Frequently Asked Questions

In some workplaces, an employee accumulates vacation hours/days and therefore receives pay while on vacation. 

The other option is that vacation pay, amounting to a minimum of 10.17% of the employee's total earnings, is deposited into a vacation account and is then paid around May 11th of each year. Unused vacation shall be made up upon termination of employment. 

The purpose of vacation is for the employee to take a vacation and therefore it is recommended that it not be paid monthly. However, vacation may be paid monthly with salary if both the employer and the employee agree, cf. Paragraph 4 of Article 7 of the Vacation Act No. 30/1987

Vacation is a form of paid income and is therefore subject to tax. Questions about taxes should be directed to the Tax Office. 

An employer generally cannot unilaterally decide that an employee should take leave during the notice period. 

However, if a company closes while its employees are on vacation, an employee's vacation may overlap with their notice period. 

Absences due to illness are counted as working hours during the vacation accrual period, unless sick leave entitlement is fully exercised and unpaid leave is in question according to the Vacation Act. 

Maternity leave is also considered working time. 

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Sick leave entitlement can be seen under the rights in each individual collective agreement

The employer's obligation to pay wages during sickness due to illness and accident is dependent on the employee having reported the illness in a verifiable manner

The main rule is that the employee notifies the employer as soon as possible, so that the necessary measures can be taken at the workplace

Illness should be reported as soon as possible and in a verifiable manner. 

If an employer requests a medical certificate, he must pay for it. 

Substitute salary

Based on the salary that an employee would have demonstrably received if he had not missed work due to illness or accident, other than attendance bonuses and surcharges for special risks or uncleanliness that are incidental to the performance of specifically specified work

Full-time job

Full-time wages are fixed wages for daytime work plus shift allowances, bonuses and other performance-related or comparable bonuses for work based on 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week based on full-time work. ​

Daytime salary

Daytime wages are fixed wages based on daytime work (excluding bonuses and any type of additional payments) for 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week based on full-time work.

You will receive special sick days for sick children. If they run out, you can apply for sick leave from your union for sick children. 

You are entitled to sick days due to the illness of your children. This sick leave entitlement does not affect your entitlement due to your own illness. This means that your employer cannot withhold payment from you when you are at home with a sick child unless you have exhausted your entitlement.

However, you can apply for sick pay due to children's illness from your union, once you have exhausted your rights with your employer. 

You have the same sick leave entitlement as you had before you went on maternity leave if you work for the same employer. If you become ill in the first month in the same job after maternity leave, your employer must look at the last 12 months before you took maternity leave when calculating your sick leave entitlement.

If your sick leave entitlement is fully used (you have exhausted your entitlement with your employer), you can apply for sick leave benefits due to children's illness from your union. 

No. An employee's vacation days may not be used to pay for sick days. 

In the general labor market, there has been no agreement on what is called partial illness. It has been defined so that an employee can be partially unable to work and partially able to work. 

Example: 

• If an employee is partially ill, for example if a full-time woman is pregnant and works limited hours, she is not entitled to payment for 100% of her work, but only for the hours she worked. 
• If an employee goes home early due to illness, a full day is deducted from their sick leave. 
  

Employees who work shifts earn 12 winter holidays based on annual employment, for weekends and bank holidays that fall on Mondays through Fridays. 

This is in contrast to the paid time off that daytime employees receive when holidays fall on weekdays. 

It is permitted, by agreement between the restaurant owner and the employee, to pay in lieu of the aforementioned holidays, 8 hours of daytime work for each holiday based on full-time work. Temporary workers will receive accrued winter holidays upon termination of employment.

You will then receive a winter holiday in lieu of all red days or public holidays that fall on weekdays during the time you were on shift work for the employer. 

This applies whether you were on duty on a red day or were on duty off. For example: 

An employee works for an employer from May 1 to August 31. Weekdays include; the first of May, the second of Whitsun and the first Monday in August, therefore the employee is entitled to 3 winter holidays. 

If I was not employed during the entire winter vacation accrual period, will I only get part of the winter vacation?

How is winter leave calculated if an employee was only employed for part of the accrual period?

Short, clear answer with examples

You receive winter vacation in proportion to the red days that fall on weekdays during the period you were employed — not for the entire year.

Example:

If you only work from May 1 to August 31 and during that time 3 red days fall on a weekday , you are entitled to 3 winter holidays , not a full winter holiday.

Termination can be defined as a notification by one party to an employment contract, employer or employee, to the other party of termination of employment.

The notice period is the period from the date of notice of termination until the employment relationship formally ends

• The notice period is mutual and is based on the end of the month
• All terminations must be in writing and made in the same language as the employee's employment contract
• Generally, the reasons for termination do not need to be specified, but the employee has the right to an interview about their termination and the reasons for termination:

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A request for an interview must be made within four days of receiving the notice of termination, and the interview must take place within four days of that date.

In the general market, the notice period is as follows:

• There is no notice period for the first two weeks of employment
• After two weeks of continuous employment with the same employer: 12 calendar days
• After 3 consecutive months of employment with the same employer: 1 month from the beginning of the month
• After 2 years of continuous employment with the same employer: 2 months from the beginning of the month
• After 3 consecutive years of employment with the same employer: 3 months from the beginning of the month
  

Termination of an employment contract is when an employment contract is terminated immediately, without notice.

• An employer may be permitted to terminate an employment contract due to non-performance or breach of conditions
• Termination refers to the termination of employment without notice or without payment of wages during the notice period
• If an employer terminates employment lawfully, the employee's right to wages during the notice period is terminated.

Change in terms of employment:

• If the parties wish to change the content of the agreement, it will not be done unilaterally or without notice, in order to be legal
• If an employer intends to unilaterally change an employee's employment terms, for example, to terminate fixed overtime or overtime payments, he must notify the employee in the same manner and within the same time limit as if the employee were dismissed
• The change will only take effect when the notice period has expired

If an employee does not wish to accept the proposed change in employment terms, he may notify the employer that he does not accept the change and will resign at the end of the notice period.

• An employee does not have to immediately express his or her position on whether he or she agrees with the change or not
• If an employee does not object to changes, the employer considers that he has accepted them