Currency: Danish Krone (DKK)

Capital: Copenhagen

Official language: Danish

Payroll Cycle: Monthly

Paid Time Off

In Denmark, employees are entitled to 25 days of paid holiday a year and to a statutory holiday allowance of 1% of their gross salary and additional remuneration elements, to be paid as a lump sum in May. Holidays must be compensated at the end of the employment relationship by payment in lieu.

Public Holidays

• New Year’s day
• Maundy Thursday
• Good Friday
• General prayer day
• Ascension day
• Pentecost Monday or Whit-Monday
• Constitution day
• Christmas Eve
• Christmas
• St. Stephens

Additional holidays may apply according to Collective Agreements.

Individual Income Tax

The individual income tax depends on many variables, such as marital status, level of income, etc. The average ranges up to 51%

Employer Tax

Approx. DKK 10,000 per year

Employment Contract Details

There are no specific rules governing the language for employment contracts as long as the employee understands the contract language. Bilingual wording is recommended for employees without the relevant language skills. Contracts must be in writing.

Probation Period

The maximum probation period is 3 months.

Minimum Wage Requirements

There are no provisions regarding minimum salary stipulated in law.

Maximum working hours and overtime

The full-time working week in Denmark is typically 37 hours, distributed over 5 days.

Bonus and expense payments

Bonuses are fairly common in Denmark, although not mandatory. Bonus terms and amounts will differ widely depending on seniority, function and industry. It is good practice to outline bonus terms in writing.

Parental Leave

• Maternity Leave: starts 4 weeks before birth and extends up to 14 weeks after the childbirth. During this period, employees receive 50% of their salary, which is funded and paid by the government.
• Paternity Leave: employees are entitled to 2 weeks of paternity leave, which must be taken within 14 weeks of the birth of the child

Sick Leave

Employees are entitled to absence during sickness. The Salaried Employees Act and most collective agreements provide that employees are generally entitled to at least 90% of full salary during sickness. Generally, for the first 30 days of sickness the employer is obliged to pay compensation. After that period, the authorities will continue to fund the sickness benefit. In such cases the employer will most often pay the compensation and then be refunded by the authorities. As a general rule, employees will receive sickness benefits for a maximum of 22weeks in a 9 month period.

Termination for cause is allowed subject to certain conditions, the employer must provide justifiable cause otherwise the employee can appeal in court. If the dismissal is deemed unfair, the employee may be entitled to additional compensation of up to 13 salaries; the amount varies according to employee’s age and seniority, the type of employment contract and the circumstances surrounding the dismissal.

Severance payment depends on length of employment and varies from a minimum of 1 month’s salary after 12 years of employment to a maximum of 3 months’ salary for employment relationships lasting 18 years or more.

Notice Period

In Denmark, the notice period is based on the length of the labor relationship:

• 0 - 3 months of employment - 2 weeks’ notice
• 3 - 6 months of employment - 1 month’s notice
• 6 months - 3 years of employment - 3 months’ notice
• 3 - 6 years of employment - 4 months’ notice
• 6 - 9 years of employment - 5 months’ notice
• 9+ years of employment - 6 months’ notice