Rules concerning working hours

The STOK contains three different annual working time standards for full-time employees, depending on whether you are a financial services employee, service/technical employee, IT employee or shift worker:

• Financial services and service/technical employees: 1,924 hours per year / 37 hours per week
• IT employees employed before 1 April 2025: 1,872 hours per year / 36 hours per week
• Shift workers: 1,690 hours per year / 32.5 hours per week

Please note that a local agreement may provide for an increase in weekly working hours for IT employees from 36 to 37 hours per week, with compensation on a 1:1 basis.

The time period during which your working hours may or must be scheduled depends on which set of rules under the STOK applies to you.
The STOK operates with the following four models regarding the placement of working hours:

• Working hours set by the company (Sect. 5)
• Agreed working hours (Sect. 6)
• Extended working hours (Sect. 7)
• Job pay and independent work organisation (Sect. 8)

You are therefore covered either by: Working hours set by the company (Sect. 5), under which management may determine working hours; Agreed/Extended working hours (Sect. 6 & 7), under which the scheduling of working hours is agreed between management and the employee; or Job pay and independent work organisation (Sect. 8), under which you have influence over how your work is carried out and, together with your manager, plan and balance your working hours with due regard for efficient and flexible task performance and your need for flexibility.

You can read more about Sections 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the STOK in FIDA/A and Finansforbundet’s Guide to Working Time 2025 and in FIDA/A and Finansforbundet’s Guide to the Job Salary Scheme and Independent Work Scheduling.

As a general rule, all employees are entitled to flexible working hours. This is set out in Section 12 of the STOK.

Flexible working hours are your right to adjust your start and finish times to fit your daily life. However, flexible working hours must be exercised responsibly and with due regard for the company's operations. The company may only refuse flexible working hours for individual employees or groups of employees if the work is incompatible with flexible working hours.

Please note that flexible working hours should not be confused with additional work. Additional work is work performed beyond your fixed/agreed daily or weekly working hours and must be instructed by management, whereas flexible working hours are your right to start work earlier or later and leave earlier or later.

You cannot therefore accumulate additional work simply by arriving earlier or leaving later on your own initiative.
In many companies, a local agreement on flexible working hours has been concluded between the company and the employee representative. It is therefore a good idea to contact your union representative to find out whether a local agreement has been concluded and what it contains.

You can read more about flexible working hours in FIDA/A and Finansforbundet's Guide to Working Time.

The allowances you are entitled to when your agreed or scheduled working hours are changed depend on whether the change was initiated by the company or by you. This is described in Section 9(3) of the STOK.

If the change is initiated by the company, you are entitled to an allowance of 50% of your hourly rate for the working hours that fall outside your scheduled working hours. However, this applies only if the agreement to change the placement of the working hours is made with less than four weeks' notice.

If the change means that you must work on a scheduled day off, the allowance is instead 66% of your hourly rate.

You are entitled to this allowance only where it has been agreed to change your scheduled working hours. For example, you are not entitled to an allowance under Section 9(3) if you are instructed to perform additional work.

If the change is made at your own request, you are not entitled to an allowance.

You are entitled to an allowance if you agree to work unsocial hours. This is described in Section 9(4) of the STOK and in FIDA/A and Finansforbundet's Guide to Working Time.

In the event of illness, annual leave, etc., you will receive your usual allowance. 

If you have agreed working hours on a public holiday falling on a weekday, you are entitled to payment for the number of hours worked on that day as well as the relevant allowances. This is described in Section 9(4) of the STOK and Section 13(6) if you are a shift worker.
In addition, you are entitled to compensatory time off corresponding to the number of hours worked on the public holiday. This is described in Section 4 of the STOK and in FIDA/A and Finansforbundet's Guide to Working Time.

Finansforbundet has also secured four additional bank holidays, and work performed on these bank holidays is treated in the same way as work performed on a public holiday falling on a weekday. The bank holidays are:

•    The Friday after Ascension Day
•    Constitution Day (5 June)
•    Christmas Eve
•    New Year's Eve

Special Rules for Part-Time Employees and Employees with Variable Working Hours

If you are employed on a part-time basis and have agreed full days off, you are entitled to compensatory time off if your agreed day off falls on a public holiday falling on a weekday.
If you have variable working hours and, for example, work evenings, nights or weekends, you are also entitled to compensatory time off if one of your scheduled days off falls on a public holiday falling on a weekday.

In both cases, the method of calculating compensatory time off is agreed locally in accordance with Section 3(1) of the STOK. The compensatory time off is credited to the Flexible Time Bank, unless otherwise agreed locally.

Examples of payment for work on a public holiday falling on a weekday can be found in FIDA/A and Finansforbundet's Guide to Working Time.

You must have 11 consecutive hours of rest before your next working period begins, and within every seven-day period you must have a 24-hour weekly day off.

The rule regarding weekly days off means that there must not be more than six days between two weekly days off.
Furthermore, the weekly day off must be taken in conjunction with the daily rest period, giving you a total uninterrupted period of at least 35 hours off work.

These rules are set out in the STOK Agreement on Daily Rest Periods and Weekly Days Off, the Danish Working Environment Act, and FIDA/A and Finansforbundet's Guide to Working Time.
The guide also contains information on the reduction and postponement of rest periods, payment for postponed rest periods, and rescheduling of weekly days off.

Employees receive a fixed amount for each commenced six-hour period during which they are required to remain on call, as well as ½ to 1 hour of compensatory time off, depending on when the on-call duty period takes place.
The rules concerning on-call duty and call-outs are described in Section 18 of the STOK. Definitions and interpretations of these rules can also be found in FIDA/A and Finansforbundet's Guide to Working Time.

As a shift worker, your scheduled working time may be up to 32.5 hours per week and may be distributed across a maximum of five work periods.

This means that your scheduled working hours cannot exceed 32.5 hours per week, and if fewer than 32.5 hours are scheduled in a given week, you will not be required to make up the difference.

Your daily working time may not exceed 10 hours, although it may be up to 12 hours on weekends and public holidays falling on weekdays.
The rules concerning the scheduling of shift work, changes to shift schedules, and payment for shift work are set out in Section 13 of the STOK.

In practice, the rules governing shift work and rota planning can be complex. For this reason, FIDA/A and Finansforbundet's Guide to Working Time 2025 includes a brief guide explaining how the shift work rules should be understood.

Every employee is entitled to an hour bank account.  This is set out in Section 11 of the STOK.
The Flexible Time Bank is a record of how much time off you have accrued or how many working hours you owe. As a general rule, the balance of the Flexible Time Bank may be up to 400 hours in credit and 37 hours in debit. However, your company and the employee representative may agree different limits.
If your balance exceeds 320 hours on 1 May of any year, the company is entitled to pay out all hours exceeding 320, unless the company and the employee agree otherwise.
You may choose whether the balance in your Flexible Time Bank is taken as time off in lieu or paid out. However, flexible working hours should generally be taken as time off, unless otherwise agreed locally. Any payout is made at the current hourly rate at the time of payment and is pensionable.
As a general rule, your sixth week of annual leave and care days are also credited to your Flexible Time Bank, unless otherwise agreed locally.
Many companies have concluded a local agreement regarding the Flexible Time Bank between the company and the employee representative. It is therefore a good idea to contact your union representative to find out whether such a local agreement has been concluded and what it contains.
You can read more about the Flexible Time Bank in FIDA/A and Finansforbundet’s Guide to Working Time.

Additional work is work instructed by management that is performed beyond your agreed or scheduled daily or weekly working hours.
The extent of additional work should be limited as far as possible and, where possible, confined to the employee’s area of responsibility.

Additional work is compensated on a 1:1 basis. If additional work is instructed during periods that qualify for allowances pursuant to Section 9(4) or Section 13(6) of the STOK, the relevant allowance is paid.

For employees covered by the Job Salary Scheme, payment for additional work is included in the salary.

Additional work on weekends and public holidays falling on weekdays must be notified with four days’ notice, and the expected start and finish times must be stated.

If planned additional work is cancelled later than 16:00 on the working day preceding the commencement of the additional work, the company must still pay for the additional work, up to a maximum of two hours.

For IT employees, machine- or system-dependent additional work instructed during the following periods:

• Weekdays from 20:00 to 06:00
• Saturdays from 00:00 until Sundays at 24:00
• Public holidays falling on weekdays from 00:00 to 24:00

must be paid at the following fixed hourly rates:

• DKK 595 from 1 July 2025
• DKK 610 from 1 July 2026
• DKK 625 from 1 July 2027

These rules are also described in Section 17 of the STOK.
For employees covered by the Job Salary Scheme, payment for machine- and system-dependent additional work is typically included in the salary.

Travel time related to domestic and European business travel must be compensated as working time. However, only travel time exceeding your normal commuting time between home and work is regarded as working time.
The rules concerning business travel are set out in Section 21 of the STOK.

You are entitled to reimbursement of your travel expenses.
The method of reimbursement is agreed locally, so you should contact your union representative to find out what arrangements apply in your company.
The rules concerning travel expenses are also described in Section 22 of the STOK.

Meeting invitations must always state whether attendance is mandatory and therefore compensated in accordance with the applicable rules. If attendance is not mandatory, participation is voluntary.
If the course or meeting is necessary for you to perform your work duties, attendance is mandatory.
The rules regarding compensation for participation in meetings and training events are set out in Sections 20 and 21 of the STOK.
You can also find examples of how participation in meetings and training events should be compensated in FIDA/A and Finansforbundet’s Joint Guide to Participation in Meetings and Training Events.