Working time penalties
How much does a working time violation cost?
On May 21, 2022, the Police and the Danish Transport Authority took over the control of working time rules for drivers.
It is therefore also the Police and the Danish Transport Authority that issue the fines now.
The Police only check the break rules at roadside checks, while the Danish Transport Authority checks for all 4 rules within working hours: Night work, breaks and weekly working hours (individual and average).
Violation categories of the working time rules:
- Average weekly working hours (48 hours)
- Weekly working hours, one-off (60 hours)
- Break after max 6 hours of work (15 min)
- Break for working days between 6 and 9 hours (30 min)
- Break for working days over 9 hours (45 min)
- Max working hours for night work (10 hours)
The Danish Transport Authority will check the drivers' working hours if they find many or serious driving and rest time violations in a summons.
For this check, they will ask for additional documents, such as documentation of absence or other forms of time registration.
Calculate fine size
In the table you can see what the fine will be if you violate one of the working time rules.
For the 6-hour rule, there is no de minimis limit, which means that a 14-minute break (instead of 15) or 06.01 hours of work (instead of 06.00 hours) will cost the driver DKK 3000 in fines and the company DKK 6000. in fines for the company.
For the other 5 working time rules, there is a de minimis limit, so that you will only be hit by sanctions if, for example, you work 56 hours in a week on average, instead of the permitted 48 hours, and 11 hours of night work, instead of the permitted 10 hours.
Fines ceiling
As with the driving and rest time rules, there is a maximum fine of DKK 30,000 for the driver and DKK 60,000 for the company (per driver).
The police check for working time violations 28 days back (they are allowed to check 56 days), while the Danish Transport Authority looks at a specific month, e.g. January 1 - January 31.
They typically collect data that is a few months old, but they are authorized to collect data up to 12 months back.
Fine size in table:
Below you can see when a violation may result in a fine.
The first graph shows the zero tolerance on the 6-hour rule. If you work for 6 hours and 1 minute, you can risk a fine of DKK 3000 + double that for the company.
Break at 6 to 9 hour workdays:
The graph below shows when you can risk a daily break penalty for a working day of between 6 and 9 hours.
Here you must take 30 minutes in total (15 +15 or 30 total).
For a break of less than 20 minutes in total, you risk a fine of DKK 1000 for the driver and double that for the company.
For a break of less than 10 minutes, you risk a fine of DKK 3000 for the driver and double that for the company.
Break for workdays longer than 9 hours
On the graph below you can see when you can risk a daily break penalty for a working day of over 9 hours.
Here you must take 45 minutes in total (15 + 15 + 15 or 15 + 30 or 45 total).
If you take a break of less than 30 minutes in total, you risk a fine of DKK 1000 for the driver and double that for the company.
If you take a break of less than 20 minutes, you risk a fine of DKK 3000 for the driver and double that for the company.
Total working hours on a single week
When looking at a single working week, you can work up to a maximum of 60 hours.
Work is 'Driving' + 'Other work', minus 'Rest'.
Below you can see when you could be hit with a fine.
If you work more than 64 hours in a week, you risk a fine of DKK 1000 for the driver and double that for the company.
If you work more than 70 hours in a week, you risk a fine of DKK 3000 for the driver and double that for the company.
Total weekly working hours on average
The average weekly working time must not exceed 48 hours.
This is calculated on a reference period of 4 months.
(by collective agreement, this can be increased to 6 months).
It is calculated by saying:
Total hours worked in the reference period divided by the number of weeks in the reference period (17 weeks or 26 weeks)
Here the result will be the average number of hours worked in 4 or 6 months.
The graph shows how many hours you can work on average before you risk a fine.
With a 56-hour working week, you risk a fine of DKK 1000 for the driver and double that for the company.
With a 61-hour working week, you risk a fine of DKK 3000 for the driver and double that for the company.
Fifteen minute break before max 6 hours of work
The 6-hour break rule is, as mentioned, the most important one to remember. This is because there is zero tolerance and no de minimis limit.
If you only take a 14-minute break, you risk a fine of DKK 3000 for the driver and double that for the company.
See your fine estimate at TachoManagement
If you have a subscription to Tachograph Service, you can log in to TachoManagement and see an estimate of fines for working time violations based on your driving & rest time data.
Here you can also get an overview of which of the 6 working time violations above you should pay the most attention to.