On 1 September 2020, the new Holiday Act comes into force, and all employees will transition to a concurrent holiday scheme. Concurrent holiday means that holiday can be taken in the same year in which you accrue (earn) it. Employees who are already on the concurrent holiday scheme will continue on the new concurrent holiday scheme according to the New holiday act.

2019.03.08 | Signe Opstrup

Photo: Colourbox

Until 1 September 2019, everything will stay the same. On 1 May 2019, the holiday you have accrued for the holiday year 2019/20 will be ‘released’, and you can take your holiday in the usual way. If you have accrued full holiday entitlement, you will have 25 days of holiday and five special holidays at your disposal.

From 1 January until 31 August 2019, you will also accrue holiday as usual. You will be able to use the holiday you accrue in this period from 1 May 2020. This means that you will accrue 16.6 days in this period, which will be available for use in the summer holiday period in 2020. In addition, you will still have the special holidays, which are not covered by the new act. Watch this video for a short explanation of the new Holiday Act (in Danish).

The transition from the current to the new Holiday Act

The transition to the new Holiday Act will include a transitional year from 1 September 2019 to 31 August 2020. The holiday you accrue in the transitional year will be frozen as savings in a new fund – Lønmodtagernes Feriemidler. This is to prevent you having a double entitlement when you switch to concurrent holiday in 2020. The frozen holiday pay will be paid out to you when you reach state pension age or leave the labour market. Get an overview of the transitional period here (in Danish).

All employees with full holiday entitlement will have 16.6 days of holiday to be taken in the summer of 2020 as well as five special holidays. If you need to take more holiday, you can arrange with your manager to transfer holiday to the summer holiday 2020. We recommend that you wait to arrange the transfer of holiday until April 2020, when the rules on this area have been finally settled. There is no need for you to transfer holiday to the coming holiday year in April 2019.

Taking holiday in advance

When the new Holiday Act comes into force, it will be possible to take holiday that you have not yet accrued. There will most likely be set a limit on the number of days you can take in advance. This number will be clarified in 2020, as it is only from 1 September 2020 that it will be possible to take holiday in advance.

Additional information

• If you have any questions, please contact your local HR partner.
• Read more about the new holiday act on the website. Here, you can also find answers to the most frequently asked questions.