In a statement released by Danish residence permit agency SIRI, the government confirmed that its proposal to introduce obligatory work for certain people within the social welfare system had now been formally tabled and sent to the hearing stage.
That means public organisations and other entities have a certain amount of time to provide input, objections or comments on the proposal before it enters the formal process of being voted on and adopted in parliament.
The proposal itself is based on an October 2023 political agreement between the coalition government and the far-right Denmark Democrats and Danish People’s Party.
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In the agreement, the government says it has agreed with the other two parties to “introduce compulsory work for all persons in the social welfare [Danish: kontanthjælp, ed.] system who do not fulfil the requirements of living in the kingdom [Denmark, ed.] for at least 9 of the last 10 years and full-time employment for at least 2.5 of the last 10 years”.
This means that, to avoid being affected by the proposed obligatory work rule, you must have lived in Denmark for at least 9 of the last 10 years and must have been in full-time work for at least two years, six months of that period.
While the proposal has some way to go before being adopted in parliament, the agreement with the two right-wing opposition parties gives it majority backing.
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The obligatory work would comprise 37 hours per week and be “continual”, and can consists of various forms of work including voluntary work, work placements or something resembling a regular work schedule, the SIRI statement said.
Fulfilling the work obligation would allow migrants to receive the basic form of unemployment benefit, kontanthjælp.
The proposal asks that “municipalities should always structure the work effort based on the individual person’s circumstances and health”, SIRI said.
It is expected to be phased in gradually during 2025, initially to persons receiving the lower welfare benefit given to some refugees under integration laws [selvforsørgelses-, hjemrejse- og overgangsydelse] and then broadened to others who do not meet the stated criteria.
Around 22,000 persons in total could eventually be affected by the rule, according to the text of the October 2023 agreement.
The agreement text says that “too many foreigners, especially women with non-Western background” are not engaged on the labour market and that the proposal seeks to address this.
The obligatory work “will also help break negative social control” which prevents some women from seeking jobs, it also argues.
“We want to send a very clear signal together that when you come to Denmark, we expect something of you, and that you should work if you can,” Employment Minister Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen said in October 2023 when the political agreement was announced.
Halsboe-Jørgensen’s Social Democratic party has previously faced concerns from other parties that the measure could squeeze others out of unskilled jobs.
“It is fenced into our agreement that this should not replace anything people are already doing today. It should naturally be mostly a stepping stone to a real job,” Halsboe-Jørgensen said last year.
“It is up to municipalities to look at their areas and see what needs to be done,” she said.
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