At AGRO, we have a flexible-time agreement (only in Danish) that applies to all technical-administrative employees (TAP) in the department. The agreement does not apply to:

• Employees under the "Local agreement for employees at Aarhus University, Department of Agroecology engaged in particularly seasonal and trial-related work in field trials" (only in Danish)
• Scientific employees employed in accordance with the position structure, cf. the AC collective agreement §13, subsection 5 (only in Danish).
• Managers, chief consultants, special consultants, monthly salaried clerks with availability supplement.

What should I do?

As a TAP employee, you must register your work hours, i.e. when you arrive and depart, in an Excel sheet. You can use AU’s template "Fleksskema", or a "Time sheet template" which can be found under forms. You can therefore choose between these two templates for your registration.

Save the template on you want to use your personal U-drive. If the flex balance exceeds 37 plus hours or 15 minus hours, it must be sent to your section manager or head of secretariat, as described in the flexible-time agreement.

Why do I need to use a timesheet?

Pursuant to §4, subsection 1: "… the employee must calculate his work hours himself. Work hours are registered daily or at the earliest possible opportunity in the registration system designated by the department”.

What will it be used for?

You must calculate your work hours (i.e. when you arrive and depart) in the form. You and your immediate manager must keep an eye on the balance and ensure that you do no accrue too many flex hours.

A standard day for full-time employment is 7.4 hours (7 hours and 24 minutes). In mitHR, lunch is not recorded, so if a standard day is recorded, it is 6.9 hours.

Course attendance: Employees who attend courses as ordered or requested by the appointing authority, or who attend courses that are deemed to be of value to the institution, will have working hours and travel time in connection with courses calculated according to the general rules in the working time agreement. Similarly, inconvenience allowances are given according to the general rules in the working hours agreement. Remember, you must always agree with your immediate manager about earning hours

When participating in other courses, i.e. courses that are not part of the job, the appointing authority may, after a specific assessment, grant leave with or without pay according to the general rules. Section 3 https://cirkulaere.modst.dk/static/Circular/2015/018-15.pdf

Travel time in connection with business trips is included, but not more than 13 hours per day. The 13-hour limit only applies to the travel time itself.  §7 cirkulaere.modst.dk/static/Circular/2015/018-15.pdf paragraph 5  

Participation in social and scientific events such as group excursions, summer hangout, AGRO days, fairs, conferences, theme days, etc. is compensated with hours corresponding to a standard day.

Breaks: An employee whose daily working hours exceed 6 hours is entitled to a break. Breaks are only included if they last less than a total of ½ hour per day and the employee is available to the employer and is not allowed to leave the workplace, cf. Section 7 of Arbejdstidsregler for tjenestemænd i Staten.

Only for TAP

Overtime: If the hours worked have exceeded the working hours for the period, the hours are compensated with time off in lieu of the same duration with a supplement of 50%. It is a prerequisite that the work has been ordered or necessary for the proper performance of the work tasks. §8 https://cirkulaere.modst.dk/static/Circular/2015/018-15.pdf  paragraph 5. Overtime must always be approved by management.

Flextime: when the employee decides to work beyond the daily norm, e.g. to complete a task. It is thus not ordered or necessary for the proper performance of the work tasks. The hours are compensated 1:1.

Fieldwork: Fieldwork is work organized as campaigns outside the normal workplace. Fieldwork can be performed both as one-day work and as work over several days, that includes overnight stays. Here, working hours are calculated according to the following rules:

One-day work: Working hours start from the time you start work/leave your normal place of work until you return.

Multi-day work: Working hours start on day 1 when you start work/leave your normal place of work and until you arrive at the accommodation. Work on the next day starts when you leave the overnight accommodation and goes on until you return to the overnight accommodation or your normal place of work again.

If someone is working late in the evening because of overtime, AGRO accepts that a break is taken at the place of work to eat dinner. This break is counted as working time and is in addition to the ½ hour mentioned above.

At AGRO we value social and professional cohesion with focus on well-being, which is why physical presence is the default. At the same time, we want to allow for flexibility where it is possible and appropriate. 

Working from home must always be agreed with your immediate leader (leader of section, secretariate, field station, department), based on an individual assessment that considers the needs of the employee, colleagues, and the department. 

For staff groups where working from home is an option, the following applies: 

• You may work from home up to one day per week. In special cases, alternative arrangements may be agreed with your immediate manager.
• Work-from-home days with time period must be visible in the calendar and there must be contact information (e.g., phone number).
• Working at any of AGRO’s locations or in the field or attending meetings or conferences counts as being physically present – not as working from home.
• If you are invited to in-person meetings, physical attendance is expected, even if it falls on a planned work-from-home day.
• You must organize the home working place in a proper way.

AU has implemented guidelines to protect research and innovation work from becoming a target for espionage or misuse. The general URIS guidelines can be found here: General URIS guidelines

A number of precautions apply in connection with travel to URIS-risk countries – currently Iran, China and Russia.

Before booking the trip, the traveller must complete a travel risk assessment form. This form must be approved in writing by the head of department by sending the form from this page:

Travel to URIS risk countries

to the Head of Department, Department of Agroecology  head.agro@au.dk. If you are doing multiple travels with the same purpose, you can gather them in one application.

 Risk assessment and approval are filed in Workzone.

Sick leave must always be reported to the section coordinator on the first day of sick leave before 09:00 via phone call or e-mail. If the illness occurs in conneciton with vacation, there are special rules which you can find here. 

In case of long-term illness, i.e. >20 days, the coordinator must notify Karina Rysholt Christensen, who will ensure that the sick leave is reported to the HR Absence Team. After 30 days of illness, it will be possible to apply for a refund, and PhD students are entitled to an extension of their study period.

In connection with long-term illness (more than 21 days), Karina Rysholt Christensen and the section manager will convene a sickness absence meeting with reasonable notice no later than 4 weeks after the first day of absence. At this meeting, a declaration of opportunity must be completed, which the employee must then take to their doctor.

If the absence continues, an interview must be held every 2 to 4 weeks.

Karina Rysholt Christensen and the section/operations manager conduct the sickness absence interview. The purpose of the interview is to:

Discuss the status of sick leave.
Discuss the possibilities for full or partial return to work.
Clarify any need for protective measures.
It is mandatory to take notes during a sickness absence interview. Karina ensures that a note is made of the conversation and any agreements made. The note is sent to the head of the secretariat, who ensures that it is logged. It is possible to bring an assistant to the interview if desired.

More about illness can be found here.

And for PhD students here.

Sick leave MUST be registered in mitHR. If the employee is unable to do so, the absence must be entered by the section coordinator or by Karina.    

SDD (Staff Development Dialoguess) in AGRO are held every spring in accordance with AU's guidelines. All employees are invited to a SDD and the same applies to enrolled PhD students.

According to the circular on senior schemes, employees who have reached the age of 60 must be offered the opportunity to discuss senior perspectives in connection with the SDD. A more detailed description of this can be found in AU's senior policy. It is up to the individual section/field manager how the opportunity for senior interview is articulated.

Requirements/needs/benefits of learning Danish can advantageously be discussed during performance reviews with foreigners.