203

News

First ever collective agreement for the platform economy signed in Denmark

Christian Wenande
April 10th, 2018


This article is more than 6 years old.

Hilfr.dk inks historic deal with 3F union

Hilfr-ing, not pilfering (photo: Hilfr.dk)

Since being founded last year, the Danish digital platform for cleaning services in private homes, Hilfr.dk, has been unwavering in its commitment towards ensuring that the cleaning assistants get competitive wages. Now, it’s taken a massive step towards coming through on its pledge.

Today, Hilfr.dk has signed a ground-breaking collective bargaining agreement with one of Denmark’s biggest unions, 3F.

Hilfr.dk co-founder Niels Martin Andersen told the CPH Post that the historic signing ceremony was attended by Denmark’s PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen.

”We are extremely proud to have signed the world’s first collective agreement for a platform company together with 3F, a trade union. The platform economy suffers from a bit of a tarnished reputation because too many platforms are basically digitalizing tax avoidance and poor working conditions and claim that it isvery innovative,” said Andersen.

“With this agreement we are raising the bar for the gig economy and show how we can all benefit from new technology without undermining labour rights and working conditions. At the same time we show that the Danish labour market model is able to work hand in hand with new digital business models.”

Others in attendance were Karsten Dybvad, the head of the national confederation for industry Dansk Industri (DI), and Per Christensen, the chairman of 3F.

READ MORE: The Danish startup that refuses to compete on poor working conditions

12-month pilot
The new collective agreement, which will run for 12 months as a pilot effort, will come into effect on 1 August 2018 and will guarantee Hilfr.dk cleaning assistants access to sick pay, holiday allowance and pension contributions.

Other aspects of the agreement include a minimum wage of 141.41 kroner per hour and cleaning assistants who work more than 100 hours on Hilfr.dk being automatically eligible for Super Hilfr-status.

Hilfr.dk currently has 450 cleaning assistants servicing 1,700 customers across Denmark.


Share

Most popular

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to receive The Daily Post

















Latest Podcast

A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”