Company Costs and Benefits in Denmark

The company’s costs are mainly connected to the salary paid to the apprentice. Salaries in college-based periods of VET are reimbursed to the company from a common fund financed by all companies in Denmark. However, the guiding principle in terms of company costs is that the apprentice is supposed to participate in productive work, thus minimising the costs for the Company.

Students receive wages from the company for their work during the periods of apprenticeship. The Employers’ Reimbursements Fund reimburses the company for the apprentice’s wages when the apprentice is attending college.

The employer pays the apprentice’s salary in the full contractual period. According to collective agreements, apprentices’ salaries are regulated as a minimum salary.  This means that employers can pay more if they want to do so, but not less. The salary must be specified in the contract between the apprentice and employer. The salary varies from trade to trade due to different collective agreements between trade unions and employers’ associations. The initial salary for students in VET varies between 9.500 DKR to 12.500 DKR (EUR 1.275 to 1.675) per month according to the collective bargaining agreement and rise for each year.

All companies, both public and private, contribute a fixed annual amount to the Employers’ Reimbursement Fund for each of their employees, regardless of whether the company has apprentices or not.

In some trades, companies usually pay for the tools used at the company’s workplace and in the school-based period of training, as well as books.