The new Danish Holiday Act

Download and read more about the new holiday act and its implications for employers and employees.

The Holiday Act (den danske ferielov) changes significantly, which has impact on both employers and employees.

The most vital changes are the following:

• Transition period in which the holiday qualified for will be frozen and paid out to the employee when the employee is entitled to go on pension
• The new Holiday Act introduces concurrent holiday, where employees qualify for and take paid holiday at the same time.
• From 1 September 2020 the employer and the employee can agree that the employee takes paid holiday in advance, if the employee has not yet qualified for a sufficient number of paid holidays to be taken.
• From 1 September 2020 the 5th holiday week will automatically be paid out to the employees, unless the employee and the employer enters into an agreement about transferring the holidays to the next holiday period

The employees may have to plan when to take holidays to be certain to have enough paid holidays to take in 2020. This should however not be an issue, if the employees follow a normal holiday pattern.

Employers need to check employee contracts and handbooks to make sure that the rules comply to the new Holiday Act, and that the contracts and handbooks have the optimal wording. Finally, the employers should be aware that the new Holiday Act has an impact on the Annual Report