Agency Contract with a Danish Client: Key Clauses for 2026

When a Polish or other EU staffing agency places workers on a Danish construction site, the agency contract with the Danish client is the single document that determines who bears which legal and financial risk. Get the wording wrong and the agency can end up footing bills for wage supplements, holiday pay shortfalls, or Arbejdstilsynet enforcement actions that were never in the original commercial calculation. This guide walks owners, site managers, and HR teams through the clauses that matter most in 2026.

Why the Contract Is More Than a Commercial Agreement

Denmark does not have a single codified temporary-work act, but several overlapping legal instruments govern the relationship between a hiring company (the user undertaking) and a staffing agency. The EU Posted Workers Directive, implemented in Danish law, requires that posted workers receive at least the terms set by applicable collective agreements or statutory rules on pay, working time, and safety. The Danish implementation act makes the user undertaking jointly liable for certain obligations if the agency fails to meet them. That joint liability is exactly what a well-drafted agency contract should allocate clearly between the parties.

For a deeper look at how working-time records feed into this picture, see our article on LOV 89 Work Time Records: What to Keep and Where in 2026.

Core Clauses That Protect the Agency

1. Scope of Work and Skill Specification

The contract must describe precisely which trades, qualifications, and certifications the placed workers will hold. If the Danish client later assigns workers to tasks outside that scope -- for instance, operating machinery that requires a specific Danish certificate -- any resulting Arbejdstilsynet enforcement action should contractually fall on the client. A vague scope clause leaves the agency exposed to liability for incidents it could not have foreseen or prevented.

2. Wage and Supplement Pass-Through

Construction work in Denmark is typically covered by collective agreements negotiated between Dansk Byggeri and 3F. These agreements set not only base pay but also a range of supplements for overtime, dirty work, travel, and tools. The agency contract should specify that the client will notify the agency in writing of any supplement triggers at least a fixed number of days before the relevant work begins, and that any undeclared supplement costs will be recharged to the client. Without this clause, the agency discovers the liability only when workers claim unpaid amounts.

Holiday pay is a separate exposure. Workers posted to Denmark accumulate holiday entitlements under Danish rules, and contributions flow through FerieKonto. The contract should state whether the agency or the client administers and funds the FerieKonto reporting, and what happens if the client's project ends before the holiday year closes.

3. Safety and Arbejdsmiljøloven Obligations

Under Arbejdsmiljøloven, both the user undertaking and the staffing agency carry obligations for the working environment. In practice, day-to-day site safety is controlled by the Danish client, but the agency remains the formal employer. The contract should therefore require the client to provide written site-specific safety instructions before workers arrive, to include agency workers in all mandatory safety briefings, and to inform the agency immediately of any accident or Arbejdstilsynet inspection. A clause granting the agency the right to withdraw workers from a site that receives a stop-work order -- without penalty -- is standard good practice.

4. Registration and Reporting Duties

Agencies sending workers to Denmark must register with the Register of Foreign Service Providers (RUT) before work begins. The contract should confirm which party is responsible for keeping the RUT registration current when a project is extended or the work address changes. Failure to maintain an accurate registration can trigger fines, and the contract should make clear that the client must notify the agency of any address or duration changes in time for the agency to update the register.

Tax registration in Denmark is handled through SKAT. Workers who meet the threshold for Danish tax liability must be enrolled, and the contract should specify who bears the administrative cost of that enrollment. For a full breakdown of the tax-settlement obligations that follow workers home, see PIT Tax Settlement After Denmark: A 2026 Employer Guide.

5. Termination and Worker Dismissal

One of the most contentious moments in any agency relationship is when the client wants to end an assignment early. The contract must address notice periods for early termination, what happens to workers mid-project, and who covers any statutory notice pay owed to the worker. Danish employment law gives workers certain protections regardless of what the agency contract says, so the contract cannot simply waive those rights -- it can only allocate the financial burden between the two commercial parties. For a detailed treatment of how dismissal rules apply to agency workers specifically, see Dismissing Agency Workers in Denmark: A 2026 Guide.

6. Data Protection and Document Retention

The agency holds personal data on every worker: identity documents, tax numbers, social insurance records from ZUS, and health and safety certificates. The contract should specify which data the agency is permitted to share with the Danish client, on what legal basis under the GDPR, and for how long the client may retain copies. The Polish supervisory authority UODO has published guidance confirming that cross-border transfers of worker data within the EU must still meet the standard accountability requirements. A data-processing annex attached to the agency contract is the cleanest way to document compliance.

7. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

Because the agency is established in Poland and the work is performed in Denmark, the contract should state explicitly which law governs it. Choosing Danish law gives both parties certainty about which courts will interpret the agreement and avoids conflicts between Polish Kodeks pracy provisions and Danish statutory defaults. An arbitration clause naming a neutral venue can reduce the cost of resolving disputes compared with full court proceedings in either country.

Practical Next Steps for Agencies and Danish Employers

• Before signing any new framework agreement, have it reviewed by a lawyer qualified in both Danish and Polish employment law, specifically checking the wage supplement pass-through and termination clauses.
• Attach a data-processing annex to every contract and update it whenever the scope of shared worker data changes.
• Build a checklist for each new project: RUT registration confirmed, FerieKonto enrollment completed, site-specific safety briefing received in writing, and supplement schedule agreed before workers arrive on site.
• Agree a written protocol with the Danish client for how Arbejdstilsynet inspections will be handled, including who the agency contact person is and how quickly they will be notified.
• Review existing contracts annually: collective agreement rates, statutory minimums, and registration requirements can change, and a contract drafted in a previous year may no longer reflect current obligations.