Specific rules and regulations

Special rules for white collar workers

White collar workers (people doing office work, sales work, clinical and technical assistants) are covered by special statutory rules. The most important ones concern protection against unjustified dismissal, the right to notice in case of justified dismissal, the right to full pay during absence due to illness, and the right to half pay during maternity leave.

Read more about the special rules in the unofficial translation of the Consolidation Act on the Legal Relationship between Employers and Salaried Employees.

Working time

Except for rules concerning minimum rest periods, maximum working hours etc., there are no statutory rules on working hours. If the work is covered by a collective agreement, this will apply to rules concerning normal working hours (normally 37 hours a week), the conditions for working overtime etc.

The right to holidays and holiday pay

According to Danish law you have the right to five weeks of holiday each year. The five weeks can be taken within the so-called holiday year which runs from 1 May to 30 April. In many collective agreements there is a right to six weeks of holiday per year. You have the right to full pay/holiday benefits if you have worked the whole calendar year (the earning year) which precedes the holiday year. For instance, if you have worked during all of 2009 you have the right to receive full pay during holidays in the holiday year starting 1 May 2010. Generally, you earn 2.08 days of paid holiday per month of employment. If your employment lasts less than one month, you will earn 0.07 days of holiday per day of employment. If you change job, the employer has to pay contributions to a holiday fund corresponding to the part of the earning year you worked with the employer. The contribution will be paid out when you take your holidays. If you stop working in Denmark, and you cease to be registered at a Danish address in the CPR register, the holiday pay you have earned can be paid out immediately.

Read more about holiday funds on the website of ATP.

Read more about the holiday rules in the unofficial translation of the Holiday Act.

Rights during illness

You may have the right by law to full pay during illness (if you are a white collar worker), either through a collective agreement, or through an individual agreement with your employer. If you do not have the right to full pay, you may be entitled to so-called sickness pay, which is the same amount as unemployment benefits. You have the right to receive sickness pay from your employer for up to 21 calendar days if you have worked for the employer for at least 74 hours in the eight weeks preceding the illness. After these 21 calendar days you have the right to sickness pay from the municipality if you have worked for at least 120 hours in the 13 weeks preceding the illness.

Pregnancy leave, maternity leave, paternity leave and parental leave

A woman has the right to four weeks of pregnancy leave before the expected date of birth and 14 weeks of maternity leave after the birth of her child, of which the first two weeks are obligatory. A father has the right to take off up to two weeks of paternity leave, which must be taken within the first 14 weeks after the birth or the date on which the child moves into the parents' home. After the first 14 weeks both the mother and the father have the right to up to 32 weeks of parental leave.

During the reserved period for the mother (four + 14 weeks) and the father (two weeks), and over 32 weeks, there is a right to parental leave pay for parents who are entitled to sickness pay, i.e. all wage earners, paid by the state. This makes a total of 52 weeks of paid parental leave. Pay during leave can also be regulated by a collective agreement or by individual agreements. Most employees are regulated by collective or individual agreements, and the majority of these grant full pay during the periods reserved for the mother and the father, with an increasing number also granting full pay for another 10 weeks.

The parental leave scheme is very flexible. It may be prolonged to 46 weeks, and it may be divided up so that part of the leave can be postponed.