Pernille Kienle (asker) Mar 1, 2012:

Thanks Christine. I went with your suggestion of only using 'employment' in most instances. When suitable in the context, I inserted 'relationship' - just in a couple of instances. Thanks again :)

Charles Ek Feb 29, 2012:

Every person who has ever been employed has been in an employment relationship. I will go so far as to say that I suspect the Danes borrowed this construction from English originally, as is the case with many business terms.

Michael Burgess Feb 29, 2012:

I admit that it also sounded strange to me at first, but it is standard legal terminology.

I found a better link here (International Labour Organization):
http://www.ilo.org/ifpdial/areas-of-work/labour-law/WCMS_CON...

"The employment relationship is the legal link between employers and employees. It exists when a person performs work or services under certain conditions in return for remuneration."

Thus, "your appointment and in the course of your employment" is more colloquial, but if the document is a contract, then the legal term appears to be "employment relationship".

Christine Andersen Feb 29, 2012:

I have never been in an employment relationship... ... But maybe that is why I ended up freelancing :-) Most of my previous employers fired me for one reason or another!

I won´t say 15 million non-native speakers of English use Google every day, but ´employment relationship´ - here at least - sounds odd to me.
Still, so do lots of expressions that other natives use on good authority, so I simply have to accept them.

Michael Burgess Feb 29, 2012:

Agree with Christine.

Very good solution by using "We obtain your personal details when we need to use them in connection with your appointment and in the course of your employment."

But searching for direct hits for "employment relationship" also gives about 15 million hits on Google. For example, http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/areas/industrialrelations/dic...

Christine Andersen Feb 29, 2012:

Rephrase somehow Normally, as Sampat says, the English expression would be terms or conditions of employment. Sometimes I simply drop the ´forhold´. It is a vague word that can mean situation, factor, relationship... depending on context, and sometimes merely adds weight.
Would the meaning of this sentence be significantly different if it ended with ´din ansættelse´ instead?

For instance the expression ´hvis du er i et ansættelsesforhold´ is used in Danish, but it sounds far better in English simply to say ´employed´.

We obtain your personal details when we need to use them in connection with your appointment and in the course of your employment.

I am sure there is room for improvement: I have not really dealt with ´behandler´, but if ´need to use´ is not enough, then it is necessary to know precisely what will be involved.
This sentence sounds to me like typical jargon, and I suggest it should be translated with terms that sound normal, though not necessarily full of padding.