Becoming a mother

Notice of leave

• No later than 3 months before the expected birth
  You must inform your manager and Corporate HR of your pregnancy and state when you plan to start your pregnancy leave. This is done by completing and uploading the relevant form in DTU Fusion.
  
  
• No later than 6 weeks after the birth
  You must notify Corporate HR if you wish to take parental leave. You must provide the start date of the leave and the date you plan to return to work. This is done by completing and uploading the relevant form in DTU Fusion.

Note: As a general rule, you cannot change a leave after expiry of the deadline, and already commenced leave cannot be changed.

Absence During Pregnancy
You are entitled to paid absence for preventive pregnancy examinations if these can only take place during working hours.

DTU provides full pay for absence caused by pregnancy-related illness before the notified pregnancy leave. To ensure correct registration and reimbursement, you must do the following:

• Inform your manager and HR Compensation & Benefits
  Notify them if you are partially or fully absent due to pregnancy-related illness.
  
  
• Register your absence correctly
  The absence must be recorded on your timesheet as pregnancy-related illness—not as regular illness.
  
  
• Create a case in DTU Service Portal
  Create a case in DTU Service Portal to HR Compensation & Benefits stating: 1) That you are absent due to pregnancy-related illness and 2) Your expected due date.

6 weeks of pregnancy leave

You are entitled to take pregnancy leave up to 6 weeks before the expected birth (i.e. 6 weeks before your due date). You are entitled to full pay during this period, provided that the employment requirement is met.

If you give birth earlier or later than expected, the pregnancy leave period will be correspondingly shorter or longer than 6 weeks. If you choose not to take pregnancy leave before the birth, the 6 weeks cannot be transferred to the period after the birth.

10 weeks of maternity leave

You are entitled to paid maternity leave during the first 10 weeks after the birth. The first 2 weeks after birth are mandatory and fully paid. You then have 8 weeks of paid leave, which must be taken within the first 10 weeks after the birth. The 10-week period is calculated from the day after the child is born.

You may choose to transfer some or all of the 8 weeks to the other parent. However, the right to pay during the leave cannot be transferred. For more information on the rules regarding transfer of leave, please refer to Lifeindenmark.dk.

Parental leave

In addition to pregnancy and maternity leave, you as the mother are entitled to 32 weeks of parental leave. You are entitled to paid parental leave for up to 16 weeks, provided that DTU receives reimbursement of your parental benefits:

• 10 weeks of parental leave for the mother.
• 6 weeks of shared parental leave, which may be divided between the parents.

Rules for the shared weeks:

• If both parents are employed by the state, you may agree on the distribution of the 6 shared weeks.
• If only one parent is employed by the state, that parent may take all 6 shared weeks.

If you wish to take all 6 shared weeks with pay, you will be short of 2 weeks of parental benefits in order to receive full pay for the entire period. These 2 required weeks may be transferred from the father or co-mother, entitling you as the mother to full pay for the entire period. If parental benefit weeks are not transferred, you will receive reduced pay during the 2 weeks in question.

Entitlement to paid leave is conditional on DTU receiving reimbursement of parental benefits. The paid weeks you take will be deducted from your weeks with parental benefit weeks, as DTU will claim reimbursement for the period.

In addition to the paid weeks, you may take the remaining parental leave without salary, possibly with parental benefits, depending on your available parental benefit weeks. You also have the option to extend the leave by up to 14 weeks, bringing the total leave period to a maximum of 46 weeks.

Possible 13 weeks of leave transferred from the other parent

The father or co-mother may choose to transfer up to 13 weeks of leave to you, provided that you meet the conditions. As a general rule, the leave must be taken within 1 year of the child’s birth. To make full use of the entitlement to pay for up to 26 weeks after the birth, at least 2 weeks of parental benefits must be transferred from the child’s father. Otherwise, you may receive reduced pay during weeks 25 and 26.

If your child is hospitalized

If your child is hospitalized after birth, your leave will begin the day after discharge. The leave may be extended by the duration of the hospitalization. You may extend the leave by up to 12 months. This applies only if the child is hospitalized within 46 weeks after birth, if you do not work during the hospitalization, and if you are on leave or had planned to take leave during that period.

Documentation is required, e.g. a hospital record stating the child’s CPR number and the period of hospitalization. If you become ill during your leave, you generally cannot extend the leave.

Special situations

Please note that special situations may apply that can affect your leave, for example if you do not live with the other parent and/or if the child is born abroad, or in the case of multiple births. For more information on special circumstances, please refer to Lifeindenmark.dk.