GENERAL WORKING CONDITIONS AND AGREEMENTS

 

Equality Between Native and Other Workers

The place of birth criterion which since 1964 got non-natives higher wages than natives was definitively abolished in the collective bargaining in 1991 so that there is now full equality between natives and other workers in so far as they have similar educational backgrounds and jobs.

 

Work and Holiday

The general working time is 40 hours per week. Holidays amount to 0,096 hour per hour of normal work in the calendar year. This amounts to 200 hours of holiday or five weeks for full-time employees.

Employers pay holiday pay amounting to a minimum of 12 per cent of the wages.

Most agreements include provisions for leave on a child's first sick day.

 

Equality at Work

The Gender Equality Council of Greenland was established in 1998 and is responsible for promoting equality between men and women on the labour market.

 

Employees' Guarantee Fund

Greenlandic employees are guaranteed unpaid salaries and vacation pay at the employer's bankruptcy, death, or cessation of business according to the Danish provisions concerning the Employees' Guarantee Fund.

The Ministry of Business and Labour Market affairs administrates the guarantee fund.

 

Agreement Renewals

The government has in recent years had the clear intention of concluding three-year agreements as a minimum.

Since the beginning of the new millennium, there has at agreement renewals been a focus on the issues of recruitment and retention of manpower and on reducing disparities in the wage structure. In this connection, extra pools have been allocated to educators, teachers, and nurses.

At the same time, the agreements operate with funds for decentralized allocation so that it is possible to give individual allowances to the employees.

The agreement renewals of 2008 were focused on increased rewards for skills upgrading and training to develop the Greenlandic labour force.

 

Pension and Labour Market

In 1994, an agreement was obtained at the collective bargaining that all unions either establish a pension scheme or transfer existing pension schemes from Danish life insurance companies or pension funds to Greenland.

 

Employers' Pension Funds (SISA)

The Employers' Pension Fund (SISA) is the first and only cross-sectorial pension fund in Greenland. In 1999 the pension fund obtained a concession from the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority.

 

Overview 1

Key Figures from the Employers' Pension Fund, SISA

 

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Number of members as of 31 December

23.029

24.518

25.727

26.615

27.728

28.525

29.442

30.140

28.846

29.807

 

DKK 1.000

Member contributions

41.162

49.471

62.268

62.936

84.948

80.078

95.766

107.251

115.721

130.529

Pension payments

2.670

1.192

4.539

7.280

6.590

9.871

12.422

13.373

12.952

11.619

 

DKK

Average annual contribution per member

3.744

3.744

5.199

5.584

7.206

7.017

8.278

9.374

9.805

10.697

 

Per cent

Return on investment

4,4

-1,4

2,5

9,1

9,5

15,2

7

0,6

-17,7

15,9

Return on members' deposits

2,0

2,0

2,0

4,0

4,0

6,0

6,0

5,5

2,0

2,0

 

DKK 1.000

Operating costs

3.854

4.396

5.828

5.986

6.861

6.182

6.840

9.794

8.508

8.143

Technical result

4.845

-3.406

1.336

78

23

-

0

0

0

0

Profits

5.306

-4.561

1.339

401

376

690

361

21

-994

733

Pension provisions

146.750

189.530

242.848

308.032

413.931

541.306

655.171

737.908

682.040

908.753

Member accounts

7.326

9.468

12.135

14.865

18.843

23.001

27.971

33.557

38.734

46.284

Net capital

7.147

3.164

4.503

4.824

4.530

5.220

5.581

5.602

4.608

5.341

Assets

164.282

205.252

264.232

337.618

444.545

576.144

696.023

786.470

733.618

969.598

Source: The Employers' Pension Fund, SISA

 

Overview 2

Example of Contributions to the Pension Scheme of SISA in Per Cent

 

1 Apr 1995

1 Apr 1997

1 Apr 1999

1 Apr 2001

1 Apr 2003

1 Apr 2004

1 Apr 2005

1 Apr 2006

1 Apr 2007

1 Apr 2008

1 Jan 2009

 

The Government of Greenland and the Municipalities

Total

1,50

2,10

3,60

4,50

5,37

5,37

5,37

7,23

7,23

7,23

8,47

Own contribution

0,50

0,70

1,20

1,50

1,79

1,79

1,79

2,41

2,41

2,41

2,83

Employer's contribution

1,00

1,40

2,40

3,00

3,58

3,58

3,58

4,82

4,82

4,82

5,64

 

The Employer Association of Greenland

Total

.

.

.

3,10

4,60

4,80

5,00

5,00

5,00

5,00

6,70

Own contribution

.

.

.

-

-

-

-

 

 

 

 

Employer's contribution

 

 

 

3,10

4,60

4,80

5,00

5,00

5,00

5,00

6,70

 

Royal Arctic Line Ltd

Total

.

.

.

4,50

5,30

6,20

7,05

7,50

7,50

7,50

8,74

Own contribution

.

.

.

1,30

1,60

2,00

2,35

2,50

2,50

2,50

2,91

Employer's contribution

.

.

.

3,20

3,70

4,20

4,70

5,00

5,00

5,00

5,83

Source: The Employers' Pension Fund, SISA

 

PFA Soraarneq

PFA Soraarneq was founded in 2000 as a subsidiary of PFA Pension in Denmark.

Behind the Soraarneq association was a number of Greenlandic employee organizations and employers in the private sector.

 

Links

Read more about the Equality Council at www.nali.gl

Read more about the Employees' Guarantee Fund at www.atp.dk

Reaf more about the Employers' Pension Fund at www.sisa.gl

Read more about PFA Soraarneq at www.pfa.dk