Working in Denmark: FOA - an active partner

JOBB I DAn
FOA – an active
partner
– about FOA, The Care and Service Union, and its
international recruitment work

FOA – AN ACTIVE PARTNER
– about FOA, The Care and Service Union, and its
international recruitment work.
Editors: Jens Folkersen and Ole Jensen
Copy: Marianne Schjøtt Rohweder
Graphics: grafit.dk
Translation: Alpha-Lingua
Printed by: FOA’s printing press
This publication has been produced with support from the Danish Ministry of Employment and can be
downloaded from: www.foa-international.dk
Illustrations: Front page: model photo/Maria Laustsen, s. 6 tv. Markussen Tobias Selnæs/POLFOTO, th: Ruddi Christensen, s. 7 tv. Jørgen
True, th. Kirsten Fich Pederesen, s. 8 tv. Niels Aage Skovbo, th. Mike Kollöffel, s. 13: Steen Wrem/POLFOTO, s. 16 og 19: AndersBrohus/POLFOTO.
Other photos: iStockphoto
Published by FOA – Trade and Labour, The Care and Service Union, December 2009.

FOA – AN ACTIVE PARTNER
1
CONTENTS
Foreword:
Welcome to decent working conditions. .............3
Introduction: Focus on international recruitment . .......5
Chapter:
1 About FOA, the Care and Service Union. .6
2 FOA’s recruitment approach..........9
3 Job and education opportunities
in Denmark.................... 12
4 Template for international recruitment.. 14
5 Early dialogue .................. 16
6 Experience from three case studies. ... 18

2 FOA – AN ACTIVE PARTNER

FOA – AN ACTIVE PARTNER
3
”
FOA is a key partner in this international recruitment
process from the first tentative discussions,
playing a special role in guaranteeing equal
pay and working conditions for foreign workers.
FOREWORD
Welcome to Decent
Working Conditions
Mona Strib,
Vice President , FOA
Despite growing unemployment in the wake of the financial crisis, manpower
is still needed in the area of the public sector job market where the groups
represented by FOA, The Care and Service Union, are employed. Many people
currently working in the elderly care sector in particular will retire in the next
decade. Many Danish local authorities are therefore now looking into various
ways of recruiting manpower from other countries.
FOA is a key partner in this international recruitment process from the first
tentative discussions, playing a special role in guaranteeing equal pay and
working conditions for foreign workers.
Providing a supply of professionally skilled people to carry out society’s welfare
services is always a central task, and national manpower should be the
prime resource. International recruitment is merely one of a whole range of options.
Recruiting foreign workers must never be a hastily considered decision,
but be based on local authorities’ long-term employment goals.
Financial and human investment is also required for the process of recruiting
foreign workers to succeed. Users and other staff in the workplace must
be involved in the decisions, and the aim of the close partnership between
union and employers is to prevent problems arising for new employees, the
workplace and society.
Welcome to Denmark!
As a society we have a duty to welcome the foreign workers we invite to Denmark,
regardless of whether they are commuters from the Nordic countries,
other EU citizens or people from non-EU countries. Unfortunately there have
been examples of private providers of jobs and education who look on foreign
manpower simply as a means of making a profit, and where the recruitment
process has been less than ideal. Obviously this is unacceptable and socially

4 FOA – AN ACTIVE PARTNER
”
Neither does
the recruitment
process finish on
the newcomer’s first
day of work. Wholehearted
integration
efforts on the part of
users, colleagues and
the local community
are essential to make
new employees feel at
home and encourage
them to stay in Denmark
and contribute
to the important
work of the welfare
society.
unsustainable because both the Danish labour market and society are undermined
if employees do not have decent working conditions.
Neither does the recruitment process finish on the newcomer’s first day of
work. Wholehearted integration efforts on the part of users, colleagues and
the local community are essential to make new employees feel at home and
encourage them to stay in Denmark and contribute to the important work of
the welfare society.
A professionally qualified foundation
The professional groups represented by FOA work with people and their needs.
An intensive Danish course is therefore a natural introduction to this work. Being
able to speak and understand Danish is also key to forming a sense of fellowship.
Occupational qualifications are society’s guarantee that the job to be done
is done professionally and on the individual resident’s own terms. Many foreigners
who come to Denmark to work in FOA’s job areas are either unskilled or
have qualifications that do not meet Danish standards. Some form of training
is therefore often required after a foreign employee has been hired to ensure
that this sector of the labour force also meets Danish standards for professional
care and service and qualified manpower.
Dialogue
In local authorities that recruit international manpower, FOA strives to establish
cooperation with municipal and private employers as early as possible to make
international recruitment a genuinely useful tool for resolving employment issues
where there is a need. FOA is also a natural partner for other stakeholders
in the Danish public sector job market.

FOA – AN ACTIVE PARTNER
5
”
Dialogue
and cooperation
as early
as possible in the
recruitment process
is the best way
to avoid complications.
Focus on international
recruitment
Interest is growing in meeting the need for manpower
with employees from outside Denmark, particularly
the Nordic countries and other EU countries.
Changes in Danish and EU legislation have eased
labour migration across national borders. Municipal
employers and private service providers are increasingly
employing Swedish, German and Polish workers,
particularly for jobs in the elderly care and cleaning
sectors.
Most employees in these public sector job categories
are members of FOA, one of Denmark’s largest
trade unions.
In Denmark trade union membership is voluntary,
but 80 % of Danes are members of a union, and
FOA plays a key role in the international recruitment
process to guarantee that foreign workers’ pay
and working conditions match those in the Danish
labour market. FOA helps to ensure that foreign employees
are offered appropriate training programmes
and are integrated into Danish workplaces and local
communities.
For foreign companies and recruitment firms that
hire people to work in Denmark and Danish municipal
employers that advertise for and hire foreign
workers themselves, FOA is not only the organisation
with which they make agreements. The union is also
a cooperation and discussion partner at every step of
the recruitment process – from the first germ of an
idea until the employee has started work.
This booklet provides you with information about
FOA and FOA’s role in international recruitment.
FOA’s international website, www.foa-international.
dk provides more details, links to relevant websites
and other information, including publications in
Swedish, German, Polish and English for newcomers
about Danish working life and society.

6 FOA – AN ACTIVE PARTNER
1 About FOA, the Care
and Service Union
As mentioned earlier, FOA is the trade union organisation
representing most public sector employees in
the areas where manpower is currently being hired
from abroad. Numbering over 200,000 members,
FOA is one of Denmark’s largest trade unions.
FOA’s members are engaged in carrying out the
services that the welfare society has pledged to offer
to its citizens, and the wide range of jobs they do includes:
• childcare
• patient care in hospitals and nursing homes
• firefighting
• providing help and services to elderly and disabled
people
• driving buses
• cleaning and catering in hospitals, schools and
barracks
• maintaining buildings
Targeted help
To provide members with the best and most relevant
service, FOA is divided into four sectors:
• Social and Health Services Sector
• Childcare and Social Education Services Sector
• Catering and Cleaning Services Sector
• Technical and Maintenance Services Sector
FOA’s tasks
FOA provides the following main services to its
members:
• Making and renewing agreements with employer
organisations regarding pay and employment conditions
• Organising and training union representatives,
who are the link between the trade union and its
members in the workplace
• Representing members’ interests relative to the

FOA – AN ACTIVE PARTNER
7
political system through participation in tripartite
boards and committees and general political
involvement
• Advising members on issues related to the workplace
and members’ personal working life and
representing its members in legal disputes with
employers.
• Developing and making agreements regarding
vocational training and continuing education
through regional education councils, the governing
boards of education institutions and other
bodies
• Relevant information for all FOA’s member groups
can be found at www.foa.dk
A nationwide presence
Forty-three FOA branches throughout Denmark
handle daily contact with members as well as relations
with local employers, which include private
companies offering foreign manpower locally.
The local trade union branches deal with specific
questions about the workplace, mediate if conflicts
arise and advise members on unemployment funds,
education and other issues.
A cooperation partner
During an international recruitment process, it is the
local branch of the union that works with the municipal
employer considering hiring foreign manpower.
The employer-FOA partnership guarantees these
workers pay and working conditions equal to those
in the Danish labour market, and in many local authorities
FOA helps to ensure that the job introduction
programmes and language courses are relevant.
The union also promotes integration in the workplace
and local community, which is essential to the wellbeing
of newly recruited employees and to retaining
them in Denmark.
A negotiator
The local branches also secure collective agreement
rights with municipal employers and handle negotiations
regarding recognition agreements if a foreign
employee has been hired through a private temping
agency rather than direct by a local authority.
An adviser
Local branches are also ready to provide practical assistance
to foreigners coming to Denmark to work.
Their doors are always open to members who want to

8 FOA – AN ACTIVE PARTNER
discuss and get advice on private issues such as finding
accommodation and settling in the local community.
FOA advises:
• Members
• Municipal employers
• Private employers
• Education institutions
• Local politicians
• Other professional organisations
An active player in the workplace
The union represents members’ interests in the
workplace in cooperation with union and health and
safety representatives and as a member of the MED
committee (the workers’ participation committee).
Union representative (TR)
A union representative is elected from among employees
organised under the union to protect colleagues’
interests in local negotiations and if problems
arise in the workplace.
Once a workplace has five employees, the employees
are entitled to elect a union representative (TR), and
temporary or hourly paid workers who work more
than eight hours a week are also included in the basis
for electing a union representative.
The union representative is also the link to the
trade union, which is in charge of training the person
elected for the office. It can be difficult for foreign
employees working in a private company without
Danish colleagues to broach this issue and get the ball
rolling. The local union branch can step in and help
them elect a union representative.
Health and safety representative (SR)
It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that the
work does not cause employees to fall ill and is not
detrimental to their wellbeing.
However, although it is the employer’s duty to
ensure a good, healthy working environment, employees
also share this responsibility and must elect
a safety representative, and workplaces that employ
more than nine people are required to set up an internal
safety organisation where management and staff
jointly resolve specific problems.

FOA – AN ACTIVE PARTNER
9
2 FOA’s Recruitment
Approach
International recruitment is among the range of initiatives
intended to secure future employment and
professional standards in the occupational areas that
FOA represents.
FOA works generally with other stakeholders in a
wide variety of ways to attract employees to the labour
market sector that forms the foundation of the
Danish welfare state.
A range of recruitment options
FOA has described a range of recruitment options
based both on training and employment policy tools
and on initiatives targeted at special groups.
International recruitment is one of the range of 14
interconnected options whose goal is to ensure that
Denmark, now and in the future, continues to have
professionally qualified staff who can deliver public
services.

10 FOA – AN ACTIVE PARTNER
The Range of Recruitment Options
FOA’s experience
Employees from non-Danish ethnic backgrounds are
not a new phenomenon in FOA’s occupational areas.
FOA has been concerned with the inclusive labour
market and the training and integration of employees
of non-Danish origin for many years.
However, local authorities’ targeted recruitment of
employees from outside Denmark’s borders to meet
the need for manpower is a relatively new challenge.
In other job areas where Denmark has had a shortage
of manpower it has long been common practice
to recruit workers from abroad. The construction
industry is a particular case in point, where large
numbers of craftsmen, mainly from Germany and
Poland, were recruited during the building boom at
the start of the new millennium. The hospital sector is
another example where nurses and doctors have been
in short supply for many years and employees come
from both EU and non-EU countries.
In the trades represented by FOA, care of the elderly,
sick and disabled is the one now particularly attracting
foreign workers. However, foreigners still do not
figure large in this area but, unlike the construction
industry, for example, their numbers are increasing
steadily despite the rise in unemployment.
FOA’s roles
FOA is involved in international recruitment in many
ways.
• FOA ensures, through collective agreements and
agreements with private temping agencies and recruitment
companies, that foreign employees are
hired under pay terms and working conditions
that match the rest of the Danish labour market.
• FOA is often involved when local authorities start
considering international recruitment because
manpower is in short supply. Early cooperation

FOA – AN ACTIVE PARTNER
11
between FOA and municipal and private employers
helps employees from abroad to get off to a
good start and establish themselves in Denmark,
and ensures that these initiatives are followed up
once the new employees have started work.
• FOA works with other organisations on the quality
of the job introduction programme and Danish
lessons that are essential for the new employees to
feel a sense of professional fellowship with their
colleagues and to carry out the duties of a job involving
a high degree of user contact.
• FOA advises foreign workers about career, lifestyle
and educational opportunities. FOA is also ready
to support foreign workers if they run into problems
with a private employer.
• FOA works with other organisations to integrate
new foreign employees in the workplace and in
society, because integration is crucial to their wellbeing
and desire to stay in Denmark.
• FOA advises private companies, job centres and
embassies about the requirements and opportunities
for finding work in the job areas covered by
FOA in Denmark.
centres, embassies and consulting companies in Denmark
and abroad. Published in Danish and English.
Prepared for International Recruitment – a practical
booklet about advising foreign workers in Denmark.
For branches, companies, employers and union
representatives.
Working in the Public Sector Job Market – information
for foreigners about living and working
in Denmark. For foreign workers in the social and
health services sector, the childcare and social education
services sector, the catering and cleaning services
sector and the technical and maintenance services
sector. Published in Danish, English, Swedish, German
and Polish.
In addition to these booklets, various materials have
been produced for use at trade fairs and other international
recruitment initiatives.
Download the publications, find more information
and follow international recruitment trends at: www.
foa-international.dk
Find out more about international
recruitment
As international recruitment to the occupational areas
represented by FOA is a fairly recent development,
there is a great need for information about the related
requirements and opportunities.
Therefore, with the support of the Danish Ministry
of Employment, FOA has developed a range of
materials providing foreign workers, employers and
other cooperation partners with more information
about international recruitment, Denmark and the
Danish labour market.
The material consists of the following
publications:
The Challenge – about the dilemmas and challenges
involved in recruiting international manpower. For
FOA’s member unions, business partners and others
with an interest in the field.
FOA and International Recruitment – information
about FOA’s role in international recruitment. For job

12 FOA – AN ACTIVE PARTNER
3 Job and education
opportunities in
Denmark
As already mentioned, despite unemployment, personnel
are still needed for the public sector job categories
represented by FOA. Forecasts indicate a future
manpower shortage, especially in elderly care.
Employment opportunities
FOA’s occupational areas in Denmark offer an array
of job opportunities.
Most foreign workers currently arriving in Denmark
come from Sweden, Germany and Poland.
However, regardless of country of origin and job
route, FOA is a key player in the recruitment process
when:
• Danish municipal employers advertise at and take
part in job fairs abroad. Private temping agencies
in Denmark and other countries employ foreign
workers for jobs in the Danish public sector.
• Recruitment companies find, employ and train
foreign workers for jobs with Danish municipal
employers.
• Individual job seekers, generally from Germany
and Sweden, look for work in Denmark via job
portals such as www.workindenmark.dk.
tion can be transferred so it applies in this occupational
area.
FOA focuses on education
Lifelong learning for all residents is a national goal
of the Danish welfare state. As mentioned earlier, the
jobs done in FOA’s occupational areas are extremely
varied, but professional standards are key to most of
them, making vocational training and development a
high priority focus area for FOA.
Skilled and unskilled workers
Most jobs in the Danish public service sector are
done by trained personnel. Social and health care
assistants are the only group among the categories
represented by FOA that require authorisation. Foreign
workers holding an authorisation from their
home country can have it assessed in Denmark
and, if they are citizens of the EU, their authorisa-

FOA – AN ACTIVE PARTNER
13
Few foreigners who come to Denmark to work in a
trade covered by FOA have qualifications comparable
to Danish qualifications. It is therefore important
that the recruitment process includes a long-term
training perspective for foreign workers.
During the most recent collective bargaining sessions,
FOA and Local Government Denmark (LGDK)
negotiated a basic training programme for social and
health carers, to be offered at the latest three years after
they have been employed.
Furthermore, the two sides of industry have developed
a broad spectrum of adult vocational training
courses, most of which are free and include financial
compensation to which foreign workers are also entitled.
Internationalisation of education and
training
One of the goals of the EU is to facilitate qualification
accreditation and comparability between the
member countries. In Denmark the Danish Agency
for International Education, a government body, is
tasked with promoting mobility and global educational
cooperation. The institution assesses the qualifications
and professional background of EU citizens
free of charge when they seek jobs in Denmark. EU
citizens wishing to transfer an authorisation based on
a foreign nursing qualification, for example, have to
apply to the Danish National Board of Health for a
decision.
Introduction
Regardless of whether their employer is a local authority,
a private company or a recruitment agency,
foreign employees who are recruited will initially receive
some form of job introduction programme and,
most importantly, a course of Danish lessons. Introduction
courses are held in a wide variety of ways.
Some employers offer a job introduction programme,
including Danish lessons in the employee’s home
country, while others organise intensive courses for
new employees on arrival in Denmark.

14 FOA – AN ACTIVE PARTNER
4 Template for
international recruitment
The following is a hypothetical example of the implementation
of an international recruitment project. It
is based on FOA’s experience and the experience of
Danish local authorities that have recruited international
manpower.
The recruitment process in X-ville county
X-ville county is a medium-sized local authority in
Jutland numbering 60,000 inhabitants. For years it
has had difficulty recruiting staff for the elderly care
sector, it has several vacancies and has therefore paid
considerable sums to temping agencies.
An analysis of the local authority’s recruitment
options reveals, among other things, that the average
age of its residents is increasing, that there are not
enough unemployed people suitable for job training
in the sector, and that a new young generation will
be unable to meet the manpower need. Against this
background, the local authority adopted a coordinated
five-year recruitment strategy. As well as hiring
40 extra employees through national recruitment initiatives,
the authority decided to try to recruit people
from Germany:
• As part of the elderly care strategy the local authority
decides to recruit 20 German employees
for positions as social and health carers and social

FOA – AN ACTIVE PARTNER
15
and health care assistants. The aim is for the proposed
social and health carers to be accredited by
the Danish Agency for International Education
and for employees with a nursing qualification to
obtain authorisation from the National Board of
Health as social and health care assistants.
• In connection with the initial recruitment discussions,
the authority contacts the local FOA branch
to plan cooperation and work sharing arrangements
throughout the recruitment process.
• The authority and the local FOA branch decide
which workplaces are to be the target of international
recruitment.
• Meetings are held to inform the district supervisors
and union representatives who will be working
with the German employees about practical
recruitment issues.
• The local authority and FOA make preliminary
agreements regarding pay and working conditions,
and the basic health care college is involved in preparing
an introduction programme to upgrade the
German employees’ vocational qualifications and
provide an intensive course in Danish language
and culture.
• The local authority and FOA discuss the accommodation
and family-related offers given to each
new employee, including training programmes or
jobs for family members where relevant.
• The local authority places an ad on Workindenmark’s
job portal, and 39 Germans respond. Most
applicants have the required qualifications, and,
together with the local FOA branch, visits are
planned for the interested candidates. They will
visit workplaces, obtain information about the local
community, attend an information meeting at
the local FOA branch and have qualification interviews
with the local authority.
• The foreign employees are assigned mentors to
make sure they get the best possible start to integration
in Denmark. A three-day course about
Germany and German culture is planned for the
Danish employees who will act as mentors to help
and support their foreign colleagues when they
take up their new positions.
• Elderly residents in the local authority district who
will be in contact with the new employees are informed.
• Notices are put up advertising for Danish host
families who can support the foreign employees,
offer practical assistance and help them become
integrated into the local community.
• Practical matters related to the German workers’
employment are clarified, and a new workplace assessment
prepared for their future workplaces.
• The local FOA branch plans a welcome meeting
for the German employees and their colleagues on
the theme of integration. One of the aims is to encourage
them to become members of the union.
• A follow-up plan is drawn up for the foreign employees
once they have become permanently employed.
Elements could be additional language
lessons or skills upgrading to achieve the level required
for authorisation as a social and health care
assistant.

16 FOA – AN ACTIVE PARTNER
5 Early dialogue
Preparation and dialogue are important to avoid unnecessary
complications in connection with international
recruitment.
In the areas of Denmark where international recruitment
is a possible solution to an employment
problem, FOA’s local branches are well-equipped to
provide support and advice and they are natural cooperation
or discussion partners for:
• Municipal employers
• Private employers
• Foreign recruitment agencies
• Foreign employees considering working in Denmark
• Foreign employees already working in Denmark
• Embassies, job centres and other organisations
that help people find jobs in the trades covered by
FOA
Early dialogue
Early dialogue involving all relevant stakeholders in
preparations, planning and decision-making processes
is a way of identifying the challenges of international
recruitment and preventing them from becoming
a problem.
FOA and LGDK, the municipal employers’ organisation,
have ongoing dialogue at confederation level
on several issues including international recruitment
and the strategy needed to secure a constant supply of
manpower for local authority workplaces in future.
A long-term strategy
LGDK has prepared a proposal for its members suggesting
ways of structuring future recruitment plans.
The key strategic objective is to ensure adequate
manpower in areas such as those represented by FOA.

FOA – AN ACTIVE PARTNER
17
In some areas, the strategy includes international recruitment
as a solution.
The strategy has to be adapted to the individual local
authorities, and its chief features are:
• After political discussion and problem identification,
make employment plans that extend beyond
the current budget year and cover the next two to
ten years.
• Clarify employment challenges facing the local
authority such as development in population composition
and manpower shortage based on population
forecasts for the local authority, occupational
rate, educational level, labour market balance and
commuting patterns.
• Where appropriate, make a list of the top ten sectors
in the local authority district where there are
vacancies or a manpower shortage is expected.
• Identify sources of Danish and international manpower.
• Identify employment focus areas across all municipal
administrative departments or in collaboration
with external stakeholders.

18 FOA – AN ACTIVE PARTNER
6 Experience from three
case studies
As mentioned earlier, hiring foreign manpower in
the occupational areas represented by FOA is a relatively
new challenge. Current experience is based on
foreign workers employed in elderly care and mainly
in quite specific geographic regions of Denmark.
The recurring theme of the positive lessons learned
is clear, however, and the following is a list of the key
recruitment process features introduced as a result of
the political decision:
• Early cooperation between employer, education
institution and FOA
• Involvement of managers and union representatives
• Involvement of other employees and residents
• Mentor schemes
• Agreements with accredited education institutions
regarding job introduction programmes and
intensive Danish courses.
Lessons learned
The next section describes the international recruitment
experiences of three Danish local authorities:
Vejle and Billund, where local FOA branches or
union representatives were involved throughout the
process, and Elsinore, where dialogue with FOA and
employees was less prominent.
VEJLE
In connection with the recruitment of German employees,
the local authority of Vejle encouraged dialogue
between the employer and the FOA branch at a
very early stage. For example, the local union branch
was represented on the task force appointed by Senior
Drift, Vejle’s senior service department, prior to
the recruitment of German staff. FOA was active at
all stages of the process: preparation, information
meetings, assessment of applicants and workplace
integration.
The early, close cooperation between employer

FOA – AN ACTIVE PARTNER
19
and local union branch was a resounding success,
partly because:
• The different approaches represented by the employer,
FOA and the education institution resulted
in a thorough, well-thought-through recruitment
process
• FOA and Vejle local authority contributed different
forms of input
• FOA and the employers each had their own networks
and could put forward different business
partners
• The joint efforts on information, applicant selection
and involvement of residents and employees
helped to support integration and retain the German
employees
• Follow-up and mentor schemes gave the German
employees an incentive to stay in Denmark
The goal of the recruitment project in Vejle
was to:
Ensure that the following pre-established project
goals were attained:
• 100 % of the German newcomers had an educational
background at least corresponding to the
Danish social and health carer qualification.
• 100 % of the German newcomers passed the Danish
Language Test level 3 modules within the first
three months.
• 75 % of the German newcomers had a job after a
year.
Satisfied staff, residents and colleagues
Local residents were very satisfied with the 15 German
carers who were hired, and Danish employees
gave their German colleagues a warm welcome.
The German employees solved an acute manpower
problem and are considered good, stable colleagues.
Finally, the German employees have a very positive
view of the Danish elderly care system. Work hours
are shorter than in Germany, and both technical aids
and pay are better.
ELSINORE
Elsinore local authority had many vacancies in its
elderly care sector when it started recruiting per-

20 FOA – AN ACTIVE PARTNER
sonnel from Sweden on the other side of the Sound.
There proved to be substantial interest in working in
Elsinore. The local authority received 90 applications
from Swedes and hired about 32, most in permanent
positions and a few as temporary relief workers.
Together with the Swedish employment service,
Elsinore has now established a job bank where Swedish
care personnel can register to find jobs in Denmark.
Cooperation between employers and FOA
The FOA branch in North Zealand was not involved
in the recruitment process itself. It subsequently transpired
that earlier dialogue might have made it easier
for the Swedish employees to settle into a Danish
workplace.
Language problems
One of the ongoing problems relative to Swedish employees
is language. Although Swedish is generally
considered similar to Danish, both colleagues and
users occasionally find that written and spoken communication
continues to pose problems. The lessons
from north Zealand put focus on Swedish employees’
need for Danish lessons and the importance of also
including language courses in the recruitment process
for commuters.
Educational challenges
Although many of the Swedish employees are highly
skilled, their qualifications cannot be compared directly
with the Danish social and health care assistant
programme.
The local authority and FOA North Zealand are
currently discussing skills upgrading for Swedish
personnel so they can apply for authorisation as social
and health care assistants on an equal footing
with their Danish colleagues.
BILLUND
A lengthy political process preceded the decision to
recruit German employees to work in Billund’s elderly
care sector. Once the decision had been made, a
think-tank with representatives from the employer,
education institution and employees was set up to
plan the recruitment process.
The senior union representative took part throughout
the process, which culminated in the hiring of 18
German employees, most of whom had qualified as
nurses in Germany.
Elements of the recruitment process:
• German visits to two care centres prior to hiring
• Hiring and start of the introduction programme in
April 2009
• Accommodation in a hostel in Billund during the
introduction programme
• Practical training alongside language lessons
• Assignment of mentors
• Advertising for and allocation of Danish host
families to give the German employees practical
help and to support their integration into the local
community
• Permanent employment October 2009
• Free follow-up language lessons for those still
needing help
Successful recruitment
Before the recruitment project started, a number of
success criteria were defined. It looks as if most of
them will be met:
• That after completing Danish language courses,
fifteen German employees would continue in
positions with Aktivitet og Pleje, the elderly care
service in Billund local authority.
• That after a year, at least 11 of the German employees
would still be working for the elderly care
service.
• That within a year at least 75 % would have settled
in the Billund local authority district.
• That at least 90 % of the German employees would
feel they had been given a warm reception (interviews).
• That at least 95 % of all employees in the care sector
would feel integration had been achieved within
two years.
• That there would be a reduction in use of temporary
staff and fewer vacancies.

www
foa-international.dk
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