E-Malt.com News article: 1093

Denmark: In spite of a ban on alcohol in the workplace, masons at one company can have a cold beer while they're on break, a Danish labor court has ruled, according to Associated Press. Drinking on the job is frowned upon in Denmark, a Scandinavian country of 5.3 million with a reputation for premium beer.

But after Mogens Jensen, owner of the MJ mason company in Broenderslev, 280 kilometers (174 miles) northwest of the capital, Copenhagen, issued an edict against having a drink during unpaid breaks, his workers complained.

The 40-person staff was upset that Jensen introduced the rule without their input or the union that represents them. After attempts to negotiate a settlement, the General Workers' Union took the case to labor court, union spokesman Niels Joergen Tveden said Tuesday.

The court said that the ban doesn't apply to company workers while they're on the two daily unpaid breaks because they didn't approve it.

No one was available for comment at MJ, but the company spelled out its alcohol policy on its Web site: "It is not permitted for any employees to consume alcoholic beverages during working hours in which breaks are included."


20 May, 2003