Your educational grant is rarely able to cover all of your expenses, so it can be nice to make some extra coin. That’s why you might have a student job to avoid having to take out a loan. It’s a good way to add to your income and also get some work experience as a student.

Unfortunately, it’s not unheard of for employers to view students as cheap labor and where they can cut corners. This goes for everything from losing a couple of bucks off your paycheck to breaking guidelines for shift planning.

Sometimes, this happens without either party being aware of it – perhaps it was cause by a mere error. Sometimes, however, it is done on purpose.

That’s why it’s important to know what guidelines are relevant to you on the job ‘market, so that you can be certain that you’re being treated right.

It is important to know exactly how much your employer can demand from you

Your salary

It’s no secret that the biggest reason that most of us work is money. Money makes the world go round, and that’s why important to ensure that your salary is in order.

In Denmark, there is no fixed minimum wage. Instead, the minimal amount an employee can be paid is negotiated by “the job market parties” ever 2-3 years. Here, employers and trade unions sit down together and work out a so-called collective agreement. This becomes the established minimum wage for different fields for a few years.

There is, however, some extra fine print. The minimum wage varies, depending on if you’re a regular employee or only hired to work within a certain time frame, such as in a student job. For these limited-time jobs, there’s not so much a minimum wage as there are general guidelines.

You can see the current minimum wage rates for regular employees here. For limited-time employees, you can view guidelines for those working within the humanities here, finance here and IT here.

So, if you work for a private company, your salary can vary widely depending on the workplace and your assigned tasks. Employees are generally assumed to be paid fairly, but there are no fixed rates.

Even with overtime accounted for, under no circumstances are you allowed to work more than 48 hours per week, on average, for more than 4 weeks

Working overtime

With that said, it’s also important to know exactly how much your employer can demand from you. Will you be given a bonus in the case of overtime? Will you be paid on holidays? And how much time off are you legally entitled to?

If you receive a monthly salary, you will usually also be paid on holidays, since it is calculated as part of your overall compensation. If you’re instead paid an hourly wage, like in most student jobs, it varies based on two factors: is your workplace open during holidays? And if yes, you generally also need a shift on the holiday to get paid. Shifts on holidays and Sundays are generally rewarded with an overtime rate of 100%, but it varies, especially among privately-owned businesses.

Overtime on other days is generally rewarded with an overtime rate of 50%, but again, this can vary widely between different privately-owned businesses. Often, it’s calculated based on the maximum number of hours that you’re allowed to work per week or within a pay cycle.

Different rules also go for overtime, depending on whether it’s in regards to full-time or part-time employment. In a full-time job, overtime pay is awarded for all hours extending past your planned shift schedule, which is an extension of your shifts. For part-time employees, if you, in a week, are given the same number of hours to work as a full-time employee, all hours not accounted for in your weekly shift schedule will count as overtime.

Even with overtime accounted for, under no circumstances are you allowed to work more than 48 hours per week, on average, for more than 4 weeks. This is mandated by law.

With all that work, you need some breaks too. Being that active is hard, so there is a solid set of laws concerning your time off.   

Allotted time off helps to ensure that you get the breaks and rest periods that you need

Days off

Working your life away is no good for anyone. Allotted time off helps to ensure that you get the breaks and rest periods that you need. There are a couple of different ways to get your time off.

  • For every 24 hours that pass, you need a minimum of 11 hours of rest, between the end of one shift and the beginning of another. This can, in special cases, be reduced to 8.

  • For every 6 days that pass, you need a minimum of 24+11 hours of off-time. This is calculated as 24 hours after your aforementioned 11 hours’ worth of rest. You’re thereby guaranteed at least 35 hours of rest per week.

If you, for some reason, are made to work 7 days with no days off, you must be compensated for your time.

If you feel that rules have been broken, you should contact a trade union

What if the guidelines are not followed?

Unfortunately, things don’t always go according to plan. Perhaps your boss made an error – it happens, and in that case, you should talk to them about it. The same thing goes if you feel your salary is too low. In some instances, this is deliberate, which might make for a bad experience.

If you feel that rules have been broken, that your salary expectations have gone unheeded, or that boundaries have been crossed on the job, you should contact a trade union. Many trade unions can advise you, even if you’re not a member, and they also stand ready to assist with an unsatisfactory working environment. They can help you to know if your boss is doing something wrong, and if they are, what you can do about it.

If you’re in doubt about which trade union is relevant to you specifically, you can get some inspiration from this article.