The Danish labour market is mainly regulated by collective agreements.
Collective agreements regulate working conditions and stipulate rules and procedures for deciding working conditions at company level.
When a company is covered by a collective agreement, union claims regarding establishment of another collective agreement cannot be brought against the company. In addition, companies are protected against industrial action.
Employees may, therefore, not go on strike and can be brought before the Labour Court if they do so. The Labour Court can issue penalties in case of non-compliance.
DI provides legal advice to corporate members in relation to strikes, conclusion of local agreements, co-operation with shop stewards and other issues regarding collective labour law.
Furthermore, DI provides services to assist corporate members in settling disputes in relation to breaches or interpretations of DI's collective agreements. DI participates in conciliation meetings and organisational meetings and assists corporate members in legal disputes brought before the Arbitration Tribunal and The Arbitral Tribunal on Dismissals.
DI has concluded around 70 collective agreements.
The two main agreements are the Industrial Agreement which covers workers such as craftsmen paid by the hour working in industrial companies and the Collective Agreement for Salaried Employees in Industry.