Long-term sickness absence

There are a number of points you should be aware of as a manager when an employee calls in sick for an extended period of time.

Sickness absence must be reported to Corporate HR

DTU must comply with the five-week deadline in order to receive reimbursement. This means that within five weeks from the first sick day, DTU must report to the employee’s municipality of residence that the employee is expected to be absent for an extended period of time.

Information about long-term sickness absence must be sent to the reimbursement team as quickly as possible. Corporate HR recommends that the department/unit informs about the expected long-term sickness absence after 14 days of illness and where the absence is expected to exceed the 30 day deadline for applying for a reimbursement.

As a manager, you must send information about long-term sickness to DTU Serviceportal.

You can submit comments on the expected termination of the sickness absence or, where appropriate, partial sick leave.

If the illness is pregnancy related, you must make this clear together with the expected due date.

Reimbursements

The employee receives full pay during illness, and DTU is entitled to receive a sickness benefit reimbursement corresponding to the amount the employee could have received from the municipality.

As a general rule, DTU is entitled to receive a sickness benefit reimbursement for up to 22 weeks.

Only after the expiry of the employer’s 30-day sickness period can DTU receive a benefit reimbursement.

Reimbursement from the first sick day—in some cases

In some cases, there is no employer’s sickness period and the reimbursement is then calculated from the first day of sickness absence.

The following is a list of examples showing when DTU receives a reimbursement from the first day of sickness absence:

• Pregnancy-related illness
• New employees where the absence started within eight weeks of the appointment
• Employees in flexi jobs and in certain other subsidy schemes, or
• Where an agreement has been reached in accordance with The Danish Sickness Benefits Act’s Section 56

If your employee’s sickness absence is attributable to one the above, you must send information via DTU Serviceportal as soon as possible—even for a single day of illness. 

Sickness absence interview

As a manager, you must invite an employee on sick leave for a personal interview about how and when he/she can return to work. It may be relevant to complete a fit-for-work certificate for the interview.

You must hold the interview no later than four weeks after the first sick day.

If a personal interview is out of the question, you must, wherever possible, conduct the interview over the phone.

At the sickness absence interview, you and the employee can complete the first part of a fit-for-work certificate. The employee completes the second part together with his/her doctor.

You should also inform the department’s HR Partner about sickness absence if it is expected to last for more than three weeks.

Corporate HR refers to DTU’s guidelines for sickness and absence. Here you can find more information about how to handle sick leave and help employees return to work after a long period of illness.

Fit for duty

When the sickness absence is over, you must inform the reimbursement team via DTU Serviceportal.

The reimbursement team must be kept informed of all long-term illness. In connection with partial illness, you must inform about this at the end of the month with information on how many hours the employee has been working for each week during the sickness period.

If the sickness notification deadline is exceeded, the right to reimbursement from the municipality begins from the day on which the notification is received.