Is your pay keeping up with that of your colleagues?
If you are employed on an individual contract, you are typically not ensured annual pay increases. Yet, pay development statistics show that contract employees do almost as well as employees entitled to annual pay increases under the collective agreements. But be aware; substantial variations occur.
In July 2025, most financial sector employees achieved a pay increase of at least 1.80 per cent due to Finansforbundet's negotiation of a range of new collective agreements comprising pay increases for the next three years.
It is usually not that easy when you are employed on an individual contract. Although virtually all contract employees are entitled to an annual salary review according to their contract, this is obviously no guarantee of an annual pay increase.
Yet Finansforbundet's earnings statistics show that employees on individual contracts do well.
“On a stand-alone basis, the development in the pay of contract employees as a group is only slightly behind that of the remaining employees in the sector,” says Rasmus Nørgaard Høgh, Senior Consultant on Finansforbundet's policy and negotiation team.
In other words, employees on individual contracts as a group enjoy roughly the same pay increase percentage, over time, as other employees in the sector.
Greater pay increase variations
However, although pay increases for contract employees largely mirror those of the remaining employees in the sector, individual pay levels among contract employees are far more varied.
Some contract employees have experienced lower percentage pay increases than other employees in the sector, while others have received higher percentage increases.
"One reason for this is that, generally, such pay increases are to a greater extent linked to performance than in most other employee groups in the sector," explains Rasmus Nørgaard Høgh, Senior Consultant on Finansforbundet's policy and negotiation team.
In addition, statistics show greater overall fluctuation in pay trends from one year to the next among contract employees compared to other employees.
Rewarding attractive employees
According to Rasmus Nørgaard Høgh, despite there being no guarantee of an annual pay rise, the pay increases of contract employees are also a sign of their high market value.
"The development in contract employees' pay confirms that this is a valued and attractive group, which companies are keen to retain," says Rasmus Nørgaard Høgh.
In many of the contracts reviewed by Finansforbundet, the need to retain attractive employees is also reflected in other elements than purely pay.
"Most contract employees have managed to negotiate employment contracts entitling them to significant terms from the collective agreements although companies are not legally obliged to grant such rights," explains Rasmus Nørgaard Høgh.
If you want to make sure that you do not fall behind in terms of pay increases and other benefits, Rasmus Nørgaard Høgh encourages you to study your company's collective agreement, if one exists.
Finansforbundet's salary calculator and pay package calculator are also important. They give you an accurate indication of the pay level and total value of your employment contract in the current labour market.
Facts
Finansforbundet prepares current earnings statistics covering all employees of the sector, also those on individual contracts, based on actual salary information from Statistics Denmark on approx. 70,000 financial sector employees.
In addition, Finansforbundet has examined a vast number of employment contracts for employees on individual contracts in companies representing more than 30,000 of the employees in the sector to get a more precise picture of all of these employees' pay and employment terms.