Holidays

• 1st January – New Year’s Day
• 1st April – Maundy Thursday (Thursday before Easter Sunday)
• 2nd April – Good Friday
• 5th April – Easter Monday
• 30th April – General Prayer Day (The 4th Friday after Easter)
• 13th May – Ascension Day (39 days after Easter Monday)
• 23rd May – Pentecost Sunday (50 days after Easter)
• 24th May – Whit Monday (7th Monday after Easter)
• 24th December – Christmas Eve Day
• 25th December – Christmas Day
• 26th December – Second Day of Christmas

Paid Time Off

PTO (Paid Time Off)

• Vacation/Annual Paid Leave

Employees are entitled to receive up to 10 weeks of paid annual leaves during the transition year. (However, the transition scheme will ensure that employees can still only take up to five weeks of paid holiday in the transition year).

Employees can also take up to 3 weeks of consecutive leave within the main holiday season that extends from May 1st to September 30th.

Holidays accrued in the transition phase as per the old holiday act will be carried forward to the first four-month of next year.

• Use-it-or-lose-it policy 

The parties are entitled to agree an alternative holiday arrangement and can also agree to carry over any remaining holiday entitlement in excess of 20 days to the following holiday year.

• PTO payout at the termination

The employer is obliged to account and pay for any accrued and outstanding holiday pay when the employment relationship ceases. Such payments are usually paid into to the statutory holiday account

Maternity Leave, Child Raising Leave, Parental Leave

Maternity Leave

A pregnant employee is entitled to take 4 weeks of paid leave before the expected due date. Following delivery, the mother is obliged to take 2 weeks’ maternity leave and is entitled to a further 12 weeks’ maternity leave. After the first 14 weeks she is entitled to at least another 32 weeks’ additional leave and is further entitled to extend the parental leave up to a maximum of 46 weeks.

Paternity Leave

Fathers are entitled to 2 consecutive weeks of paid paternity leave within the first 14 weeks after delivery as well as up to 32 weeks’ parental leave which may be shared with the mother and may be taken during the first 14 weeks after the birth and either separately or at the same time as the mother). The father may further extend his leave up to a maximum of 46 weeks following the date of delivery.

Adoptive Leave

Adoptive parents who are adopting a child from abroad are both entitled to 4 (and in some cases 8) weeks leave (with full salary) in connection with the picking up of the child whereas such entitlement is just 1 (sometimes 2) week(s) when adopting a child in Denmark.

After the child’s arrival, one of the adoptive parents is entitled to an initial adoption leave for 14 weeks, if decided by the adoption authorities.

Sick Leave

Employers are obliged to pay their employees for the first 30 days of leave.  After this period, social benefits pay employees for up to 22 weeks. In order to receive those benefits, employees must meet the following requirements:

• have worked for at least 240 hours in the past full six calendar months before the first day of illness. During at least five of these months an employer worked for a minimum of 40 hours per month.
• if employees would have been entitled to unemployment benefits or similar if they had not fallen ill.
• During the past month an employee completed vocational training of at least 18 months’ duration.
• An employee is employed as an apprentice as part of a Danish vocational training program.

Dependent Care Leave

An employee is entitled to paid leave for up to 5 days per child within 12 consecutive months in connection with the employee’s hospitalization together with their own children under 14 years of age. The same applies if the child stays at home during the hospitalization.

Jury Duty Leave, and Voting Leave

Not specified by law.

Bereavement Leave

Employees who lose a child before the age of 18 are entitled to 26 weeks of unpaid leave. This also applies to co-mothers, adoptive parents, and future adoptive parents.

Military Leave

Employees between the ages of 18 and 30 are liable to be called up for national military or civil service, by ballot, while both men and women can volunteer for national service. The normal period of service is four months. Employees must be granted leave by the employer during national service and are protected against dismissal in respect of requesting or taking such leave.

Please consult your local legal counsel to learn more about Denmark Leave Laws.

To learn more about laws in various countries, check out our Leave Laws page.