Under the Danish Working Environment Act (arbejdsmiljøloven), employees in Denmark must have at least 11 consecutive hours of rest in every 24-hour period. Calculate the earliest lawful start time and see the exceptions.
Danish rules
This calculator applies Danish law and Danish collective agreements. It is for employment in Denmark and does not reflect the rules of other countries.
The Danish 11-hour rule means that working hours must be organised so that you get a rest period of at least 11 consecutive hours within every 24-hour period. The rule is laid down in section 50 of the Danish Working Environment Act (arbejdsmiljøloven) and applies to all employees working in Denmark. In practice, there must be at least 11 hours from the time you go home until you start work again.
The calculator above finds the earliest lawful start time when you enter when the shift ends — and tells you whether the next shift complies with the rule. It uses the standard 11 hours, or 12 or 14 hours if you select that the employee is under 18. If one of the exceptions below applies, you must work out the shorter rest period yourself.
The rule is based on the EU Working Time Directive (2003/88/EC), Article 3 of which gives every worker the right to a daily rest period of at least 11 consecutive hours per 24-hour period.
The Act provides only a few, expressly listed exceptions. Most of those used in practice are found in collective agreements (overenskomster) and other agreements concluded within the conditions laid down by the Danish Minister for Employment in the Rest Period Order (hviletidsbekendtgørelsen — the executive order on rest periods and weekly days off).
| Situation | What applies | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Shift changeover in businesses with shift work, where the rest period cannot be kept between one shift team’s work and the next | Rest may be reduced to 8 hours | § 50, stk. 2, nr. 1 |
| Agricultural work | Rest may be reduced to 8 hours for up to 30 days per calendar year | § 50, stk. 2, nr. 2 |
| Specific trades, occupational fields or special forms of work | The Minister may lay down rules on reduction to 8 hours and on when the rest is placed | § 53 |
| Agreement, e.g. a collective agreement | May depart from the rule within the conditions laid down by the Minister | § 55 |
| Natural events, accidents, machine breakdowns and similar unforeseen events | May be departed from to the extent necessary. Must be documented in writing | § 52 |
| Senior positions, and representatives and agents working away from the fixed workplace | Covered only to the extent the Minister lays down | § 54 |
| Loading and unloading carried out mainly by casual workers | Not covered by section 50(1) and (2) | § 50, stk. 3 |
The sections are those of the Danish Working Environment Act (arbejdsmiljøloven). Any departure must be matched by equivalent compensatory rest — or appropriate protection where, exceptionally, that is not possible (section 56).
Directly under the Act, only in two cases: at shift changeover in shift work, where it is not possible to keep the rest period between the shift teams’ work, and for agricultural work for no more than 30 days a year (section 50(2)). In addition, a reduction to 8 hours may follow from rules the Minister has laid down for specific trades and forms of work (section 53), or from an agreement within the framework of the Rest Period Order (section 55). If your collective agreement or other agreement says nothing, the 11 hours apply.
The calculator checks one rest period at a time. To review a whole rota — with the weekly day off, the 48-hour rule and night work — use Working Time Check. Danish public holidays (helligdage) and working hours are covered by the public holiday calculator.
An employee finishes their shift on Monday at 22:00.
22:00 + 11 hours = 09:00 Tuesday at the earliest
An employee finishes the night shift on Tuesday at 06:30. Is starting at 16:00 the same day lawful?
06:30 + 11 hours = 17:30 at the earliest
The duty concerns how work is organised: it is the rota that must secure the rest. Check every shift change before the rota is sent out to your staff in Denmark.
If you rely on an exception in the collective agreement, make sure it is clearly worded and that the missing rest is given back as compensatory rest.
Keep your rota and note when you actually went home and started work. That is the documentation a claim is built on.
If you work in Denmark and experience repeated breaches, talk to your shop steward (tillidsrepræsentant) or trade union (fagforening). They know the exceptions in the collective agreement and can take up the case.
Collective agreements may have their own rest period rules. Always check your own agreement before relying on a calculation.
Content last reviewed October 2026.