Transfer and payment of any unused days of holiday and special holidays

When can you transfer holiday to the following period

If you have not taken all of your holiday when the holiday period expires on 31 December, you can agree with your manager to carry forward holiday to the next holiday period. The agreement must be in writing (see the form in the box on the right). You can only transfer holiday days from the 5th holiday week. 

If you have not taken your holiday from the 1st to the 4th holiday week, and this is not for a recognised reason (holiday obstacle), you will lose the holiday entitlement at the end of the holiday period on 31 December.

If you have been prevented from taking holiday for a recognised reason, e.g. illness, maternity/paternity leave or adoption, which has lasted until expiry of the holiday period on 31 December, the first four holiday weeks will automatically be carried forward to the next holiday period of your absence administrator. On the other hand, you must make an active agreement to carry forward the 5th holiday week to the next holiday period, as it will otherwise be paid out to you. The matter that prevented you from taking holiday must have made it impossible to take your holiday before the end of the holiday period. It is not enough that you were prevented from taking holiday at some point during the period, if it was possible to take your holiday later in the same holiday period because what was preventing you from taking holiday ceased. 

You should agree with your manager on carrying forward the 5th holiday week before the end of the holiday period on 31 December. 

Special holidays

If you have not taken your special holidays before 30 April, you can agree with your manager to carry forward these days to the next holiday period.

When can you receive payment for holiday not taken

Aarhus University has a staff policy which ensures that you can take your holiday during the holiday period (1 September to 31 December, a total of 16 months).

Having the 5th holiday week and special holidays paid out should therefore only take place in cases where you have not been able to take your holiday (e.g. maternity/paternity leave/illness/redundancy), and you do not want to transfer the holiday to the next holiday period, or, for special reasons, you have agreed with your manager that the holiday is to be paid out.

You do not need to fill in a request to have your 5th holiday week paid out. The holiday will be paid out automatically at the end of the holiday period if you have not entered into an agreement with your manager to have it carried forward to the next holiday period. NB: If you have not been employed at AU for the whole of the holiday year, you must fill in a declaration that the holiday comes from holiday beyond 1.-4. Holiday week, and that you have not received public services during this period. The form can be found under "Holiday Forms" in the box to the right. The form must be sent to your local absence registrar, who will make sure that the form is filed in your personnel file.

The 1st to 4th holiday weeks cannot be paid out. Your holiday entitlement for the 1st to 4th holiday weeks will expire at the end of the holiday period, unless you have been prevented from taking holiday for a recognised reason (e.g. illness, maternity/paternity leave, adoption) right up until the end of the holiday period. If you have been prevented from taking holiday for a recognised reason, your holiday will automatically be transferred to the next holiday period. 

Special holidays
If you have not taken your special holidays before 30 April, and you have not agreed with your manager that the special holidays are to be carried forward to the next holiday period, you can have the special holidays you have not taken paid out at the end of the holiday period.    

Examples

  • Example: You are on long-term sick leave until you report fit for work on 27 October => Holiday from weeks 1-4 of accrued holiday that you were unable to take during your sick leave (the holiday obstacle) must be taken by 31 December. Otherwise, you will lose your right to it. 
  • Example: You are on long-term sick leave leave until you report fit for work on 1 December => Holiday from weeks 1-4 of accrued holiday that you were unable to take during your sick leave (the holiday obstacle) must be taken by 31 December. Otherwise, you will lose your right to it. 
  • Example: You are on long-term sick leave until 20 December => There is time for you to take up to eight days of weeks 1-4 of your accrued holiday by 31 December. This means there is nothing to prevent you from taking these days of holiday during the current holiday period. As a consequence, you must take them by 31 December. Otherwise, you will lose your right to them.
  • Example: You are on long-term sick leave until you report fit for work on 2 January => Because you there is not time for you to take your holiday during the 2020-21 holiday period due to your sick leave, any holiday from weeks 1-4 of accrued holiday you were unable to take due to this holiday obstacle will automatically be carried over to the next holiday period. You must make an agreement with your employer if you would like holiday week 5 carried over.