Holiday
Holiday and termination
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If you are terminated from your position, during the notice period you generally have the same opportunity to take holiday as you had during your employment. You also have the right to take already any holiday you have already agreed with your employer.
In practice, however, many employers will want you to take your holiday during the notice period.
You can only take holiday days that are earned and ready to be taken before your notice period expires, and you must use full days of holiday.
Whether you can be forced to take holiday during the notice period depends on how long your notice is and whether you have been dismissed, released from your duties or suspended.
Holiday if you have been dismissed with a notice period of less than 3 months
If you have 3 months' notice of termination, your employer cannot decide that you must take your main holiday (the 3 consecutive weeks of holiday in the period 1 May to 30 September) if you have been dismissed. On the other hand, you may well be required to take your 2 weeks' other holiday.
If you want to take your 3 weeks' main holiday, you must have 3 months' notice, and the employer cannot achieve this within the notice period.
The employer only has to give you one month's notice to take your other 2 weeks of holiday, and you may therefore be required to take them during a notice period of 3 months or less.
If you have agreed to take your 3-week main holiday during the notice period before you were dismissed, you can still take the holiday as agreed. But you are not obliged to take your main holiday during your notice period if your notice of termination is less than 3 months.
Have you saved up extra holiday entitlements (feriefridage)? Then you must make agreement with your employer about how to use these.
Read about the rules for extra holiday entitlements and changing jobs
Holiday if you have been dismissed with a notice period of more than 3 months
If your notice of termination is over 3 months, your employer can decide that you must take your accrued holiday during the notice period.
The main holiday is the 3 weeks of continuous holiday you are entitled to in the period 1 May to 30 September. You must have 3 months' notice from your employer if your employer is to require you to take the main holiday. If your notice of termination is more than 3 months, you may well be required to take your main holiday.
However, your employer cannot decide that you must take your main holiday before 1 May, because your main holiday must be taken in the period from 1 May to 30 September.
Your employer also cannot decide that you must take your entire main holiday in September, because you are entitled to take 4 weeks of holiday in the period 1 January - 31 August, when the holiday year ends and a new holiday year starts. But an employer may well decide that, for example, you have to take a holiday in the last 2 weeks of August and in the first week of September.
If your employer requires you to take a main holiday during the notice period, you must be notified that you must take the holiday 3 months before, and the holiday must not start until the 3 months have passed.
For other holidays (the last 2 weeks' of the 5 weeks of holiday you are as a minimum entitled to), your employer only needs to notify you that you will be taking 1 month before. You may therefore also be required to take them during a notice period of 3 months or more.
If you have agreed to take your 3-week main holiday during the notice period before you were dismissed, you can still take the holiday as agreed.
Have you saved up extra holiday entitlements (feriefridage)? Then you must make agreement with your employer about how to use these.
Read about the rules for extra holiday entitlements and changing jobs
Released from your duties: Your rights to holiday
If you are released from your duties in connection with your dismissal, you are required to take as much holiday during the notice period as possible, unless your letter of termination states otherwise.
When you have been released, your employer is not required to inform you that you need to use your holiday during your notice period.
Your holiday can only be considered taken if both the holiday notice and the holiday period take place within the release period. This means that you can only take your main holiday (3 weeks of consecutive holiday between 1 May and 30 September) 3 months after you have been released, and the two remaining weeks of holiday may only be taken 1 month after you have been released.
You can only take the number of days of holiday you have accrued and which are ready to be used before the end of the notice period. This is the case for both holiday accrued before the notice is given, and for holiday accrued during the period of notice.
You continue to accrue holiday and holiday pay with your emplyer for the entire period in which you are released from your duties.
If you get a new job during the release period, you will from the start of your new position begin to accrue holiday with your new employer and thus no longer with your former employer.
If you get a new job while you are released, your holiday can to some extent be considered to be taken.
Contact IDA for advice if you're not sure whether you can be required to take your holiday during the release period.
Log in and contact IDA about holiday and release from one's duties
Have you saved up extra holiday entitlements (feriefridage)? Then you must make agreement with your employer about how to use these.
Read about the rules for extra holiday entitlements and changing jobs
Suspension and holiday
If you are suspended, you must not attend work daily, but you must still be available to perform any work tasks during the notice period.
You therefore only take holiday if your employer notifies you that you must do so, or if you yourself wish to take holiday in a given period.
You must of course not be available to your employer if you are on holiday.
If your employer requires you to use your days of holiday, it must be done in accordance with the provisions of the Holiday Act and follow the normal notices for holidays, i.e. you must have 3 months' notice to take your main holiday (the 3 weeks' continuous holiday in the period 1 May to 30 September) and 1 month's notice if you are to take your other holiday.
Can I be required to take holiday in advance if I am dismissed?
If you have been dismissed, your employer cannot require you to take holidays in advance; you can only take the holiday you have earned and which is ready to be taken.
Your employer may, however, notify you that you must use the days of holiday which have not been earned at the time of notification, but which are ready to be taken at the time you will be taking them.
The holiday, which the employer notifies to be taken, must be taken as whole days. If you have excess hours, your employer must settle them and pay them to you via FerieKonto.
Order holiday pay at borger.dk
What happens to holidays I do not manage to take during the notice period?
If you have accrued days of holiday, which you do not get to take before the end of the notice period, your former employer must pay holiday allowance or holiday pay for the unused holiday days, just like in the case of a normal termination.