Gabriel Hoces repeats a word seven times when he discusses what it’s like to work in Denmark – “trust”. “No one is trying to micromanage you, or look over your shoulder,” says Mr Hoces, who works for a tech firm in Copenhagen. “Bosses aren’t coming in to check if you put in eight or nine hours a day, as they mainly only care if you completed your projects. “There’s a lot of trust in Denmark in that way, and I don’t feel a hierarchy at my job. It’s all very democratic.”
It is no surprise to Mr Hoces, a married father of two young daughters, that Denmark is consistently among the top-five countries in the world for work-life balance rankings. Only 1.1% of Danes have to work 50 or more hours a week, according to the most recent global figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). That’s a significantly lower proportion than the world average of 10.2%.
By contrast, the figure for the UK is 10.8% and the US is 10.4%. Meik Wiking, author of the book The Art of Danish Living, has long regarded his home country as a shining example of what other countries should aspire to mimic with their workplace policies. “Danes are actually happy at work,” he tells the BBC. “Almost 60% of Danes say they would continue to work if they won the lottery and became financially independent.”
Mr Wiking, who is also the boss of Danish think tank The Happiness Research Institute, shares several policies that help generate a strong work-life balance in Denmark. These include the right to a minimum five weeks of paid vacation per year, in addition to public holidays. In the UK most workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid leave, but in the US it can be as low as just 11 days.
Denmark also offers a very generous six months of paid maternity and paternity leave. In the UK the father, or non-birthing partner, typically gets one to two weeks of paid leave. In the US there is only a federal guarantee of unpaid parental leave, although some states, such as California, now offer paid time away from work after the birth of a child.
Janine Leschke, a professor in the department of management, society and communication at the Copenhagen Business School, says Denmark is definitely “not a work culture where you have to show up and be available all day, all evening, to show that you’re working hard all the time”. Instead, she says flexibility during the workday gives employees the time they need to, say, pick up their children from school or day care. “The day doesn’t have to officially end at five or six, and that’s appealing to a lot of Danes with kids.”
Casper Rouchmann, a Copenhagen-based CEO and founder of tech firm SparkForce, says his relaxed leadership policy would be familiar to most Danes. “You don’t need to ask me to leave early,” he says. “No one takes advantage of my kindness.” Mr Rouchmann adds that the element of trust is so ingrained in Danish culture, visitors to Denmark are often aghast at how far it can go. He also highlights Denmark’s generous welfare state, and the fact that firms have to give financial compensation to staff who are made redundant.
Samantha Saxby, an American human resources expert, says Denmark has such a good work-life balance because the country “prioritises collective well-being”. By contrast, she says the US “has long emphasised individual achievement and ambition, which has driven tremendous innovation, but often at the cost of work-life balance”.
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