Staffing levels, Pay settlements, Procurement, Denmark

The 480,000 workers in municipalities and 140,000 workers in regional government are set to get pay increases of 4% from 1 April as a first instalment of the 6.51% (municipal) and 6.53% (regional) increases over the next two years. An additional 2% fund is available for unions to negotiate separately for different groups of workers and so the overall pay rise will be closer to 8.8% and with an expectation that the real increase overall will be 2.17%. There are also additional amounts for the lower paid. At the end of 2025 there will be further negotiations that will focus on the comparative

Negotiations on a new agreement covering the state sector were concluded on Sunday 11 February with employees set to get a 7.4% pay increase over two years that should deliver a real increase of 2.5%. The first increase will be for 5.9% on 1 April 2024 with a further 1.3% due on 1 April 2025 and 0.2% on 1 November 2025. Additional funds have been allocated for the development of wages and other conditions in the individual collective agreements with the overall package worth 8.8%. There will be an extraordinary salary negotiation at the end of 2025 which will focus on the comparative

Public sector unions have welcomed the outcome of negotiations with the employers and government which have delivered a package of pay-related measures backed with DKK 6.8 billion (€910 million) of funding. A number of different groups of workers across the public sector will benefit, particularly those affected by major staff shortages. Around DKK 1.3 billion (€170 million) will go into health and elder care, for example. The package will have a wider impact than anticipated as, in addition to the higher pay for occupations like nurses, care workers, social educators and prison staff, a much

A major survey of more than 4000 workers by the FOA trade union shows that 35% of employees in the health and care sector have experienced threats of violence in the past year. This compares to only 6% for the general population. Some 30% say that they have been subjected to physical violence. The union is worried that the real figures may be even higher as it believes many employees have come to accept that violence and threats are part of the job. The evidence indicates that the most vulnerable places of work are psychiatry, nursing homes and special and disability areas. FOA highlights the

The FOA trade union and the Danish Chamber of Commerce have agreed a two-year renewal of the collective agreement for employees private care covering also residential homes and nursing homes for the first time. The hourly wage increases by DKK 6 (€0.80) as of 1 March and there will be a further increase of DKK 5.75 (€0.77) per hour on 1 March 2024. FOA made a point of securing a flat-rate increase for all employees. This will mean that a social and health assistant on day duty can will get a monthly salary increase of just over DKK 3,600 (€485) when the full effect of the collective agreement

A documentary on Norwegian TV and a survey by the FOA trade union in Denmark expose similar problems facing workers in eldercare as they have too many clients, leaving those requiring care regularly seeing lots of different carers for short periods of time. Reacting to the documentary the Fagforbundet trade union highlighted the problem of so many care staff working part-time, chasing shifts to try to make ends meet and being part of a continuing turnover of staff so that there is little continuity for those needing care. In Denmark, the FOA argues that staff spend too little time with those

With a general election imminent the FOA trade union has welcomed a proposal from the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to set aside an extra DKR 3 billion (€400m) a year for better pay and working conditions in the public sector. The funds would be phased into the public collective bargaining from 2024 onwards and are aimed at helping to solve the recruitment challenges facing the sector over the coming years. According to SDP calculations, the proposal could mean a salary increase of around DKK 2,000 (€270) a month for 235,000 public sector employees if DKR 2.5 billion is spent on better pay.

The FOA trade union has sent a wake-up call to politicians from all sides about the need to address pay in the welfare sector. The union brought together 1200 of its shop stewards from across the country in a two-day conference to discuss pay in health, social care and other services and to really gauge the feeling at the workplace. The message from the conference was a mounting concern that society does not recognise the value of welfare work. FOA warns of increasing frustration and discontent among workers if action is not taken. It is already extremely difficult to recruit workers to the

The FOA and DSR trade unions have both published official data revealing the reality of overwork, understaffing and low pay in the health and social care sectors. FOA quotes from the latest survey by the Danish Working Environment Authority covering 30,000 workers. This shows that 23% of social and health care assistants say that they have often or constantly felt stressed within the past two weeks. Of all the industry groups, 'Residential Institutions and Home Care' is the sector where the largest proportion of employees feel stressed. The union says that understaffing, a high rate of sick

The DSR nurses’ union reports on the findings of a new survey by the Danish Nursing Council (DNC) that exposes the impact of staff shortages on services. The findings reveal that virtually all respondents (97%) said that they had experienced too few nurses at work in the past month, with 82% of these saying it had impaired patient safety. The DNC study says that the shortage of nurses has several consequences, including the closure of beds and a negative impact on patients' conditions. About a third had experienced patients being sent home or transferred before it was professionally sound.

Public sector workers will be covered by two new three-year agreements running from 1 April to the end of March 2024. The agreements covering municipal and state sector workers both have an overall value of 6.75% of the pay bill over the three years but the amounts are distributed differently. In the municipal agreement there will be a 5.02% general increase but there will be additional amounts allocated to address low pay, equal pay, recruitment and organisational issues, taking the overall increase to 5.94%. In the state sector there will be a 4.42% pay rise over the three years, with

The FOA trade union has called for urgent action to address training and recruitment in eldercare. It quotes a new report revealing a sharp decline in the numbers of people being trained to work in the sector. It was already forecast that there would be a staffing shortage of around 40000 by 2028 but the figures on training - a decline of 36% in the number of young people on training courses - suggest an even greater shortage. The government has agreed to a request by FOA to convene a summit of politicians, employers and unions to debate how to tackle the problem.

The FOA trade union highlights figures from the VIVE research organisation that show massive variations in staffing levels in eldercare establishments across the country. The staff to resident ratio at night ranges from 1:8 to 1:41, while the evening shift ratio varies from 1:2.7 to 1:11. The variation of ratios on day shifts is less dramatic but still ranges from 1:1.4 to 1:4.2. FOA argues that the varying needs of residents can't account for such variations and that in many cases homes have failed to increase staffing to cope with the higher demands of older residents with health problems

The FOA public services union has very much welcomed the significant increases to pay for health and social care assistants and trainees as a result of the recently negotiated public sector collective agreements. While all workers will benefit from the the overall 8.1% increase over three years, specific increases set out in the agreements will mean that health and social service assistants will see increases of 13% over the period and trainees will get pay rises of between 14% and 19%. The union believes these are important steps in revaluing low paid jobs in the sector and also making the