Senior days

Employees (both academic and administrative) who have turned 62 may be granted up to one senior day (paid time off) a month.

The senior days scheme is voluntary for both parties. The granting of senior days must therefore be agreed between the employer and the employee. An agreement is concluded between a senior employee and his/her manager in specific situations where the manager finds that this is expedient in view of the university’s activities. When this is the case, the employer and employee can enter into an individual agreement on the granting of senior days.

Trade union representative/the professional organization must formalize the agreement, cf. the circular. The formalization can be done by the union representative's signature or approval of the agreement.

Common principles

There should be a correlation between the age of the employee in question and his/her work, wishes and competencies on the one hand and the employer’s need to retain the employee and his/her knowledge and competencies on the other.

Basic criteria for assessing whether to grant an agreement on senior days are listed below. The list of criteria is not exhaustive:

1. Physical debilitation, where an employee has a specific need for time to recover in order to maintain their motivation and energy in the workplace, both in day-to-day work and following periods of, e.g., illness.
2. Ensuring that an employee has the reserves, motivation and energy to pass on his/her accumulated experience, knowledge and insight.
3. Ensuring that an employee has the reserves, motivation and energy to keep up-to-date administratively and technologically.

If one or more of the above criteria are met, the immediate superior can, by agreement with the employee in question, recommend that the employee should be granted senior days.

At Health, the dean makes the final decision to grant senior days on the basis of a recommendation via HR. Individual senior agreements are reviewed every 3 years.