What are my contractual rights?

As a member of the Faroese Workers’ Union, you will benefit from the negotiations that the Faroese Workers’ Union has with the employers. We have a general agreement and several special agreements for various aspects of work.

Several rights concerning wage, work hours, age wage addition, other sorts of wage additions, overtime, insurance, pension, trade union representatives and free time are established in the agreement. All workers must also be given employment papers that specify the circumstances surrounding the employment.

The work hours are normally between 8am and 5pm, and the lunch break is one hour. Double wage is earned if you must work through the lunch break. In the work hours, you also have the right to one coffee break in the morning and one after lunch. The employer must make sure that the working conditions are suitable, and workers have the right to elect both a security representative as well as a trade union representative.