Child care days and compassionate leave when you work in Denmark

Child care days (Omsorgsdage) are days off that you can spend with your children.

You can use care days to look after your ill child, on closing days in the nursery and kindergarten, or if the child is starting a new institution or school. Or you can use care days to give the child care and company when they need you or a break from everyday life.

Whether you are entitled to care days depends on your terms of employment.

In addition to the care days, as an employee you also have the right to care leave if your children or other close relatives need assistance.

Private sector employee: Do you have the right to care days?

As an employee of a private employer, you are only entitled to care days if this is stated in your employment contract, your collective agreement, local agreement or staff handbook.

If you are entitled to pay on care days, this must also be stated in your employment contract, collective agreement, local agreement or staff handbook.

Employee in municipality, region or state: Do you have the right to care days?

Who is entitled to care days?

Parents, co-mothers and holders of parental custody over a child are entitled to 2 care days per child with salary in each calendar year up to and including the calendar year in which the child turns 7.

The child must either have an address with you or have regular contact with you as parents.

Stepparents are not entitled to care days.

You are entitled to 2 care days with pay per calendar year, regardless of what time of year you were employed - even if you had the child while you were employed elsewhere, where you were not covered by the rules for care days.

You are entitled to your usual salary when you take a care day.

Notice of care days:

You must inform your employer well in advance that you will be taking a care day.

The employer should accommodate your wish but can say no if it is not possible for work reasons.

Using care days:

You can hold care days for full or half days. As an employee of the state, you can also, by agreement with your employer, hold the days as single hours.

Illness and care days:

If you fall ill before working hours start on the care day, you cannot take a care day. In that case, you can use it at another time.

If you fall ill on the day of care itself, the day is considered to have taken place.

Transfer and payment of care days:

If you have not used all your care days before the end of the calendar year, the care days expire – and it isn’t possible to receive any payout for the unused care days.

In the public sector, however, it is possible to transfer the unused care days to the following calendar year if the care days are from the calendar year in which your child was born/received or care days that you are prevented from taking due to taking parental or adoption leave for an entire calendar year.

Job change and care days:

If you have unused care days when you leave your job, you are not entitled to a payout for the days.

If you are employed by another employer in the public sector with the same parental leave agreement, you can have unused care days transferred to the new employment. But if you have already used 2 care days, you are not entitled to 2 new care days within the same calendar year.

Care leave: Here are your rights

From 1 January 2023, you as an employee are entitled to 5 care days per calendar year to provide care or support to your children, parents, spouse/partner or someone you live with.

The person in question must be in need of significant care or support due to a serious health condition, such as if a relative is admitted to a nursing home or has a serious illness such as cancer and needs help.

For example, it may also be the case that you have to accompany a relative to a hospital visit, doctor's visit or dentist visit.

You can take care leave as a consecutive period or as individual days. You cannot take leave on an hourly basis.

If you have not used the care leave before the end of the year, the days expire.

Your employer may require you to document the need for significant care and support, for example in the form of a doctor's note or a letter from the hospital. You must pay for the medical documentation yourself, and you must be able to show the documentation to the employer before the day or days are held.