Q&A regarding holiday
Holiday is accrued continuously from 1 September to 31 August (the holiday year). Holiday may be taken as early as the month after it has been accrued and up to 16 months ahead. This means that holidays must be taken during the period from 1 September to 31 December of the following year.
You continue to accrue 2.08 days of paid holiday per month, corresponding to 25 days of holiday per year.
Holiday is accrued continuously from 1 September to 31 August (the holiday year). Holiday may be taken as early as the month after it has been accrued and up to 16 months ahead. This means that holidays must be taken during the period from 1 September to 31 December of the following year.
Holiday is planned in consultation with your immediate manager. If no holiday has been planned, your holiday will be notified in accordance with DTU's holiday guidelines.
It is possible to take holiday in advance, consisting of up to 10 days of holiday, by written agreement with your immediate manager in accordance with the holiday guidelines.
To make it easier to see how many days of holiday can be borrowed in advance during the holiday year, see the overview below:
- 1 September – 1 April: Up to 10 days of holiday can be borrowed
- 1 May: Up to 8.32 days of holiday can be borrowed
- 1 June: Up to 6.24 days of holiday can be borrowed
- 1 July: Up to 4.16 days of holiday can be borrowed
- 1 August: Up to 2.08 days of holiday can be borrowed
The written agreement may be an email. It is a condition that the holiday can be accrued within the same holiday year (1 September to 31 August). In practice, this means that if you wish to take summer holiday in August, you must ensure that the days have been accrued in advance. If, on the other hand, you wish to take 2–3 weeks of holiday early in the holiday year, for example in October, and you have not yet accrued the days, it is possible by agreement to take paid holiday in advance (maximum 10 days) before the full holiday entitlement has been accrued.
By agreement, it is possible to transfer up to 5 ordinary days of holiday and up to 5 special days of holiday from one holiday period to the next.
If you are employed on an hourly paid basis, you take holiday with holiday allowance of 12.5%. The holiday allowance is paid continuously into FerieKonto. When you wish to take holiday, you must contact Feriepengeinfo and request payment of your holiday allowance. See more at lifeindenmark.dk.
Special rules apply to the transfer of holiday if you are prevented from taking holiday due to maternity/paternity, parental or adoption leave.
If you are prevented from taking holiday due to the above-mentioned leave on 31 December, up to 4 weeks of holiday will automatically be transferred to be taken after the end of your leave.
Transferred holiday must be taken in the following holiday period, in addition to the holiday you continue to accrue during the holiday year.
Holiday exceeding 4 weeks (up to 5 days) will be paid out unless you have agreed that these days are also transferred to the next holiday period.
For special days of holiday, any days not taken by 30 April will be transferred to the next holiday year.
Holiday should be taken as far as possible, even if you have been absent for a large part of the holiday period due to maternity/paternity, parental or adoption leave.
If you are prevented from taking holiday due to the above-mentioned leave at the end of the holiday period (31 December), up to 4 weeks of holiday will be transferred to the following holiday period. Holiday exceeding 4 weeks may be paid out or transferred by agreement.
See the section "What should I do if I am on maternity/paternity, parental or adoption leave?" above.
If you are prevented from taking holiday due to long-term illness, up to 4 weeks of holiday will automatically be transferred to the following holiday period if you are still absent due to long-term illness on 31 December (at the end of the holiday period).
Holiday exceeding 4 weeks may be paid out or transferred to the following holiday period by agreement.
For special days of holiday, any days not taken by 30 April will be transferred to the next holiday year.
Different rules apply to the notification and taking of holiday depending on whether you give notice to resign yourself or have been given notice of termination/dismissal.
General rules
Any accrued but untaken holiday will be settled via FerieKonto. Special days of holiday are paid out. If you have taken holiday in advance, any holiday taken but not yet accrued will be set off against your entitlement to salary and holiday pay.
If you resign
The ordinary rules on notification and taking of holiday apply, which means that notification of remaining holiday and main holiday can be given with 1 month’s and 3 months’ notice, respectively.
Whether DTU can give notice of your holiday depends on when you resign. Prescheduled holiday that falls before your severance date will be taken as planned. This applies to both ordinary holiday days and special days of holiday.
If you are given notice of termination/dismissal
As notification of main holiday is to be given at 3 months’ notice and remaining holiday at 1 month’s notice, it will depend on your individual period of notice whether DTU can give notification of your holiday during the notice period. In addition, special rules apply if you are released from your duties, etc.
If you leave the labour market
Special rules apply. If you can document that you are leaving the labour market due to health reasons, age, or relocation abroad, DTU will pay out your accrued holiday.
Special days of holiday that have not been taken or for which notification has not been given will always be paid out when you leave your position, unless you agree with your immediate manager to take them before leaving DTU.
If you are new at DTU and come from previous employment where you accrued holiday, you may have holiday allowance in FerieKonto.
When you take holiday accrued during previous employment, you will take holiday from DTU without pay. The payment for the holiday (the holiday allowance) is paid from FerieKonto.
See more at lifeindenmark.dk.
If you are new at DTU and have holiday allowance from your A-kasse that you wish to use, all accrued holiday from your previous employer and accrued holiday at DTU must be taken first.
Create a case in the DTU Service Portal when you wish to use your days from the A-kasse. Remember to state how many days you wish to use and when you wish to take them.
Support case for HR Submit your support case, or send questions to HR, in DTU Service Portal.
For institutes
Question
We are experiencing challenges in Fusion when employees increase their working hours. Holiday is accrued in days based on the previous working hours, and when an employee increases their working hours, taking the accrued days results in reduced pay in the month in which the holiday is taken. This creates challenges in the dialogue with employees. Is there a function in Fusion that can recalculate accrued days of holiday to reflect the new working hours and thereby avoid a reduction in pay when the holiday is taken?
Answer
We fully understand that this can be difficult to explain to employees. However, when holiday is accrued based on one set of working hours and taken at a different set, a salary adjustment must be made. The holiday guidance stipulates that the accrual rate and the rate at which holiday is taken must be identical – otherwise, the holiday pay must be adjusted. Please refer to section 5.2.2 of the holiday guidance (only available in Danish). There is therefore no legal basis for omitting this adjustment.
Question
When employees go on leave, they are automatically subject to holiday pay settlement. This is considered not appropriate for both the institute and the employee – especially in cases of short leave periods. We have been informed that employees on short leave should instead register unpaid leave of absence. We have also been told that HR assesses each individual case to determine whether it should be recorded as leave or unpaid leave of absence. Who makes this assessment, and can general guidelines be issued?
Answer
Employees on parental leave are not subject to holiday pay settlement.
Employees on other types of leave exceeding one month are subject to holiday pay settlement in accordance with the holiday guidelines. Please refer to section 7.3 (only available in Danish).
If an employee resigns and no extension or immediate re-employment is known, the employee is also subject to holiday pay settlement.
A leave must always be applied for, regardless of duration, and the application must be submitted in good time to ensure payroll can be stopped correctly.
Unpaid leave of absence must not be used in connection with a leave.
Unpaid leave of absence is only used when an employee has agreed to take additional time off beyond their entitlement – typically short periods. For example, an employee may take more holiday than they have accrued and pay for the extra days themselves. Unfortunately, unpaid leave of absence is sometimes used for longer periods, which is only discovered when timesheets are approved. In such cases, the situation is in fact a leave, and an application for leave must therefore be submitted before the period starts.
The difference between the registrations is:
- Unpaid leave of absence: the employee is deducted in salary.
- Unpaid leave: salary is fully stopped during the leave period.
One issue with unpaid leave of absence is that there is not always a salary from which deductions can be made if it is registered retrospectively in timesheets. Therefore, correct use of leave registration is important.