In relation to standard Danish conditions, the wage level was consistently low in all three
sectors. Many respondents, particularly in the green sector and the cleaning industry, were
underpaid or paid late. Some were paid just DKK 30–45 an hour – in one case as little as
DKK 15 per hour – for piece-rate work. Very low wages and insecure income conditions are
particularly widespread among migrant workers employed via staffing agencies and among
those “posted abroad”. Through what is known as “posting abroad”, a company registered
outside Denmark can be commissioned to carry out a specific assignment (contract), and the
company then supplies workers (either hourly waged or piece-rate workers) at wages that
match what they would be paid in their country of origin – Poland, Lithuania or Romania, for
example. This means that foreign workers in Denmark can, in reality, be paid at Lithuanian
or Romanian rates. This challenges the Danish collective bargaining agreement model and
forces the wage level down to a previously unheard-of level in relation to standard Danish
conditions. For example, a number of staffing agencies state that they can supply foreign
workers for DKK 80 per hour, all inclusive – i.e. including transport, holiday pay, etc. – and
some even advertise their capacity, on a trial basis, to deliver workers who cannot speak
English for as little as DKK 60 per hour. After deduction of expenses – principally the staffing
agency’s profits – the foreign workers are usually left with only half, or even less, of the
hourly rate. This often translates into an hourly wage of just DKK 30–40