Taking holiday and special holidays

When should you take your holiday

You earn 2.08 days of holiday per month in the period 1 September to 31 August. You can take your holiday as you earn it from the 1st of each subsequent month after you have earned it. You have 16 months to take your holiday, which must be taken during the holiday period from 1 September in the current year to 31 December in the following year. 

Holiday planning is in dialogue with your manager in accordance with the procedure agreed locally. Your requests for when you want to take your holiday will be met as far as possible. You are entitled to three consecutive weeks of main holiday in the period from 1 May to 30 September. You are entitled to take a total of four weeks of holiday in the holiday year from 1 September to 31 August. Your holiday must be taken for a whole week or as single days.
 
Holiday planning must ensure that essential functions can be maintained locally.

If no local procedure has been agreed for holiday planning, holiday should be scheduled as follows:

Your manager/absence administrator will send you a holiday registration form. You can specify your holiday wishes on the form. If your holiday wishes can be met, your holiday will then be considered as fixed and agreed. You and your manager can subsequently agree on changes to your holiday if your work allows for this. Your manager should inform you in good time about whether your holiday wishes can be met. 

If you have earned your full holiday entitlement but you have not agreed your holiday dates with your manager before the locally agreed deadlinesyour holiday will be set as follows: 

  • Four weeks in July (weeks 27, 28, 29 and 30)
  • A total of five days taken immediately before Christmas and between Christmas and New Year 

However, during the holiday period 2020/21, only three weeks will be fixed in July 2021, as the final 2 x 2.08 holiday days cannot be taken until from 1 August and 1 September respectively. 

The above also applies if you are a new employee and have only earned part of the holiday entitlement.

You can see your holiday registrations and the holiday you are expected to earn over the holiday year by logging on to MitHR. Always remember to reserve three weeks of holiday for the summer holidays. You should also remember that the last 2 x 2.08 holiday days will not be earned and ready to be taken until from 1 August and 1 September, respectively. 

Your manager may change agreed holiday if there are compelling reasons to do so. If your manager changes your holiday due to compelling circumstances, you will be compensated in accordance with the relevant rules.

You take your holiday in the order in which it is earned. This means that you take holiday brought forward from previous years before ordinary holiday days.

You find your holiday balance by logging in at MitHR.   

If you have non-working days or variable working hours

Your holiday must be taken with five days per week. If your working week contains non-working days, these days must be included in your holiday with a proportionate number, so the holiday can be taken in accordance with the way the work is scheduled.

If your working hours vary, your holiday must be scheduled to cover a representative mixture of short and long working days including any non-working days, day, evening, night and weekend work in accordance with a normal work schedule.

If your working hours change

If your working hours change, there will be consequences for the salary you receive when you are on holiday. The salary you receive during your holiday is calculated on the basis of your weekly working hours during the period in which you earned your holiday.

The number of working hours at the time you earned your holiday and your salary at the time you take your holiday determine the salary you will receive when you take your holiday. 

If you are newly employed

If you are a new employee and have earned holiday with another employer, you are also entitled to take five weeks of holiday in the holiday period. Your holiday will be determined in accordance with the guidelines above, and your manager may tell (with due notice) you when to take your holiday, even if it has been earned by another employer. 

If you have not earned entitlement to paid holiday, you will still be entitled to take five weeks of holiday in the holiday period. However, your manager cannot tell you when to take holiday that you have not earned – either at AU or at another employer. Your holiday will be planned in accordance with the guidelines described above. I

An amount will be deducted from your salary when you take holiday that you have not earned at Aarhus University.

When should you take special holidays

You earn special holidays in a calendar year, and you can take the days in the period from 1 May to 30 April in the following year.

You can take special holidays earned during your employment at Aarhus University. On the other hand, you cannot take special holidays earned at another employer. This means that you cannot take unpaid special holidays. 

You should agree with your manager when you can take special holidays. If you have not agreed when to take special holidays, they will be set in accordance with the procedure described in the section above. This means that special holidays will be set as follows: 

·        Two days during the winter holiday (week 7)

·        Three days before Easter

Can your manager tell you when to take your holiday

If it is not possible to determine your holiday in accordance with the guidelines described in the sections above, your manager may tell you (with due notice) to take your holiday in the holiday period from 1 September to 31 December in the following year (16 months). You must have time to earn the holiday set by your manager with due notice before it is held, but your manager may tell you when to take your holiday before you have earned it. Your manager may tell you when to take your holiday with the following notice: 

Main holiday:
Three months’ notice for your main holiday. Your main holiday is in the period from 1 May to 30 September.

Remaining holiday:
One month’s notice for your remaining holiday.  

Special holidays:
Notice can be given for special holidays to be taken as full days of holiday. The notice period is one month, and notification may be issued after 1 January if the date for taking the special holiday has not been agreed.

Taking holiday in advance

The senior management team has decided that, as a general rule, the university will not make use of the option to agree on taking holiday in advance (before it is earned).

However, if you are in an exceptional situation, you have the option to agree with your manager that you can take the holiday you earn during the current month (two days) in advance. This means that the holiday you earn in September, for example, which normally cannot be taken until from 1 October, can, in exceptional cases, be taken in September. Your manager will assess whether there are exceptional circumstances.