has been infringed, and guide workers on how to pursue their claim through the appropriate forum.

Burden of proof

Under the existing rule in the Danish Equal Pay Act, if a worker demonstrates factual circumstances giving rise to a presumption of direct or indirect discrimination, the burden shifts to the employer to prove that the equal treatment principle has not been violated. The Bill adds that an employer's failure to comply with its transparency and reporting obligations is itself treated as establishing those factual circumstances, automatically reversing the burden of proof. This presumption does not apply if the employer demonstrates that the non-compliance was obviously unintentional and of minor significance.

Limitation period: Under the Danish Limitation Act, the limitation period for employment-related equal pay claims is five years, running from the earliest date on which the claim could have been brought. Where the worker was unaware of the factual circumstances to the claim, as a starting point time does not begin to run until the worker knew or ought to have known of it. The Bill introduces a temporary suspension of the limitation period for six months from the date the worker notifies the employer of the claim.  Limitation cannot expire earlier than one year after that notification, potentially extending the effective period to just under six years. The suspension may be invoked only once.

The Bill does not contain a statutory definition of "workers' representative." However, greater certainty on this issue is expected to follow as the Bill advances through the legislative process.

The Bill does not address the position where an employer has no workers' representatives. We consider this to be a gap that may be addressed in the final enacted text. Greater certainty on this issue is expected to follow as the Bill advances through the legislative process.

Workers' representatives rights closely follows the wording of the Directive. 

The Bill does not expressly address the consequences of failing to engage workers' representatives in a timely or proper manner. However, where the employer is bound by a collective agreement, failure to involve the workers' representative may give rise to a claim for compensation for breach of that agreement through the industrial relations system.

The employer must consult workers' representatives on the accuracy of the pay report before submitting it to AIFL, and must provide access to the underlying methodology. Workers' representatives are also entitled to request clarifications of any data in the pay report, to which the employer must respond within two months.

For the rights of action available to workers and workers' representatives in the event of breach of pay reporting or transparency requirements, please refer to our response under "Breach of pay transparency and pay gap reporting requirements" above.

Once established, AIFL will serve as the primary source of support for employers. Its statutory mandate includes raising public awareness of equal pay principles, analysing the causes of gender pay gaps, and developing tools to assist employers in assessing pay differences. The administrative burden on employers has been minimised by building the new reporting framework on the existing pay statistics framework where Statistics Denmark will continue to prepare and send pay reports to employers free of charge.

AIFL's tools and awareness-raising activities will be available to all employers without headcount limits.

No publicly accessible guidance, tools or training materials are currently available. AIFL has not yet been established and does not yet have a website. Further information may be published when the Bill is passed. The Danish Parliament's website is available (in Danish) at: www.ft.dk.

AIFL's specific tasks and operating procedures will be governed by a cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Employment, DA (the Confederation of Danish Employers) and FH (the Danish Trade Union Confederation). This agreement will not be published. The social partners' joint memorandum of understanding underpinning the Bill will similarly not be published.