Maybe your employee is dreaming of sailing around the world or writing a book. No matter what, leave of absence is getting more popular. But how do you deal with it, if your employee asks for a leave?
Leave of absence, also known as sabbatical leave, covers a longer period of time where the employee is absent from his or her work.
Besides parental leave and carer’s leave that you are obliged to give as an employer, there are no general rules about whether the employees are able to get a sabbatical leave or not. It all depends on the employment conditions that the employee is hired under. Whether you are a private or a public employee does also affect your opportunity to get a leave of absence.
Is the employee entitled to payment during a leave of absence?
Initially, leave of absence is without payment but if it is written in the employee’s contract of employment or agreement, the employee can be entitled to payment during a leave.
What are the rules for employees in the private sector?
If it is a private company that your employees are hired in they initially don’t have the right to keep a sabbatical leave – besides, of course, parental and carer’s leave.
However the contract of employment, the agreement or the staff handbook can give them the right to leave. If it appears in one of the mentioned that the employee is entitled to sabbatical leave, this is what counts.
Similarly, it will appear from the contract of employment, the agreement or the staff handbook for how long the employee has the right to attend a leave of absence.
If the contract of employment, the agreement or the staff handbook shows the opportunity for a leave, it is up to the employee to negotiate about this with you as an employer.
What are the rules for employees in the public sector?
If your employee is hired in the public sector then the person is initially entitled to leave of absence. However, there is one condition: The employee’s leave of absence cannot go against the employers interests.
This gives you as an employer the right to deny the employee’s request for leave, if it is not in favor of the workplace.
However, you have to be able to give a justification for why the employee’s absence would be a disadvantage for the workplace.
At the same time, there is no time limit for how long the employee can attend a leave of absence. This is something that you as an employer have to agree on with your employee.
However, there are some special situations where you as an employer in the public sector have a duty to give your employees leave of absence. This is relevant:
- If the employee has to be transmitted to a foreign country as part of Denmark’s state cooperation with the developing countries. This can, for example, be DANIDA.
- If the employee has to be transmitted to a foreign country to do service at international organizations that Denmark is a member of or cooperates with. This can be NATO or UN.
- If the employee has to work in the Greenlandic government.
Are there special cases that give one the right for a leave of absence?
Yes, there is. According to the rules there are special considerations to be taken into account if the employee asks for leave of absence due to civic duties or military service.
Civic duty is if the employee has to be a juror in a trial – work that can be imposed by the public and that the employee has the duty to attend to, so to say.
Whether the employee is entitled to leave of absence by civic duty or not depends again on the contract of employment. There are certain rules concerning civic duties:
- If it is a private business, you have to give the employee leave of absence, but you have the right to decline if the employee’s absence has detrimental consequences for the company.
- As an employee in the public sector, the employee is entitled to leave of absence.
- As a member of a municipal council, the employee is entitled to leave of absence.
For employees that have to do military service – besides being uniquely protected concerning resignation – they are entitled to leave of absence. This counts no matter if they are a private or public employed.
Is there a baby on the way?
Whether you have the right to maternity/paternity leave with pay is determined of your collective agreement or employment contract.
This means that you must be aware of your collective agreement or employment contract says about maternity/paternity leave and pay during maternity/paternity leave.
Maternity/paternity or parental leave is a distinct type of leave that has its own rules depending which workplace one has and which agreement one is hired under. You can read more about the rules for parental leave here.
Keep track of leave of absence and other types of absences
With a digital time registration system like Intempus, it becomes easy for both the employee and the employer or the administrator to handle all types of leave and other types of absence. 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 Intempus’ administration system. In this way, the employees’ hours and absence balances are always under control.
Would you like to hear more about how the handling of leave and other absences can be made easy and manageable with Intempus? Then feel free to book a free demo completely right here:
Or give us a call: +45 26390400
