Following the new Danish Holiday Act, all vacation days earned between January 1, 2019, through August 31, 2019, and from September 1, 2020, through August 31, 2021, must be taken before December 31, 2021. Vacation days earned in the transition year, from September 1, 2019, to August 31, 2020, must be paid to the LD special vacation fund.
If all vacation days earned during these periods are not used before December 31, 2021, only 5 days can be transferred to the next vacation year. Any days beyond 5 must be settled to the Danish AFF fund (labor market vacation fund). In other words, the employee will lose these days, and their employer must pay their value to the AFF fund.
Please note that if any employee wants to transfer vacation days, a written agreement (email will suffice) between the employee and employer needs to be in place before the end of December. If there is no agreement, then the 5 vacation days are to be paid to the employee before the end of March in the following year. If the employee has not been employed during the whole vacation year, the employer needs to receive a written confirmation that the 5 days relate to the 5th vacation week.
If employees cannot use the vacation days due to sickness or maternity/paternity leave, the vacation days exceeding the 5 days limit will be transferred to the next year. The 5 days will be paid to the employee unless there is an agreement about transferring all days. Vacation days transferred from previous years can be transferred in addition to the 5 days. Again, there must be a written agreement regarding the transfer of vacation days. Without one, the vacation pay must be paid to the employee.
Furthermore, the Danish Holiday Act does not cover additional contractual/ special vacation days (Feriefridage). Their treatment depends on each employment contract. If a union agreement exists, then special terms will be stated in the agreement.
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