Job Centre Guide Version 3, July 2005
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Job Centre Guide
Version 3, July 2005
Job Centre Guide, Version 3, July 2005
Content
I. Job Centre Guide – all the information you need ............................................................................. 3
II. Why Job Centres? ........................................................................................................................... 4
III. What are the Job Centres’ responsibilities? ................................................................................. 5
1. Citizens using the Job Centres........................................................................................................... 7
2. Parallel efforts – when employment efforts and social initiatives go hand in hand .......................... 9
3. The enterprise and the Job Centre ................................................................................................... 11
4. Payment of benefits, etc. – not a job for the Job Centre .................................................................. 12
5. Work availability............................................................................................................................. 13
6. The organisation and political foundation of Job Centres ............................................................... 14
7. Planning and management in the Job Centres ................................................................................. 16
8. IT..................................................................................................................................................... 19
9. The right of appeal – through the employment board of appeal...................................................... 22
IV. Job Centres and pilot Job Centres............................................................................................... 24
1. Job Centre responsibilities............................................................................................................... 24
2. Management and organisation......................................................................................................... 25
3. Special conditions concerning terms of employment ...................................................................... 27
4. Financing......................................................................................................................................... 27
5. Physical location ............................................................................................................................. 27
V. Process ................................................................................................................................................ 29
1. Dialogue phase until 1 February 2006............................................................................................. 29
2. Agreement phase – 1 February until 31 December 2006 ................................................................ 29
3. Rules for the transitional period ...................................................................................................... 30
4. Phasing in of target groups .............................................................................................................. 30
5. Setting up a local employment council............................................................................................ 31
6. Specialised rehabilitation initiatives................................................................................................ 31
VI. Cooperation pilot projects and employment offices ................................................................... 33
1. Employment offices ........................................................................................................................ 33
2. Cooperation pilot projects ............................................................................................................... 34
VII. Annexes .......................................................................................................................................... 36
1. The legislation on responsibility for and management of active employment efforts..................... 36
2. The jobseeker at the Job Centre – examples.................................................................................... 37
3. Parallel efforts – examples .............................................................................................................. 39
4. Work availability assessment and work availability inspection, and employability profiling
inspection ................................................................................................................................................. 41
5. Organisation of Job Centres – an example ...................................................................................... 43
6. The employment plan and performance audit ................................................................................. 47
7. The local employment councils....................................................................................................... 49
8. The regional employment councils ................................................................................................. 51
9. The employment regions ................................................................................................................. 54
10. The National Employment Council ............................................................................................ 56
11. Hotjobs........................................................................................................................................ 57
12. Wage-subsidy jobs on jobnet.dk ................................................................................................. 58
13. Jobs with special conditions - flex jobs and wage-subsidy jobs for persons receiving disability
pensions ................................................................................................................................................... 59
14. Jobindsats.dk............................................................................................................................... 60
15. The employment boards of appeal .............................................................................................. 62
2Job Centre Guide, Version 3, July 2005
I. Job Centre Guide – all the information you need
This is the place to look if you need information about the future structure in the employment
area. The new structure means that the Public Employment Service (PES) and municipalities will
move into new Job Centres together.
With this Guide, the National Labour Market Authority provides overall information – the Why,
How, Who, When, etc. – of these new Job Centres.
However, we cannot answer all questions with this Guide; partly because the answers to some of
the questions relating to technical details and certain aspects of the new structure must be found
elsewhere, for example, in the legislation pertaining to the new structure; and partly because
executive orders and the planning of organisational structures and processes following from the
new legislation are still under way. This Guide will therefore have to be updated as all the pieces
of the puzzle fall into place.
The new legislation on the employment area was adopted on 17 June 2005 and the content of the
legislation adopted is described in this version of the Job Centre Guide.
3Job Centre Guide, Version 3, July 2005
II. Why Job Centres?
The challenge facing Denmark is considerable: there will be even greater need for labour in the
future, as the proportion of elderly people increases and the proportion of young people
decreases. This will raise certain demands.
If we are to prevent enterprises and society from experiencing a shortage of qualified labour, the
demand is simple: we must organise Danish employment efforts efficiently and optimally.
The aims of employment efforts are:
• to get the unemployed into employment as quickly as possible,
• to ensure that enterprises find the labour they need,
• to ensure that people on sick leave return to work as quickly as possible,
• to ensure an inclusive labour market, and
• to ensure our future welfare – by increasing the labour force as much as possible and by
ensuring efficient employment offers.
The labour market reform "More People in Employment" was an important first step towards
more efficient employment efforts – the next step is the upcoming structural reform and the
establishment of Job Centres throughout Denmark.
The Public Employment Service (PES) and municipalities will be merged in new Job Centres
throughout Denmark in the coming years. Here, the PES and the municipalities will work
together on employment efforts for jobseekers and enterprises.
The overall benefit of creating Job Centres is that we will then have one employment system with
one-stop access for all citizens. This is not the situation today. Today, the PES takes care of some
jobseekers while municipalities take care of others.
The background for the current structure of the employment area is historical rather than rational:
there seems to be no strong argument for processing the same problems via two different systems
depending on whether the jobseeker has unemployment insurance or not.
On the other hand, there are strong arguments in favour of gathering forces in a joint Job Centre
where citizens can go if they need a job; a joint centre where enterprises can look for the labour
they are short of, and centre employees can focus on the labour market in its entirety and thus
provide better advice and help to the individual jobseeker.
The aim is to make it easier and quicker to match enterprises and jobseekers and to improve and
target the employment efforts for the individual jobseeker.
4Job Centre Guide, Version 3, July 2005
III. What are the Job Centres’ responsibilities?
The Job Centres will be the key to Danish employment efforts. A Job Centre will be established
in every municipality in Denmark except in very small municipalities that will instead enter into
binding cooperation with other municipalities. The main task of the centres will be to establish a
quick and efficient match between jobseeker and enterprise. Enterprises must be provided with
the labour they need as quickly as possible; jobseekers must be provided with jobs equally
quickly; and unemployed jobseekers and people on sick leave must be ensured the quickest way
back to work.
Self-service: Everyone who can manage on their own should do so. This should be the guiding
principle for every contact between the Job Centre and a jobseeker or an enterprise. Both people
that are looking for a job and enterprises that are looking for people to employ will be instructed
in the use of the self-service IT tools available at the Job Centre. Those in need of more, or other,
forms of assistance will receive it.
Services for enterprises: Employment efforts only provide outcomes if there is good
communication and close contact to enterprises. The Job Centres must know the enterprises’
needs for labour in order to prevent bottleneck problems and provide support for people who are
forced to change jobs across sectors.
The right labour is not necessarily people closest by. It is therefore essential that qualifications,
and not municipal borders, guide matchmaking between enterprise and jobseeker. The
organisation of the services for enterprises by Job Centres and the use of the job database
jobnet.dk must ensure quality and scope of recruitment for enterprises. This is a prerequisite for
efficiency.
Furthermore, together with enterprises the Job Centres must help unemployed people regain their
foothold in the labour market. This is an important collective task. All studies into the effect of
employability enhancement suggest that job training and wage subsidies at the right enterprises
constitute the most efficient measures to help the unemployed back on the labour market. This
applies to public-sector as well as private enterprises.
Coordinator for unemployed jobseekers: The basis for the Job Centres’ contact to the
unemployed is clear. They must find the shortest way to employment. The Job Centre coordinates
the employment efforts for all the unemployed; those close to the labour market as well as those
in need of extra assistance in order to gain or regain their foothold in the labour market.
A central element is that the Job Centre must use the national employability profiling tools when
helping the unemployed. These are tools that help provide a quick overview of whether the
unemployed person needs special support, or only needs a little help to proceed independently.
The Job Centre assesses the employment potential of unemployed people on the basis of their job
history and a personal interview. The unemployed person is placed in one of five so-called match
categories. The match category will be decisive for the process the individual has to complete in
the effort to get a job. A high match means focus should be on seeking a job here and now. A
lower match could mean that specific job training in combination with social benefits is needed.
The employability potential of the unemployed person will be assessed on an ongoing basis as
part of his or her contact with the Job Centre.
5Job Centre Guide, Version 3, July 2005
Newly arrived foreigners: The Job Centres must prepare individual contracts for newly arrived
foreigners covered by the Danish Integration Act as quickly as possible after their arrival in
Denmark. The contract should describe which activities may contribute to the foreigner learning
Danish and finding employment.
Specialist knowledge: In principle, the Job Centres should be able to tackle all assignments
relating to unemployed people, jobseekers, and people in employment who need assistance under
legislation managed by the Job Centres.
In a range of situations the Job Centres may, however, require specialist knowledge in order to
meet its responsibilities. This could be for example specialist knowledge in the area of
disabilities, ethnic minorities, international employment services, and gender equality.
The employment regions are responsible for ensuring that this specialist knowledge is available
to the Job Centres. This is achieved in practice by the director of the employment region entering
into agreements with institutions, external actors, or with the people responsible for the
employment efforts in a specific Job Centre. How this specialist knowledge is to be organised in
the employment regions has therefore not been set in advance.
People on sick leave: The Job Centres must follow up cases involving sickness benefits. This
means that the Job Centre must follow up with an interview with the person on sickness benefits
before the end of week 8. The purpose is to ensure that as many as possible are kept in
employment and not excluded from the labour market, as well as to ensure that the period of sick
leave is kept as short as possible. The Job Centre must include the enterprise and the doctor in its
follow-up and coordinate its efforts with other efforts e.g. by hospitals. Some people on sick
leave are so severely impaired by their illness that the way back into a regular job must go
through rehabilitation. Finally, in its profiling of the person on sick leave, the Job Centre may
find that the person can only take on a flex job, or should be recommended early retirement with
disability pension.
Active measures: For some unemployed people even massive job-seeking efforts are not enough
to gain foothold in the labour market. Here, the Job Centre’s task is clear: the Job Centre must
organise a process that can lead to the person getting a job in consultation with the unemployed.
Such a process could involve job training in a public-sector or private enterprise, wage subsidies,
or educational measures – or perhaps a combination of all of the above. For some people,
rehabilitation and a flex job could be the way back to work.
External actors: The Job Centres can enter into agreements with external actors about
employment efforts targeted at different groups. This can either be done by offering external
actors assignments for tender or by using agreements entered into by other Job Centres,
regionally or nationally.
External actors can be involved in overall employment policy efforts, i.e. contact work and
employment services, or they can act as sub-contractors. This means that an external actor may
prepare job plans for jobseekers, etc.
”Guidelines for job plans by external actors” specifies which assignments can be delegated to
external actors and the scope of action of external actors when responsible for efforts, including
in areas that the authorities are responsible for.
6Job Centre Guide, Version 3, July 2005
1. Citizens using the Job Centres
Everyone in need of assistance and employment services are to contact a Job Centre. This is
irrespective of whether the individual is a recipient of unemployment benefits, social benefits, or
other benefits, and it also applies to people already in work but who need advice and guidance in
their search for a new job. The overall objective is the same for everyone: finding work!
The focus of the Job Centre is to find the quickest way to employment. The Job Centre is
responsible for the entire process – from a person contacts the Job Centre until he or she finds a
job, or otherwise becomes economically self-sufficient or retires from the labour market.
The basis for Job Centre efforts is the resources and needs of the individual. Naturally, these will
differ significantly from person to person. Therefore, the Job Centre’s task is to quickly
determine the special needs of the individual. Those who can mange on their own will receive
less assistance than those who are in need of more assistance, advice, guidance and other offers.
It all depends on the unique situation of the many different people contacting the Job Centre,
such as:
• people in work who are looking to change jobs
• newly unemployed people who are still close to the labour market
• people in need of assistance to find a job
• people in need of assistance to retain their job due to illness, or
• people who are newly arrived in Denmark and in need of assistance to enter the Danish
labour market for the first time.
Everyone will receive the same treatment. Using e.g. the employability-profiling tool, a Job
Centre employee will help the individual assess his or her needs with regard to finding a job.
People in work who are looking to change jobs: Most people know where to look for and find
a job. They only need limited assistance from the Job Centre.
Example 1: Pernille works shifts, but is looking for something else
Pernille works shifts in the medical industry; but working shifts takes its toll on family
life and she is therefore looking for a job with fixed working hours. At the Job Centre she
obtains information about the options available to her within her sector, and she is
instructed in how to search for jobs via jobnet.dk. She is able to find a new job within a
month and a half.
Newly unemployed people still close to the labour market: Many people experience shorter
periods of unemployment in Denmark each year. Some have unemployment insurance, others do
not; but they have one thing in common: they only need assistance with regard to active job
hunting etc. in order to find a new job.
7Job Centre Guide, Version 3, July 2005
Example 2: Poul in need of personal assistance
Poul has impaired hearing and therefore requires a sign language interpreter if he is to
manage on equal terms with hearing people in his everyday life. Having completed his
master’s degree in engineering, he reports to a Job Centre. In connection with the
employability-profiling interview, the employee at the Job Centre informs him that he is
entitled to a personal sign language interpreter up to 20 hours each week while at work.
This is according to the act on compensation for disabled people in work etc. With this
knowledge in mind, Poul goes job hunting and lands a regular job as an engineer at an
engineering firm after a couple of months.
People in need of assistance finding a job: Some people need more help getting a job – for
example in the form of a qualifications upgrade, job training at an enterprise, or a job search
course. If the individual jobseeker needs assistance gaining a foothold in the labour market, the
Job Centre will make a job plan in consultation with the jobseeker. The Job Centre and the
jobseeker will agree on the goal of the plan and what is needed to reach this goal.
Example 3: Mahmoud in need of Danish lessons
Mahmoud is an immigrant. He is on start help and is therefore required to report to the
Job Centre. The Job Centre assesses that his Danish skills are too poor for him to hold a
regular job or a job involving wage subsidies.
The Job Centre offers Mahmoud lessons two days a week at a language centre and job
training at an enterprise the remaining three days of the week. The Job Centre arranges
for Mahmoud to have a mentor during the start-up phase at the enterprise, to help him on
his way. The Job Centre will contact Mahmoud at least once every third month to hear
how he is getting along. Similarly, the Job Centre will be in regular contact with the
enterprise and Mahmoud’s mentor.
People at risk of loosing their attachment to the labour market due to illness: People who are
at risk of unemployment due to illness may need the Job Centre’s assistance in order to retain
their current job. If they are already without a job, they need assistance getting back into the
labour market. The Job Centre and the person on sick leave will decide on actions together to
help him or her back to work. Perhaps, the person on sick leave needs a doctor’s report declaring
him/her only partially well, or a work ability test. At all events, the focus will be on retaining the
sick person’s attachment to the labour market.
Example 4: Anna suffers a disabling back injury and is offered rehabilitation
Anna is a child carer. She gets a back injury and reports sick to her employer. Her
employer reports her absence due to illness to the Job Centre. A doctor’s assessment
8Job Centre Guide, Version 3, July 2005
reveals that the injury is chronic and that Anna will not be able to carry out work that
involves lifting and pulling, or other back strain. In connection with the first follow-up
interview, the Job Centre assesses that Anna can work half time at the local after-school
activity centre. However, the job turns out to be too hard on Anna and the Job Centre
arranges a new interview with her. On the basis of this interview and an overall
assessment of Anna’s case, Anna is offered rehabilitation as a doctor’s secretary,
according to her own wish. She completes the training programme and finds a job in a
doctor’s office.
Newly arrived foreigners entering the Danish labour market for the first time: Newly
arrived foreigners covered by the Danish Integration Act must find employment as quickly as
possible. Often this means the Job Centre must chip in. The Job Centre must prepare a contract
with the newly arrived foreigner offering him or her an introduction programme including
language lessons. This applies both to foreigners that are eligible for introduction benefits and
foreigners that are not eligible for introduction benefits.
Example 5: Hannah is reunited with her husband
Hannah has just been reunited with her husband, who is a refugee in Denmark. She has
formal training as an accountant and work experience from a medium-size accounting
firm in Iraq, her home country.
The Job Centre – i.e. the job consultant and the language consultant – prepares an
individual contract in consultation with Hannah. Hannah’s formal training, work
experience, and competences etc., are included in the contract. They agree that Hannah
must start on a Danish language programme right away. Hannah speaks English in
addition to Arabic. The Job Centre therefore tries to find her on-the-job training in a large
accounting firm with international links. One month later this has happened.
Read more examples in annex 2.
2. Parallel efforts – when employment efforts and social initiatives go hand in
hand
People not readily able to find a job due to social problems, language or health problems, should
also be able to receive assistance from the Job Centre.
The Job Centre must ensure that employment efforts are tailored to the individual’s needs. If a
person is having difficulties gaining access to the labour market as well as other problems, the
Job Centre has to take special account of two things: firstly, all of the individual’s other problems
do not have to be solved before embarking on job-hunting preparation and job-targeted efforts;
secondly, a job or job-targeted efforts may be part of the solution to many of the other problems
burdening the person.
9Job Centre Guide, Version 3, July 2005
People who need social services must receive these from the local social services office.
However, the Job Centre will still be responsible for efforts related to employment, while the
social services are responsible for social efforts under the Act on Social Services. There must be
balanced cooperation between the two areas; employment efforts and social initiatives must go
hand in hand.
To enhance the possibilities for returning to the labour market, the Job Centre will serve as a
coordinator of the employment-related efforts – also during periods when a person is completing
social or health programmes outside the Job Centre. This coordinator function includes checking
up to see if the person has moved any closer to entering the labour market, and standing ready
with employment-related offers as soon as the person is able to cope with these.
The parallel efforts by Job Centres and the social services also apply to unemployed people who
have insurance. These people can be offered a combination of social, language, health and
employment-related programmes, provided they are available to the labour market according to
the general rules.
Some people are unsuccessful in moving closer to the labour market, and for them early
retirement with disability pension might be the solution. In this connection, the Job Centre will be
responsible for ensuring that all other options have been looked at e.g. employability
enhancement, rehabilitation, and flex job, before a claim for disability pension can be raised.
The Job Centre cannot decide whether a person is eligible for disability pension or not. This is up
to the social services to decide. However, the Job Centre may recommend to the social services
that a claim for disability pension is raised. The Job Centre may do this when it finds there is
documentation that a person’s ability to work has been permanently reduced and all relevant
options to improve his or her ability to work have been looked at. Once the Job Centre has
submitted its recommendation, the case is to be considered final with regard to the person’s
ability to work and any possibilities of improving this ability.
Example 6: Camilla is the mother of Markus who is showing symptoms of
DAMP/ADHD
Camilla is a young, unemployed single mother. She has no vocational training and almost
no work experience, except from short periods of unskilled part-time work. She has her
hands full taking care of her 5-year-old son Markus, who is showing symptoms of
DAMP/ADHD. She is having difficulties coping with everyday demands and is unable to
imagine how - on top of everything else - she will have time and energy for a full-time
job.
The Job Centre arranges for a social worker from the social services’ department for
children and young people to contact Camilla. As a result of these interviews, Camilla is
assigned a “family support person” to help her manage her everyday chores and her son.
The Job Centre also refers Camilla to a clarification process at a work rehabilitation
centre. Here, she will both take part in different workshops and receive training in basic
subjects at pre-college level.
10Job Centre Guide, Version 3, July 2005
This is a pre-rehabilitation process to determine whether Camilla will be able to complete
training as a social and health-care assistant. The Job Centre will then assess whether
Camilla can start on a proper rehabilitation programme at a later stage.
Read more examples in annex 3.
3. The enterprise and the Job Centre
In general, job turnover in Denmark is smooth and efficient, involving enterprises and employees
finding each other entirely without intervention from the public employment system.
If enterprises are unable to find qualified candidates to fill a vacancy, they can approach a Job
Centre. All Job Centres can help the enterprise with their recruitment, irrespective of where in
Denmark the enterprise is located and irrespective of where in Denmark the unemployed live.
The Job Centres comprise a nation-wide public-service system which is to ensure the greatest
possible transparency of the job market and support recruitment, job search and employment
services across trades and professions and across municipal borders. The digital tools, including
jobnet.dk, are central components for this cross-cutting recruitment and employment service.
Enterprises are free to choose any Job Centre they wish to work with, although not with regard to
services relating to absence due to illness, rehabilitation, etc. These services will be offered by
the Job Centre in the municipality where the person reported sick resides, unless several Job
Centres have entered into cooperation agreements on joint efforts in these areas.
It is important that central and local government work together in a Job Centre on services
targeted at enterprises, so that the Job Centre’s enterprise contact is coordinated. Jobseekers, etc.
should not experience any differences when receiving services from local and central government
employees respectively, and enterprises should not experience an unnecessary administrative
burden or extra casework. The two systems may learn from each other with regard to services to
enterprises, and it is important that competences are utilised in joint efforts tailored to the
individual enterprise.
Collaboration on services to enterprises in the Job Centre should contribute to solving the
enterprise’s demand for labour, quickly and efficiently. At the same time, these collaborative
efforts should provide for targeted dialogue with enterprises about job retention for people on
sick leave, wage-subsidy jobs, job training offers, light jobs with special conditions, etc.
Collaborative efforts might also include initiatives in favour of the inclusive labour market, social
partnerships, and enterprise network creation in the local area.
Moreover, offering enterprise services in partnerships across Job Centres could also be
considered, in that it would enable coordination of the services to enterprises in relation to a
larger section of the labour market.
Opportunities for collaboration across Job Centres are described in more detail in annex 24 (not
available in English).
11Job Centre Guide, Version 3, July 2005
Example 7:
Allan Jensen’s Fruits & Vegetables in X-town needs a sales clerk. One evening after
work, Allan sits down at his computer and clicks his way to jobnet.dk. He decides to
submit his job advertisement to the job database by himself. During the process he phones
the Help Desk for help in clarifying a couple of questions. Three days later, Allan
receives the first responses to the advert, and after one week, he is able to remove it from
the database, as he has already found and hired a new employee.
Example 8:
Leif Sørensen’s Metal Workshop in Y-town just signed a major contract and is now in
need of 11 new metalworkers (welders primarily) in the production. The enterprise
submits its order on jobnet.dk. After one week, six people have contacted the enterprise
and all of them have been employed. The enterprise now contacts the local Job Centre
and asks for help finding the remaining five employees still needed.
The local Job Centre finds four more qualified metalworkers for the enterprise. However,
neither the local Job Centre nor other Job Centres close by can find a qualified worker to
fill the last vacancy. Entering into an agreement with the local Job Centre, the enterprise
finds two unemployed workers who are not readily qualified for the job but who are
willing to take the necessary training. They are employed with wage subsidies.
Example 9:
During an enterprise consultant’s visit to Johnsen’s Wood Factory the owner reveals that
he is actually in need of some extra help. The enterprise consultant promises to take the
request with him back to the Job Centre and tells the enterprise the Job Centre will be in
contact within two days.
Two days later the Job Centre phones the enterprise to tell them they have found someone
with a profile that matches the job. An interview between the enterprise and the candidate
is arranged for the next day. Following the interview, the enterprise decides to hire the
candidate.
4. Payment of benefits, etc. – not a job for the Job Centre
12Job Centre Guide, Version 3, July 2005
To make sure the coming Job Centres keep focus on what is most essential – namely find
unemployed people work – job services and payment of benefits etc. will be kept separate.
This division of responsibilities is a key concept in the establishment of the Job Centres because
it stresses where the focus should be in the daily work: the Job Centre will be working
professionally with job matching and the labour market; there is no need for special competences
with regard to benefits etc. and managing payment of these.
In practice, this means the Job Centres will have the following responsibilities: following up on
jobseekers’ job search efforts, or in cases pertaining e.g. to sickness benefits, through regular
interviews; deciding – in consultation with the jobseeker – whether he or she should be offered
job training, education, rehabilitation, or a flex job, etc.; and, keeping an eye on whether people
are participating in the different offers, thus checking whether unemployed people are actually
available to the labour market.
However, it is not the Job Centre’s responsibility to pay out benefits, nor will it be responsible for
deciding in matters regarding claims for benefits, the size of a benefit, and other financial matters
pertaining to individual cases.
Matters concerning money, benefits, and payment will be managed elsewhere. Another part of
the local government will take care of uninsured target groups. Unemployed people with
insurance will – as is the case today – be served by their unemployment insurance fund.
This means e.g.: the responsibility for matters concerning whether a person is eligible for social
benefits lies with the local payment office/another part of the local government – not the Job
Centre; and responsibility for matters concerning whether a person on social benefits should be
granted a lump-sum benefit to cover unforeseen expenses (dentist’s appointment or new glasses,
for example) belongs to the social services – not the Job Centre.
Nor is it a Job Centre responsibility if a recipient of unemployment benefits believes he or she is
entitled to a higher rate. Such matters belong with the relevant unemployment insurance fund.
If the Job Centre becomes aware that a person on sick leave is no longer entitled to sickness
benefits, they must report their finding to the local payment office to have them stop the
payments. This could be the case if a person on sick leave is absent from treatment or, without a
fair excuse, refrains from participating in the Job Centre’s follow-up interview regarding his or
her case.
The tasks under the Act on an Active Social Policy, the Act on Benefits in the Event of Illness or
Childbirth, and the Integration Act to be covered by the local government employment efforts at
the Job Centres will be described in more detail in an executive order to be issued in January
2006.
5. Work availability
The Job Centres will have special focus on people’s readiness and ability to search for and keep a
job. However, how the Job Centre is to manage cases concerning work availability differs
depending on whether the unemployed person involved is insured.
13Job Centre Guide, Version 3, July 2005
Unemployed people with insurance:
The unemployment insurance funds will keep their current responsibilities with regard to
unemployed people with insurance. The funds must calculate and pay out unemployment
benefits, provide service, advice and guidance, make decisions regarding work availability, and
launch possible sanctions.
The role of the Job Centre will be to report so-called negative incidents to the unemployment
insurance fund. Such incidents could be when an unemployed person stays away from an
interview, declines a job offer, etc.
Unemployed people without insurance:
The Job Centre will be responsible for assessing whether unemployed people without insurance
are available for the labour market. If the Job Centre assesses that an uninsured person is
unavailable for the labour market, the centre must notify the relevant part of local government
(the office paying out the social benefit) that a sanction is required.
The Job Centre’s recommendation will be on the basis of a collective assessment of whether the
individual person is exploiting his or her employment opportunities, including whether he or she
is participating in the offers available from the Job Centre. In this way, with regard to assessing
work availability, the case will have been fully clarified when the Job Centre asks the local
payment office to carry out a sanction. The local payment office will therefore not need to carry
out any further assessment but merely determine the sanction (e.g. determine the consequences
this will have for the benefit). Foreigners receiving introduction benefits under the Integration
Act will be assessed similarly.
In its assessment the Job Centre must take account of whether there are extenuating
circumstances – according to the rules on work availability for uninsured – which justify the
unemployed person not exploiting his or her employment opportunities, for example illness or
lack of child care opportunities.
Therefore, the Job Centre will not be required to recommend a sanction in cases involving
circumstances which do not release a sanction according to the rules on work availability.
In connection with the realisation of a sanction, the local government must assess whether the
person involved, and his or her spouse, are able to manage without benefits or not, and if not
whether cash assistance should be paid out anyway, possibly entailing a repayment obligation.
Read more about work availability in annex 4.
6. The organisation and political foundation of Job Centres
There is no one, fixed model for how a Job Centre should be organised. Job Centres may be
organised in many different ways. The important thing is that the structure reflects the intentions
of the legislation in the employment area.
In other words, central and local governments have a large degree of freedom when organising
the Job Centres. Only few conditions have been defined beforehand:
14Job Centre Guide, Version 3, July 2005
• Job Centres must be established in all municipalities throughout Denmark. The only
exception from this rule pertains to the seven small municipalities which have less than
20,000 inhabitants. Each of these will enter into a binding agreement with another
municipality regarding the establishment of a joint Job Centre in one of the
municipalities.
• The Job Centre must serve as an access-point for all citizens in need of advice and
service in relation to employment.
• In connection with the establishment of Job Centres, the municipalities must ensure that
the employment efforts are maintained by a separate part of local government. This
means that:
o the separate part should carry out responsibilities that are separate from the
remaining local government, including from payment of benefits and
responsibilities in the area of social services, etc.;
o the separate part should have its own employment efforts budget;
o the municipal manager of the Job Centre /the separate part of local government
cannot at the same time be the manager of another part of local government;
o the employees cannot at the same time perform work for other parts of local
government.
• The separate part of local government may also be responsible for assignments pertaining
to Youth Education Guidance and Danish language teaching for foreigners etc.
• Decisions about citizens’ financial matters and benefits etc. should not lie with the Job
Centre, but in another part of local government/or with the unemployment insurance
fund.
• The Job Centre should be established collaboratively between municipalities and the
state. The municipalities and the state must prepare a plan for how employment efforts
will be organised at the Job Centre.
An executive order will be prepared by January 2006 concerning which responsibilities, in
addition to those described in the new legislation on active employment efforts, belong to the Job
Centres and which responsibilities will be part of central and local government collaboration at
the Job Centre.
The municipal council will decide how the individual municipality will plan and implement the
municipal employment efforts.
There are a few items the individual municipality must decide on:
• The municipal council must decide where the separate part of local government
responsible for the employment-related efforts should be placed relative to the remaining
local government. The municipality is free to choose where in the organisational
structure of its government it wishes to place the Job Centre.
• The municipal council must decide under which municipal committee the employment
efforts should belong. The municipal council can choose either to let the finance
committee manage the employment efforts, or the municipality can set up a standing
committee that will manage the employment efforts. This standing committee could also
manage the municipality’s industrial policy and overall integration policy, as well as
responsibilities pertaining to Youth Education Guidance and Danish language teaching
for foreigners etc.
15Job Centre Guide, Version 3, July 2005
• Municipalities with an intermediate form of government or an intermediate form of
government with shared administration must also decide under which committee the
employment efforts should belong. The chairman of the standing committee on the
employment area could at the same time serve as the chairman of another committee.
• Municipalities constituted by a city government may decide which member of the city
government should have immediate responsibility for the employment area. The
municipality must set up an advisory committee in its articles of association which are to
provide advice on the employment area.
Regardless of the committee structure chosen, the committee must have immediate responsibility
for management of the municipality’s responsibilities under the legislation on active employment
efforts, the Act on an Active Social Policy (however, not including Parts 10 and 10a), the Act on
Benefits in the Event of Illness or Childbirth, as well as employment efforts under the Integration
Act and associated benefits (however, not including sections 35-39). The committee will also
have the political responsibility for managing benefits associated with the legislation mentioned.
The budget responsibility for employment efforts must be placed with the local government part
of the Job Centre. The Job Centre may, however, choose to place the executive responsibility
elsewhere, e.g. with an external actor. This also applies to local government employment projects
and rehabilitation centres, which may be embedded either in the Job Centre or in another part of
local government.
If the executive responsibility is placed with an external actor or in another part of local
government, the Job Centre will have the role of procurer with regard to purchasing empty slots
on programmes for unemployed people.
Moreover, there are a number of issues which central and local government will have to decide
on together. The Job Centres may be organised and structured in many different ways. The
municipalities and the state must agree on this. They must decide on e.g.:
• The organisational structure of the Job Centre.
• The physical location of the Job Centre. The same Job Centre can have offices and
departments on several different locations.
• Staffing, management structure, employees etc. of the Job Centre.
• Conditions concerning use of administrative tools, procedures, control of production and
follow-up etc.
7. Planning and management in the Job Centres
Central and local government must work together when planning and organising the employment
efforts in the new joint Job Centres.
This does not involve a shift in the division of responsibilities: The municipal council will still be
responsible for the employment efforts in relation to municipal target groups, and the state will be
responsible for the unemployed people who have insurance.
The Job Centres will have new tools in their planning of the employment efforts: an annual
employment plan and performance audit.
16Job Centre Guide, Version 3, July 2005
Employment plan: Each year, the municipality and the state will prepare an overall employment
plan for the coming year’s efforts in the Job Centre. The plan must contain targets, priorities, and
budget for the employment efforts: for the overall efforts; and for the efforts divided between the
municipality and the state. Furthermore, the plan may include results and conclusions from the
performance audit, as well as the plan prepared by the local employment council concerning
efforts targeted at enterprises.
Read more about the employment plan in annex 6
Performance audit: Results and effects must be in focus. Consequently each year, the
municipality and the state must carry out a performance audit of the overall employment efforts
at the Job Centre and the efforts divided between the municipality and the state. The performance
audit should include e.g. 1) results and effects of the Job Centre’s efforts compared with those of
other Job Centres; 2) an indication and assessment of the savings to be gained from more
efficient employment efforts; and 3) an indication of the areas where more efficient efforts are
needed. The performance audit must be based on figures and calculations from the national
measurement system jobindsats.dk.
Read more about the performance audit in annex 6.
The Job Centre will have several different partners: a local employment council, which will be
set-up in conjunction with each Job Centre, will provide advice to the responsible officers in the
Job Centre about planning and organisation of employment efforts. Moreover, four new
employment regions and associated regional employment councils will monitor, analyze, and
support the employment efforts in the regions.
The local employment councils: The local employment councils (abbreviated as LBRs after the
Danish title) will provide advice about employment efforts to the management at the Job Centre
and coordinate and develop the local preventive efforts aimed at people having difficulties
managing in the labour market. The LBRs will thus be included in the preparation of the
employment plan, e.g. through a joint seminar where the plan will be discussed. Furthermore, the
LBRs will be consulted and may submit recommendations concerning amendments to the plan.
The LBRs will take over the current coordination committee’s task of strengthening local
enterprise-targeted efforts for people at the margins of the labour market. The LBR will prepare a
plan for how the efforts aimed at enterprises can be facilitated through e.g. local partnerships.
Read more about the local employment councils in annex 7.
The employment regions and the regional employment councils: The central-government
employment regions and the regional employment councils (abbreviated as RBRs after the
Danish title) will analyse the developments in the regional labour market, monitor, and follow up
on results and effects of Job Centre efforts, and solve cross-sector employment policy issues.
The employment regions and the RBRs will support the employment efforts in the Job Centres
through:
• giving advice on local employment efforts e.g. preparing an annual analysis report about
the results and effects of efforts in the region, and e.g. hosting a conference with all the
relevant stakeholders in the region;
• making knowledge available regarding developments in the regional labour market,
including information about the current and future labour demands of enterprises;
17Job Centre Guide, Version 3, July 2005
• earmarking separate state funding for the prevention and abatement of bottlenecks (lack
of qualified labour);
• ensuring access to required specialist knowledge within special initiative areas. This
could be e.g. specialist knowledge in the area of disabilities, integration efforts, or
specialized rehabilitation initiatives;
• offering binding state framework tenders with a view to ensuring the results and effects
of employment efforts aimed at target groups across Job Centres and that have special
problems with regard to the labour market and thus need specialised attention and
initiatives. These could be university graduates, professional groups that have only few
unemployed people in the Job Centre, or people with disabilities:
• launching quick and active efforts in connection with major layoffs or company closures
of significance for the local area.
The employment regions and the RBRs will monitor and follow up on results and effects of the
employment efforts in the Job Centres and can act if individual Job Centres have serious
problems achieving the right results:
• If the legislative requirements to the employment efforts are not being met, or if results
deviate significantly from results in other comparable Job Centres, the region may
contact the relevant Job Centre to discuss the problems. If required, the region may enter
into a written agreement with the Job Centre to improve efforts. As part of the
agreement, the region may offer to finance consultancy services to help the Job Centre
improve its efforts.
• If an agreement cannot be entered into or if the results are not improved as agreed, the
relevant Minister may, encouraged by the region, order the Job Centre to involve external
actors in those parts of the employment efforts that are lacking in results. The RBR must
always be included in the decision to take action regarding a Job Centre.
The focus on results and effects of the employment efforts means that the Job Centres that can
show good results will be granted a great degree of freedom in implementing employment
efforts, whereas Job Centres showing less good results will experience closer follow-up on their
employment efforts.
The regional employment councils will prepare annual analysis reports on the results and effects
of the local Job Centre’s employment efforts. In the analysis reports, the RBRs will provide
recommendations as to which areas of initiative should be stressed, and will thus guide the
minister in determining future targets for the employment efforts.
Read more about the regional employment councils in annex 8.
Read more about the employment regions in annex 9.
The National Employment Council and the Minister: On the basis of the analysis report and
the recommendations of the regional employment council (RBR), every year the Minister
declares a number of political targets for the employment area.
These targets concern areas of initiatives which will need special focus in the coming years so as
to improve the results of national or regional efforts. For example, the Minister may declare that
efforts should be improved for short-term unemployed so that the average period of
unemployment for the recently unemployed is lowered across Denmark. Or that rehabilitation
18Job Centre Guide, Version 3, July 2005
and employability enhancement efforts for persons with a limited capability to work should be
enhanced with a view to finding regular employment for them.
The National Employment Council (abbreviated BER after the Danish title) will continue to
advise the Minister as regards employment policy as it does today, and will also advise the
Minister with regard to the forward-looking targets for employment efforts.
As something new, the BER will also advise the Minister for integration on matters relating to
employment efforts in accordance with the Integration Act.
Read more about the employment council in annex 10.
The municipal council and the state base their plans for employment efforts in Job Centres on the
Minister's targets for employment efforts. The parties responsible for employment efforts in the
local Job Centres must therefore take the Minister's targets into consideration when planning
initiatives for the coming year. This applies both to central and local government efforts at Job
Centres. It will be possible for each Job Centre to carry out and plan efforts so as to match local
needs. Job Centres that obtain good results in an area covered by the Minister's targets do not
have to focus on these targets when planning initiatives for the coming years. This is a
consequence of the general principle that Job Centres with good results and effects of initiatives
have a large degree of freedom with regard to planning and implementing their employment
efforts.
When the Minister will declare the year's targets has not been fixed yet, however the Minister
will declare the targets in time for them to be included in the Job Centres' employment plans for
the coming year.
8. IT
The Job Centres will have common IT tools and access to the same data. The objective of
creating such an efficient, effective, and cohesive IT support system is to make it quick and easy
to find a candidate for the job and avoid bottlenecks.
Job Centres will have a number of common IT systems, state IT systems, and municipal IT
systems.
A common IT-based data basis is a central element in the IT support for active employment
efforts. The shared data in the Job Centres will be based on jobnet.dk, jobindsats.dk,
employability profiling tools, and the Labour Market Portal - amportal.bm.dk. Furthermore, the
state and municipalities will have case processing systems for insured and uninsured target
groups respectively.
jobnet.dk - jobs and recruitment service for everyone
With a million visitors every month and 12,000 viewings of available jobs per day, jobnet.dk is
Denmark's largest job portal.
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jobnet.dk is a self-service tool where enterprises can advertise vacant positions and reach a great
many jobseekers all over Denmark. Similarly, jobseekers can also describe their competences and
'sell' themselves to enterprises regardless of where they live.
jobnet.dk's continued success depends on a high level of supply and demand. Therefore in future
all jobs in the public sector – both at state, regional and municipal level – must be advertised on
jobnet.dk. This will benefit both jobseekers and employers.
Municipalities and the PES already use jobnet.dk. All unemployed must enter their CV on the
website, and their CV and job search activities are included in their regular interviews with a case
officer. jobnet.dk makes it possible for the Job Centre to help enterprises find the right employees
– also across municipal borders.
jobnet.dk also helps groups with special needs. The hotjob function contains jobs that do not
require special qualifications and therefore can be filled by anyone. This is particularly effective
when dealing with unemployed people who have had little or no training and have no work
experience.
Read more about hotjob in annex 11.
Subsidised jobs can also be advertised on jobnet.dk. Unemployed individuals who are entitled to
a subsidised job can - via jobnet.dk – see which subsidised jobs are available. However whether
they get the job depends on the Job Centre approving the employment conditions.
Read more about subsidised jobs on jobnet.dk in annex 12.
Jobseekers that have been profiled for a flex job – or have been granted disability pension - can
also use jobnet.dk. They can see what jobs with special terms are available. The Job Centre must
also approve flex and light jobs before they can be filled.
Read more about jobs with special conditions of employment in annex 13.
More and more enterprises are beginning to use jobnet.dk as a tool. And in the future all public-
sector jobs will be advertised on the portal. It is important that many jobs are advertised. The
portal's continued success depends on maintaining a high level of supply and demand. The more
of the market the portal covers, the more indispensable it becomes for all parties. It is important
to keep developing the portal.
jobindsats.dk – you can see the results here
There are great local and regional differences in the results of employment efforts. All analyses
show this. Some areas are doing well and others are less successful.
Today, it is often difficult for decision makers and employees to get a full overview of whether
their employment efforts are successful or not. This makes it difficult to make plans, strategies
and priorities. In future, all results will be made visible and accessible for everyone. This will be
done on the portal jobindsats.dk. Users can get an overview here, can benchmark their
performance against municipalities with the same framework conditions or check a detailed
analysis of their own efforts – e.g. focus on the results of initiatives for women between 40 and
44 years old from non-OECD countries.
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