Posting of drivers in Denmark
What evidences should be presented by the transport operator to the Danish Road Traffic Authority in order to be proven that a driver has not been posted in Denmark?
Help with the posting of drivers in Denmark or other countries in the Internal Market Information System (IMI) is significant part of our work. We have experienced a number of instances, where transport operators are submitting declarations for posting of drivers in Denmark, but without, these drivers ending up travelling to Denmark for the intended posting period due to highly mobile nature of the transport sector.
In other words, drivers did not engage in cabotage, cross-trade, combined transport operations or even transit operations despite their posting declarations.
Even though the transport operators receive requests via IMI system for presenting documents such as CMR letters, DDD Files, proofs of payment and payslips, work contracts, and time sheet.
Due to the high volume similar requests received, we addressed the Danish Road Traffic Authority (DRTA) to specify what types of documents are deemed acceptable to substantiate that a posting of drivers in Denmark didn’t take place.
DRTA informed us that in case a driver has not been posted in Denmark and an operator receives a request via the IMI system for documents such as CMR letters, DDD files, proof of payment, payslips, employment contracts and time sheets the operator should document that the driver has not been posted in Denmark by providing the following documentation: Tachograph data that demonstrates that the driver has not been in Denmark during the given period.
In short, in case a transport operator notifies the Danish Road Traffic Authority that a driver has not been posted in Denmark as an answer to the Authority initial request for documentation, the transport operator will receive an additional request through the IMI system to demonstrate this by sending tahograph data for the period in accordance with article 1 (11) of Directive 2020/1057[1].
Evidences: The tachograph data which have to be send by the IMI system should shows that a posting of drivers in Denmark didn’t take place during the period of the posting declaration.
As said above this should be considered as a sufficient documentation to demonstrate that the driver was not posted in Denmark. No additional documents as evidence are needed.
[1] DIRECTIVE (EU) 2020/1057 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 15 July 2020 laying down specific rules with respect to Directive 96/71/EC and Directive 2014/67/EU for posting drivers in the road transport sector and amending Directive 2006/22/EC as regards enforcement requirements and Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012.
In case of real posting of drivers in Denmark what would be the necessary elements which should be taken into account regarding the remuneration ?
If the transport operator has a driver(s) posted in Denmark who performs cabotage or the initial or final road leg of combined transport in the country, the operator will be asked to provide documentation in accordance with article 1 (11) (c) of Directive 2020/1057.
The documents which should be prepared in this case are as it follows:
- a copy of the posting declaration submitted via IMI;
- evidence of the transport operations taking place in the host Member State, such as an electronic consignment note (e-CMR) or evidence referred to in Article 8(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1072/2009;
- documentation relating to the remuneration of the driver in respect of the period of posting;
- the employment contract or an equivalent document;
- time-sheets relating to the driver’s work;
- proof of payments.
Remuneration to posting of drivers in Denmark
The Danish rules on the minimum remuneration are regulated in internal administrative legislation. All posted drivers must receive a minimum hourly remuneration depending on the type of operation.
Currently, the hourly minimum remuneration rate is the equivalent of 180,47 DKK for cabotage operations and the initial or final road leg of a combined transport in Denmark.
For bus cabotage, the current minimum remuneration rate is the equivalent of 185,33 DKK.
Important note: On the 1 July 2024 the minimum remuneration rate will rise to equivalent of 190,15 DKK and 195,15 DKK respectively.
Perhaps it would be better for the transport operators to pay minimum 200,00 DKK which is slightly above the minimum requirement but should prevent any fines regarding no comply with the local law.
We also recommend pay slips send by IMI system to include a clear delineation between what the driver was paid for the work hours when he was posted in Denmark. This way, the Danish Road Traffic Authority can better identify the hourly remuneration that the driver received during his posting.
In addition, we would like to inform you that it has been confirmed for Move Expert by the Danish Road Traffic Authority that drivers posted during a cross-trade operation (non-bilateral operation) do not, at this time, fall under the scope of the requirement of remuneration.
Move Expert will provide with additional information about eventual change of the internal Danish legislation concerning the transport operators and drivers operating to/from/through Denmark.
To find out more
You can find this article on posting of drivers in Denmark and others linked to it in our dedicated section, by clicking here: Posting rules for drivers
