Rules concerning illness of a child

What are my options for caring for my ill child?

If your child becomes acutely ill, or if your child is injured in an institution such as a nursery, kindergarten or school, you have the right to take time off on the child's first sick day.

It is not precisely defined what counts as an acute illness.

Whether you can get paid on the child's first sick day depends on your employment contract, the staff handbook or your collective agreement. If you are not entitled to salary on the child's first sick day, your employer can deduct your salary for the child's sick day.

If you have the right to receive renumeration on your child's first sick day, the following rules typically apply:

• The child must be under 18 years of age and need care during the illness.
• You are the child's biological mother or father, adoptive parent or step-parent, or you have custody of the child.
• The child is staying with you.
• There are no others (e.g. another parent or a grandparent) who can take care of the child.

Only one of the parents is entitled to take the child's first sick day off. Both father and mother cannot therefore have the child's first sick day off during the same period of illness.

Remember to tell your employer as soon as possible that you are taking the child's first sick day.

In certain workplaces, you as an employee have the right to take the child's second sick day off.

You can take the child's second sick day off in continuation of the child's first sick day, but you can also take the child's second sick day off without having taken the first. In this way, for example, the mother can take the child's first sick day and the father can take the child's second sick day.

Check your collective agreement, your employment contract, the staff handbook or your collective agreement to see if you are entitled to the child's second sick day.

What are my rights if I get a call to pick up my child from school or daycare?

If you leave your workplace during a workday to be with or pick up your ill child, it will in some cases count as the child's first sick day.

In other cases, you are both entitled to paid time off on the day in question and the day after. Check your collective agreement, contract or staff handbook.

Can my partner and I split the child's sick day?

You can take half of your child's first sick day if you have found someone to care for your child for some of the day.

In this case, remember to inform your employer of the periods during the day when you take care of your sick child and when you work some hours.

Can my manager ask questions about my time off to care for my child?

Your employer is allowed to ask if you can arrange for other family members to care for the child, as the right to be absent is conditional on you not being able to get someone else to take care of the child.

Employers are also allowed to ask if your partner has taken sick days, as you can't both take the child's first day of sick leave and similarly the child's second day of sick leave if you both have that right.

As the right to take the child's first or second sick day is typically conditional on your child being under the age of 18 (depending on the employment contract, staff handbook or collective agreement), employers are allowed to ask about this if they are in doubt about the age of the child.

In addition, employers are not allowed to interfere with whether or not your sick child can manage on their own at home.

How can my partner and I best combine our rights to time off when our child is ill?

If both you and your partner are entitled to time off on the child's first and second sick days and your child is sick for several days, you can choose to take the child's first sick day and your partner can take the child's second sick day. This way, you avoid the sick leave putting more strain on one of you than the other.

Does my employer need to know what's wrong with my child and can my employer ask for proof that my child is ill?

Employees are not obliged to inform their employer about what is wrong with their child, nor can the employer demand to know what is wrong with you when you are sick.

In some cases, an employer may require documentation that the child is sick, especially if there is reason to believe that the employee is abusing the child sick leave scheme (e.g. if the employee has had many child sick days during the year).

In this case, the employer can ask for a statement from the doctor documenting that the child is sick (without specifying the diagnosis).

What do I do if I can't take more paid sick days but my child is still unwell?

Have you used your time off on your child's first and possibly second sick day and is the child still is unwell? If you have no one else to look after the child, you can either agree with your employer that you take time off, use extra holiday entitlements (feriefridage), use your holidays or use care days to look after the child.

You can also try to make an agreement with your employer that you work at home at alternative times to look after your sick child.

Care days: Here are your rights

Am I obliged to work from home while the child is sleeping, for example, or am I allowed to take a much-needed nap myself after a rough night?

When you have informed your employer that your child is ill, you are generally not obliged to work.

As a parent, you know best what your child needs in terms of care and presence during illness and can therefore also assess whether it is possible to work part of the day when the child is sleeping, for example.

We recommend that you discuss expectations with your employer if you are unsure what is expected of you when you have a child who is unwell.

Is it ok if my manager points out that I have an ill child too often?

Yes, your manager is allowed to point out that you have a lot of children's sick days, just as your manager is allowed to point out if you have a lot of sick days yourself.

There may be guidelines in the employee handbook for the maximum number of sick days and thus also a limit for when you can be called in for an interview about your absence due to caring for a sick child. It is therefore a good idea to familiarise yourself with the employee handbook when you are hired.

If you have a lot of absences due to many children's first sick days, a termination due to absence may be justified. If this happens, you should contact us at IDA.

Contact IDA's legal advisers if you are dismissed due to absence

What are my rights if my child becomes seriously ill and has to be hospitalised?

If your child under the age of 18 becomes seriously ill, you are entitled to compassionate leave (omsorgsorlov).

Compassionate leave gives salaried employees the right to 5 compassionate days (omsorgsdage) to use to support, care for, help, or accompany seriously ill children to medical appointments/treatment. Compassionate leave is unpaid, unless you have a special agreement or otherwise is stated in your collective agreement, contract or staff handbook.

Learn more about compassionate leave

You do not have a statutory right to leave in connection with a seriously ill child – whether you can get it depends on your collective agreement, employment contract or staff handbook.

You can, however, take leave and receive unemployment benefit during the leave if the following requirements are met:

• The child must be hospitalised for at least 12 days in a hospital or similar treatment institution. Treatment at home can be equated with a stay in hospital.
• You stop working.
• You meet the employment requirement that entitles you to parental leave benefits (barselsdagpenge).

See employment requirements for parental leave benefits

Can I stay home to care for my chronically ill or handicapped child?

Do you have a child with a long-term physical or mental illness or disability that you look after in your own home?

Then you can get leave from your employer to look after your child full-time or part-time for up to a year. You can get compensation for lost income from your municipality.

Talk to your employer, your trade union representative or IDA and get help to make a good agreement.

Get legal advice from IDA

Read more about children with disabilities at borger.dk (in Danish)

Can I extend my parental leave if my small child becomes seriously ill and hospitalised?

If your child becomes ill and is admitted to the hospital in connection with the birth or within the first 46 weeks after the birth/reception of an adopted child, you can extend the parental leave and the right to parental leave benefits by the number of weeks the child is hospitalised - but with a maximum to 3 months.

The extension applies to the parents together and not to each of the parents.

You can only extend the leave if you do not resume work during the child's hospitalisation. If you resume work, you can instead postpone the remaining leave until after the child has been discharged. In that case, the child must be discharged within 60 weeks from the birth/reception of the child.

If you are a father / co-mother on your 2 weeks' leave in connection with the birth, you can interrupt your leave to take leave of the 22 weeks' leave, as paternity leave cannot be extended. However, the 2 weeks' leave must still be taken within the first 10 weeks after the birth.

If you want to extend the leave, you must send documentation from the hospital, which shows the date of admission and discharge, to Udbetaling Danmark.