The amended Danish Maternity/Paternity Leave Act contains a new rule that, if the parents do not live at the same address when their baby is born, the parent who shares the same officially registered address as the child will receive 13 weeks with parental leave benefits on top of their own 24 weeks with parental leave benefits. As a general rule, these 13 weeks of leave must be taken before the child is 1 year old.
The parent who does not share the same officially registered address as the child is only entitled to take 9 weeks of parental leave with parental leave benefits, which are earmarked. Because mothers and fathers/non-birth mothers employed in the state sector are entitled to up to 16 and 13 weeks (respectively) of parental leave, this can lead to situations in which the mother or father/non-birth mother cannot receive a salary during the last 7 or 4 weeks (respectively) of their parental leave, since they do not have a right to parental leave benefits during this period and thus AU cannot obtain a salary reimbursement. In this case, the employee in question will receive a reduced salary equal to the difference between the parental leave allowance and the employee’s usual salary.
If you are a solo parent, you have a legal right to 46 weeks of leave with parental leave benefits after the birth. A new provision has been introduced under which solo mothers and solo fathers now have the same right to 46 weeks of leave with parental leave benefits.
In addition, from 1 January 2024, solo parents can choose to transfer some of their non-earmarked leave to a close family member, which can either be a parent or a sibling of the solo parent. If one of the parents has died, it is possible to transfer these weeks of leave to a parent or sibling of the deceased. The close family member must take this leave before the child’s first birthday.
Solo parents now have a right to 10 extra weeks of leave with pay. This additional paid leave applies to solo parents of children born on or after 1 April 2024.
In addition, the general rules for the mother and father/non-birth mother also apply.
Regardless of whether parents are salaried employees, self-employed or unemployed, as a general rule, you are each entitled to 24 weeks of leave with parental leave benefits after their baby is born.
However, the rules concerning nine weeks of earmarked leave with parental leave benefits only apply to salaried employees. If you are not a salaried employee, you can choose to transfer up to 22 weeks of leave (24 minus 2 weeks) with parental leave benefits to the other parent.
If you have worked as a salaried employee alongside your studies or your self-employed occupation to a given extent, you will be regarded as a salaried employee and will thus be subject to the rules concerning earmarked leave.
See here for more examples of when you will be regarded as a salaried employee.
As a general rule, you are eligible for benefits in the country in which you work. But in the event that only one parent is eligible for benefits in Denmark, and on condition that the parents are living together at the time of the birth, the parent who is eligible for benefits in Denmark can apply for up to thirteen extra weeks of leave with parental leave benefits in addition to the 24 weeks to which he or she is entitled.
You are entitled to extra parental leave if you can document that, in the period in which you wish to take the up to thirteen extra weeks of leave, the other parent will not be on leave with benefits (for example parental leave benefits) from the state under the laws of another country.
If the other parent receives benefits from the state under the laws of another country corresponding to parental leave benefits for less than thirteen weeks during this period, these weeks will be deducted from the thirteen extra weeks to which you are entitled.
Thomas and Maria live together in Sweden. Thomas works in Sweden, and Maria works in Denmark. Because Thomas works in Sweden, he is eligible for benefits in Sweden. Because Maria works in Denmark, she is eligible for benefits in Denmark.
Because Thomas and Maria live together, Maria is entitled to thirteen extra weeks of leave in addition to her 24 weeks if Thomas does not receive benefits corresponding to parental leave benefits from Sweden during the period in which Maria takes the extra thirteen weeks. If Thomas receives less than thirteen weeks of benefits during this period - for example five weeks of parental leave benefits – then Maria is entitled to eight weeks of extra leave with parental leave benefits from Denmark.
Eric and Karen aren’t living together at the time of the birth. Eric lives and works in Sweden, and Karen lives and works in Denmark. Since the time of the birth, the child’s officially registered address has been with Karen.
Because Eric works in Sweden, he is eligible for benefits in Sweden. Because Karen works in Denmark, she is eligible for benefits in Denmark. Because Eric and Karen are not living together at the time of the birth, Karen is eligible for an extra thirteen weeks of leave with parental leave benefits in addition to her own 24 weeks of leave with benefits.
If your child is hospitalised within 46 weeks of being born / placed with you, you can either:
You must document your child’s hospitalisation with a hospital medical record or a doctor’s certificate. Receiving treatment as an outpatient or receiving treatment at home does not count as being hospitalised.
If your child is hospitalised while you are on paid leave and you do not resume work while your child is in hospital and, as a result, you extend your period of leave with parental leave benefits, your right to paid leave is extended accordingly.
Parents can only extend their combined leave by the amount of time the child is hospitalised – up to a maximum of three months. It is not a requirement that you are already on leave at the time your child is hospitalised.
The right to extend leave does not apply to the father’s/non-birth mother’s right to leave in the two weeks following the child’s birth or adoptive parents’ right to concurrent leave (cf. section 14(2) of The Act on Entitlement to Leave and Benefits in the Event of Childbirth).
If your child is hospitalised while you are on paid leave and you resume or continue working while your child is in hospital and, as a result, you defer your period of leave with parental leave benefits, your right to paid leave is deferred accordingly.
Under the agreement on leave for family reasons, an employee is entitled to up to five days of paid leave per child within a period of 12 consecutive months if the employee is required to stay in hospital with a child who is under 14 years old and who lives at home. This right is unrelated to the parental leave rules described above. The same applies if the child stays at home during the period of hospitalisation or receives outpatient treatment in place of hospitalisation that requires the employee to be present.
If both parents are covered by the agreement, the total leave period with pay may not exceed five days for the two parents combined.
If your child is hospitalised while you are on paid leave and you do not return to work while your child is in hospital, you may extend your leave with parental benefits – which means you will also receive a salary during the extended period.
You and the other parent may extend your combined leave by the number of days your child is in hospital – up to a maximum of three months. You may take turns to take leave while your child is hospitalised, and together you can receive up to three months of additional leave with parental benefits.
In order to extend or defer your leave, your child must be hospitalised within the first 46 weeks after being born or placed with you (in the case of adoption). This may occur immediately after the birth, for example if your child is born prematurely or has a low birth weight. If your child receives treatment at home, this does not count as being hospitalised, and your leave may not be extended. Your right to leave with parental leave benefits starts or resumes the day after your child is discharged from hospital.
As the parent of two or more children born at the same time (parents of multiples), you and your partner have a legal right to a total of 26 extra weeks of leave with parental leave benefits, which are divided equally between you (13 weeks for each parent). You cannot transfer this extra leave to the other parent of your children, but you have the option of transferring your leave to a social parent (for example a spouse or partner who is not the biological parent of the children).
The extra 26 weeks must be taken before the children’s first birthday. You cannot extend or defer this extra leave. This applies regardless of any obstacles to taking leave that might arise, include such situations as the hospitalisation of one of the children.
These rules apply to children born on and after 1 May 2024.
As an Aarhus University employee, you are covered by the state-sector parental leave agreement. This means that you have a right to full pay during your 13 extra weeks of leave as a parent of multiples. This right applies to the parents of twins born on or after 1 May 2024. The same applies to parents of three or more children born at the same time on or after 2 April 2024.
In addition to the above, the standard rules apply to both the mother and the father/non-birth mother.
You are not allowed to take holiday while you are on maternity/paternity leave and adoption leave (holiday obstacle). This means that you cannot take days of holiday while you are on leave.
If you are prevented from taking holiday leave throughout the holiday period, the first to fourth holiday weeks will automatically be transferred to the next holiday period, whereas you will have to make an agreement about transferring the fifth holiday week.
You can only transfer the days of holiday from the first to fourth holiday weeks that you will not be able to take before the holiday period expires (31 December). Therefore, it is important that you plan your holiday in connection with your return from leave, as unused holiday from the first to fourth holiday weeks, which could have been taken before expiry of the holiday period on 31 December, will otherwise lapse.
Holiday must be taken as full days. This means that you cannot take holiday on days on which you both work and are on leave (e.g. in the event of partial resumption of work or agreed deferred leave taken as part of the days).
If you are on leave on some days and at work on other days during a week, you are not prevented from taking holiday on the days on which you work. So, you can take holiday on these days. Furthermore, your manager can tell you to take your remaining holiday on these days in accordance with the general rules. However, in this situation you cannot be told to take your main holiday, as this must usually be taken as a consecutive period of three weeks.
Special holidays may be taken as fractional days. You can therefore take special holidays on days on which you both work and are on leave.
You earn the right to holidays and special holidays with pay in all leave periods.
During unpaid periods of leave in which pension entitlement is not earned, you will generally not earn holidays and special holidays either.
However, salaried employees covered by the state’s holiday agreement will earn paid holiday and special holidays during the first six months of an unpaid period of leave without pension entitlement (this is considered as leave without pay). So, these employees will also earn paid holiday and special holidays when their parental leave is extended by 8 or 14 weeks (from 32 to 40 or 46 weeks), even though they do not earn pension entitlement in these weeks.
However, this is on condition that:
• the employee returns to work before the end of the holiday year in which the holidays/special holidays have to be taken, and
• the holidays/special holidays are taken before the end of the holiday year in question – unless the holidays/special holidays are postponed in accordance with the holiday agreement’s special provisions on holiday obstacles, transfer or postponement of holiday.
If the conditions are not met, the days will lapse.
Under normal circumstances, you continue to accrue pension entitlement as usual during leave.
You also continue to accrue pension entitlement during periods of unpaid absence for up to 32 weeks of time off after the 10th week. Whether or not you receive state benefits during this period is irrelevant. If your 32-week period of leave is extended to 40 or 45 weeks, however, you will not accrue pension entitlement during the additional eight or 14 weeks.
Biological parents, non-birth mothers, adoptive parents and persons holding parental custody are entitled to two childcare days per child in each calendar year up to and including the calendar year in which the child turns seven. The child must be staying with the employee.
A childcare day corresponds to 7.4 hours for a full-time employee. If you are employed part-time, you will be granted a number of childcare days specified in hours proportionate to your employment rate.
The childcare days cannot be taken before the birth.
As a general rule, unused childcare days are lost at the end of the calendar year. This applies irrespective of whether the employee was unable to use the days owing to leave or long-term illness, for example.
However, childcare days for the calendar year in which the child is born/received can be carried over to the next calendar year. This applies regardless of when the child is born/received during the calendar year. Similarly, childcare days that an employee is prevented from taking because the employee in question has been on maternity/paternity leave or adoption leave for a whole calendar year can be carried over to the next year.
The employee is not entitled to take the childcare days in association with the leave. The employer should accommodate requests in this respect, however.
If an employee transfers to employment with another employer within the area covered by the agreement within a calendar year, unused childcare days are transferred to the new employment relationship. The new employment relationship does not have to follow directly after the other.
There are no notice rules for taking childcare days. A request to take childcare days should be made as early as possible, however.
Parental leave form 1 - Mother (This form must be filled out and submitted no later than three months before the expected date of delivery)
Parental leave form 1 – Father/Non-birth mother (This form must be submitted no later than four weeks before the estimated date of delivery)
Parental leave form 1 - Adoptive Parent (Information about the expected reception of the child)
Parental leave form 2 - Mother (This form must be submitted no later than six weeks after the birth)
Parental leave form 2 - Father/Non-birth mother (This form must be submitted no later than six weeks after the birth)
Parental leave form 2 - Adoptive Parent (This form must be submitted no later than six weeks after the date of placement)
Parental leave form 3 - Mother and Father/Non-birth mother (Notification of deferred leave)