Replacement Holiday

If you fall ill and are reported sick (part/full time) before your holiday starts, you have a recognised reason (holiday obstacle) for not taking your holiday. This means that you do not have to take your planned holiday.

If you become ill just before your holiday, you should report sick in accordance with the local guidelines by no later than the start of your holiday, for example Monday morning at the usual start of the working day.

If you recover before the end of your planned holiday, when you report that you are fit for work, you should notify your manager whether you will take the last part of your holiday or whether you will start work again following notification that you are fit for work.

If you are on sick leave before the start of your holiday, you can still choose to take your holiday as planned. If you wish to take your holiday as planned, you must agree with your manager that you will be reported as fit for work to be able to take your holiday and then "re-enter" sick leave after your holiday. If you have been on sick leave for a long period of time, the period you are reported fit for work in order to take your holiday must be agreed with your caseworker in your municipality of residence, as this is required for Aarhus University to receive a benefits refund immediately after the holiday, when you "re-enter" your sick leave. 

If you are on sick leave (part/full time) right up until the end of the holiday period on 31 December, your holiday entitlement of the first four holiday weeks will automatically be transferred to the next holiday period. You only have to actively agree to carry forward the 5th holiday week, as it will otherwise be paid out at the end of the holiday period. 

Special holidays

If you fall ill before you are to take a special holiday, you cannot take the holiday as planned. Therefore, you must make a new agreement with your manager on when the special holiday will be taken. 

If you are ill right up until the end of the holiday period on 30 April, you must agree the special holidays to be carried forward to the next holiday period, as the days will otherwise be paid out.

You can claim replacement holiday if you fall ill (part-/full time) during your holiday and are sick for more than 5 days (waiting days) within a holiday year. The 5 days of illness can be spread across several holiday periods.

If you have not earned the right to 25 paid days of holiday, you will be entitled to replacement holiday after a proportionately smaller number of sick days. The waiting time will thus be shorter if 5 weeks of paid holiday have not been earned. If, for example, you have earned the right to 20 paid days of holiday in the year of accrual, the replacement holiday will start after the 4th sick day (20 x 1/5 = 4 waiting days).

The following three conditions must be met in order to obtain the right to replacement holiday:

• Illness exceeding five sick days during holidays in each holiday year (waiting days).
• Waiting days only count from the day when you notify your immediate supervisor of your illness. If, for example, you do not report sick until the 3rd sick day, the first 2 sick days will not count – either as waiting period or as replacement holiday – if the waiting period has been ‘spent’ during a previous holiday. In exceptional circumstances where you have not been able to call in sick, AU may waive the requirement for notification of illness on day 1.
• You must submit a doctor’s certificate (or other medical documentation) which is applicable from the 1st sick day. You must pay for the doctor’s certificate yourself. In the case of illness over several periods of illness, medical documentation must be provided for each period of illness. The doctor’s certificate may be issued as a medical statement of incapacity for work or other adequate documentation, such as a record printout from a hospital. If you are abroad, you must obtain a statement from a doctor in the country in question, which must contain at least equivalent documentation of the illness.