Maybe your employee has a dream to sail around the world or write a book. Either way, leave is becoming increasingly popular, but what should you do if an employee asks for leave? We help you here.
Leave of absence, also known as leave of absence, is a longer period of time when the employee takes time off from work.
Apart from maternity and parental leave, nursing leave and childcare leave, which you as an employer are obliged to provide if necessary, there are no general rules for when employees can take leave. It all depends on the employment conditions under which the employee is employed. Whether you are a private or public sector employee often also has an impact on your ability to take leave.
Is the employee entitled to salary during leave?
As a rule, leave is unpaid, but if it is stated in the employee's employment contract or collective agreement, the employee may be entitled to pay during leave.
What are the rules for private sector employees?
If your employees work for a private company, they are generally not entitled to take leave - except, of course, maternity and parental leave, carers' leave and childcare leave.
However, their employment contract, collective agreement or an employee handbook may entitle them to leave. If one of the aforementioned states that the employee is entitled to leave, that's what applies.
Similarly, the employment contract, collective agreement or employee handbook will state how long the employee is entitled to leave in that case.
If neither the employment contract, collective agreement nor the employee handbook allows for leave, it's up to the employee to negotiate it with you as the employer.
What are the rules for public sector employees?
If your employee is a public employee, they are generally entitled to leave. However, there is one condition: the employee's leave must not conflict with the employer's interests.
This gives you as an employer the right to deny the employee's request for leave if it is an inconvenience to the workplace.
However, as an employer, you should be able to provide a justification as to why the employee's absence will be a disadvantage to the workplace.
At the same time, there is no time limit on how long the employee is entitled to leave. This is something you as an employer must agree with your employee.
However, there are some special situations where you, as a public sector employer, are obliged to give your employees leave. These include;
- If the employee is to be posted abroad as part of Denmark's governmental co-operation with developing countries. This could be, for example, DANIDA
- If the employee is sent abroad to serve in international organisations that Denmark is a member of or cooperates with. This could be NATO and the UN, for example
- If the employee will be working in the Government of Greenland
Whether you are entitled to paid parental leave depends on your collective agreement or employment contract.
This means that you need to familiarise yourself with what your collective agreement or employment contract says about maternity leave and pay during maternity leave. This will be what applies in the specific case.
Are there any special cases that entitle you to leave?
Yes, there is. According to the rules, there are special considerations to take into account in relation to leave if the employee is seeking leave due to civil defence or military service.
Civil representation means, for example, if the employee is to be a juror or judge in a court case - in other words, a job that can be imposed by the public authorities and which the employee has a duty to fulfil.
Whether or not the employee is entitled to civil defence leave depends again on the employment contract. However, there are certain rules regarding civil representation:
- In the case of a private company, you as an employer must generally grant the employee leave, but you have the right to refuse if the employee's absence has crucial consequences for the company
- As a public sector employee, the employee is entitled to leave
- As a member of the local council, the employee is entitled to leave
For conscripts, in addition to being specially protected against dismissal, they are entitled to leave from work. termination - they are entitled to leave from work. This applies regardless of whether you are a private or public employee.
Is a baby on the way?
Parental leave is a separate form of leave that has its own rules depending on your workplace and the collective labour agreement you use. You can read more about the rules for maternity leave here.
Keep track of your leave
With a digital time tracking system like Intempus, it's easy for both the employee and the employer or administrator to manage all types of leave and other absence types. The employee simply registers the leave period or days of absence directly on the app, after which the administrator can easily approve and get an overview of everything reported in the Intempus administration system. That way, the employee's hours and absence balances are always under control.
Would you like to learn more about how Intempus makes managing leave and other absences easy and manageable? Book a free, no-obligation demo here:
You are also welcome to give us a call at: +45 26390400
