Danish municipalities' age management - an evaluation of the frame work agreement on age management

Research paper by Steen E. Navrbjerg (March 2007)

This research paper is a presentation of an evaluation of the Danish municipalities frame work agreement on age management. The agreement has attracted new attention in the light of labour shortage on the Danish labour market because it is an important tool for retaining older workers in the work force.

The survey shows that the main objective for implementing a local agreement is to retain employee and to maintain knowledge in the organisation. The means to obtain this goal is to create an attractive work place. Among the three tools mentioned in the framework agreement, retirement schemes is used by two-thirds of the municipalities, while special jobs for aging employees are implemented by half the municipalities. Less than one out of five municipalities has implemented the generation hand-over arrangements, i.e. senior management schemes that retain senior management to secure a smooth handing-over of management responsibilities to younger managers. However, the extent to which the single municipalities are using these remedies is very limited. The major barrier for obtaining a local agreement seems to be the question of financing. It is a major problem if local institutions or workplaces have to find money for a retaining arrangement in their own budget. The municipalities with a central fond for financing these arrangements are having far less problems reaching a local agreement on age management. Another barrier for using the frame work agreement is the question of rights versus options. The frame work agreement states options, but more than half the respondents wish for more mandatory formulations that gives the employees rights when arrangements for senior workers is discussed. Especially the employee representatives quest for that.

The evaluation is based on a webbased survey, sent out to representatives for management as well as employees. The response rate was 46.3 per cent, and 172 out of 272 municipalities is represented in the survey.

Research paper, FAOS, Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen, March 2007.