In Denmark, holiday time off (also called 6th holiday week) is not a fixed right for all employees like regular holidays. It is usually a benefit that can be agreed between employer and employee or regulated by a collective agreement or company personnel policy. Therefore, the rules for taking days off can vary from company to company.
What is the 6th holiday week/holiday breaks?
6th holiday week or holiday days off. The two terms are used interchangeably, but cover the same phenomenon: as an employee, you can be granted more paid holidays than the 5 weeks you are entitled to under the Danish Holiday Act. However, although it is referred to as the “6th holiday week”, there are no rules stating that the number of annual holiday days off must be 5. You can easily have just 2 holiday days off per year, but most often it is a whole week, hence the name.
Who is entitled to the extra holiday days?
The applicable collective agreements or any individual contracts or agreements with the employer determine whether the employee is entitled to extra paid days off as well as how many days employees are allowed, how the days are earned and when they must be taken.
As both employee and employer, you should therefore consult the documents regarding the employee's terms of employment to clarify the specific rules regarding the right to the extra paid days off. Alternatively, you can contact your company's HR department for answers.
Different rules for private and public employees
There are different rules regarding holiday breaks or 6th holiday week depending on whether you are a public or private employee in Denmark. If you work in the public sector, e.g. state, municipality or region, you are entitled to holiday breaks, while as a private employee you are generally not entitled to a 6th holiday week, unless otherwise agreed.
Rules for public employees
If you are a full-time employee in a region or municipality, you are entitled to a 6th holiday week, but you earn it in hours instead of days. You earn 3,083 holiday hours per month, which is equivalent to 6 weeks of holiday per year.
The hours for the 6th holiday are earned from 1 January to 31 December, but can only be taken from 1 May in the following year.
If you do not take the 6th holiday week, you can choose to carry it over to the next holiday year. This happens automatically, unless you tell your employer no later than 1 October of the holiday year that you want the money to be paid out.
If you change jobs to another region or municipality, you can agree with your employer that the accrued holiday entitlement is transferred to the new job. Otherwise, the remaining hours from the 6th holiday week will be paid out together with the last salary payment.
Rules for government employees
As a government employee, you earn 0.42 so-called “special holiday days” for every month of employment. This corresponds to 5 days off per year.
If you do not take your accrued holiday days, you will be paid 2.5% of your holiday entitlement in the year of accrual. You can also, in agreement with your employer, transfer the holiday days to the following holiday year.
If you resign as a government employee, you will be compensated for your accrued holiday breaks when you leave your position.
Rules for private employees
As a private employee, you are generally not entitled to a 6th holiday week. However, you may still be entitled to holiday breaks if the company has a collective agreement that entitles you to them or if you have made an individual agreement with your employer. The provisions for your holiday entitlement will be described in your employment contract, the company's staff handbook or any collective agreement.
When should holiday breaks be taken?
If you are entitled to holiday breaks, you can choose when you want to take them, but it's always a good idea to let your employer know well in advance so that you can organise your work accordingly. Your employer can refuse your request if it makes it difficult to get work done. However, you are entitled to take your holiday days before the end of the holiday year.
If your holiday days are not taken, the remaining holiday days may be transferred to the next holiday period as described above or paid out if agreed with your employer.
You should also be aware that you must take other holidays before you take your annual leave days. According to the Danish Holiday Act, as an employee and covered by the Holiday Act, you must take your holiday in the order in which it is earned. This means, for example, that you must take carried-over holiday before other holidays, cf. sections 21 and 22. The order in which you must take the different types of holiday is as follows:
- Holiday carried over from the previous holiday period
- Holidays from the current holiday year
- Holiday breaks
- Holidays in advance
Depending on your collective agreement or the local agreements you are employed under, there may be some special rules and conditions regarding holiday order that you should be aware of. For example, the 6th holiday week (if you have one) and holiday breaks or similar may have a specific expiry date, which may affect the sequence. In these cases, you should make sure to take the type of holiday that expires first so that nothing is wasted.
Keep track of your days off
There are several rules you should be aware of when it comes to holidays. If you're interested in learning more about them, you can dive into our various blog posts that focus on the many issues related to taking holidays:
- Do you remember to take your holiday on time? Understand the new holiday law
- Why are vacation days calculated in days?
- Understand the rules for holiday in advance
- Do you know the rules for holiday order?
- Sick during a holiday
You are also welcome to contact us for a non-binding demo where you can learn more about how Intempus Time & Attendance can ease your workday, create a better overview and save you a lot of time and hassle:
