Maternity leave, paternity leave and parental leave: Your rights as a salaried employee in Denmark

If you are a salaried employee in Denmark, have the right to take leave when you have a child.

For part of your maternity or paternity leave you will receive full or partial salary payments from your employer. How much you receive and how long you are entitled to receive salary payments depends on your employment contract or the collective agreement under which you are covered.

Parents who are not entitled to paid maternity/paternity leave from their workplace can receive maternity/paternity benefits from their municipal office in their place of residence.

As parents, you are entitled to 24 weeks of leave with maternity/paternity benefits after the birth.

In order to claim this payment, contact the local municipality no later than eight weeks after the birth.

To learn more about maternity/paternity benefits, visit borger.dk.

What are my rights as a parent in Denmark?

As parents, you are each entitled to 24 weeks' leave with maternity/paternity benefits after the birth.

You can take leave consecutively, alternately or simultaneously, and you can assign your leave to each other or others so you can plan your family life, your work life and your finances to suit you.

However, not all weeks can be transferred.

How much maternity/paternity leave you are entitled to and who can transfer leave to whom depends on:

• Your family relationship – if you live together, one set of rules applies – if you live apart, are single, or if paternity is not established, other rules apply
• The nature of your employment. Are you a salaried employee or self-employed?
• Are you entitled to unemployment benefits (dagpenge)?

If you are under employment at the time you transfer leave and cohabiting at the time of birth, you can transfer up to 13 weeks of leave to the other parent.

On 2 August 2022, a new Act on maternity/paternity leave came into force.

If your child is born before 2 August 2022, the old rules on maternity leave apply.

MOTHER: Here are the rules for your leave as an employee

As a mother, you are entitled to 4 weeks' maternity leave before the expected date of birth – however, you may be entitled to longer maternity leave if this is stated in your terms of employment.

After giving birth, you are entitled to 24 weeks' maternity leave, divided as follows:

• 2 weeks’ compulsory leave earmarked for the mother in connection with the birth.
• 8 weeks’ leave (week 3 - 10).
• 14 weeks’ leave – 9 weeks are earmarked for you if you are in work.

Pre-natal leave – 4-8 weeks

As a mother, you are entitled to pregnancy leave leading up to the birth.

You are entitled to 4 weeks' leave before giving birth, but the length of pregnancy leave depends on your employment situation:

Private sector employee: As a mother, you are entitled to 4 weeks' absence before the expected date of birth.

Employed in municipality/region: As a mother, you are entitled to leave from 8 weeks before the expected date of birth

Government employee: As a mother, you are entitled to leave from 6 weeks before the expected date of birth.

The expected date of birth (due date) is included in the weeks of absence.

If you give birth before your due date, you lose the part of your pregnancy leave you did not take before the birth.

However, if you give birth after your due date, your leave will be extended by the number of days you miss.

Compulsory earmarked leave for the mother immediately after birth – 2 weeks

As a mother, you have 2 weeks of compulsory, earmarked maternity leave after giving birth.

The leave starts the day after the birth and you cannot postpone the leave and take it later. Nor can you transfer the leave.

The first 8 weeks of leave

When the earmarked leave ends, you (the mother) continue on 8 weeks' leave with entitlement to maternity benefits.

The leave must be taken within the first 10 weeks after the birth of the child.

If you are working, you can either extend the 8 weeks of leave or you can transfer all or part of the 8 weeks of leave to the father or co-mother.

If the child is born after 1 January 2024 and you are an LGBT+ family or a blended family, you can also transfer leave to social parents - such as your partner or a co-habiting partner who is not the father of the child, or to a known donor or the partner or co-habiting partner of a known donor.

Extension of the 8 weeks’ leave: By agreement with your employer, you can extend your 8 weeks' leave by working reduced hours, for example by taking a few days off each week.

As a rule, you are entitled to maternity benefits for the number of hours you are on leave.

Transfer of the 8 weeks of leave: You can transfer the 8 weeks of leave in 2 ways.

1. You can return to work full-time during the weeks you are transferring, but this will mean that the father or co-mother must take leave in weeks 3-10.
   
   
2. You can go straight on to the 14 weeks of leave immediately following the 2 weeks of compulsory leave after the birth. This means you are still on leave. This gives the father, co-mother or social parent the right to take the 8 weeks of leave, you have transferred. The father, co-mother or social parent may postpone the weeks you transfer until the child is 9 years old.

If you choose to transfer all or part of the 8 weeks to the father, co-mother or social parent, you must both notify your employer 4 weeks before the due date.

The last 14 weeks of leave

If you are working or become an employee within the first year of having the child, 9 of the 14 weeks of leave are earmarked for you.

The 9 weeks of earmarked leave do not have to be taken together, but may be divided into shorter periods or extended if you partially resume work.

You must take the 9 weeks of earmarked leave before the child turns one. If you are prevented from taking the leave before the child turns one because of special circumstances, you may be allowed to postpone the leave and take it before the child turns three. The special circumstances may include temporary serious illness or situations where you have not been granted sufficient access to your child.

The remaining 5 weeks you can either:

• keep yourself
• postpone and use before the child turns 9
• extend by partially resuming work by agreement with your employer
• transfer to the father, co-mother or social parent

If you take the leave yourself, you must give your employer at least 8 weeks' notice.

If you are unemployed, you can transfer all 14 weeks to the father, co-mother or social parents. 

FATHER OR CO-MOTHER: Here are the rules for your leave when you are a salaried employee

 As a father or co-mother living with the mother of the child, you are entitled to 24 weeks' leave after the birth of the child. The leave is divided into 2 weeks of compulsory, earmarked leave and 22 weeks of leave, of which you can transfer 13 weeks.

Compulsory, earmarked leave for father or co-mother immediately after birth - 2 weeks

As a father or co-mother, you are entitled to 2 weeks' leave after the birth of your child.

You can wait to start your leave until your child has come home from hospital.

You can take the leave in one period, but you can also agree with your employer to take the leave flexibly, for example by taking it as single days or by taking one week immediately after the birth and another week later. As a rule, you must have taken your 2 weeks of leave before the child is 10 weeks old.

Your 2 weeks' leave at birth is equivalent to the number of hours you are employed. When you work full-time Monday to Friday, you have 74 hours of leave (2 x 37) to divide within the 10 weeks. If you take the leave in one period, the leave is not extended even if there are public holidays during the period.

Leave – 22 weeks

After the 2 weeks of compulsory leave, there are 22 weeks of leave, of which 9 weeks are earmarked for you as a father or co-mother if you are in work.

The 9 earmarked weeks can be taken as one or in several periods and can be extended if yo partially resume working.

The earmarked leave cannot be transferred to the mother unless you are prevented from taking leave by special circumstances, such as serious illness or situations where you are not granted access to or have established paternity of your child.

The 9 weeks of earmarked leave must be taken within 1 year of the birth of the child.

The remaining 13 weeks of leave you can:

• take yourself consecutively or dvided into shorter periods
• postpone and used before the child turns 9
• extend by partially resuming work, by agreement with your employer
• transfer to the child's mother or social parents. She/they must then take the leave before the child turns 9. You can transfer whole weeks or days.

You can also postpone up to 5 weeks for yourself and take them before the child turns 9.

Extension of leave for mother, father or co-mother

As a mother, father or co-mother, you have the right to extend the parental leave by 8 or 14 weeks if you have used all 32 weeks of leave you have in addition to the 10 weeks of leave after the birth/reception of the child, without interruption (e.g. holiday or work).

You can extend your leave without making an agreement with your employer (a so-called law-based extension), but this extensen cannot be combined with any other flexible options for taking parental leave, such as extension of leave until the child turns 9 at the latest. 

If you have transferred leave and thereby leave of absence to a social parent, you can extend the leave by 8 or 14 weeks when you and the social parent together have taken a total of 32 weeks of leave. 

You must give notice to your employer that you want to extend your leave. This must be done within 6 weeks after the birth of the child.

If you are unemployed, you may only extend the leave by 8 weeks. 

If you have questions about extension of leave, you can contact IDA's legal advisers.

Log in and contact IDA's legal advisers

Postponement of leave for mother, father or co-mother

As the mother, father or co-mother, you may postpone up to 5 weeks of leave to be taken after the child has reached the age of 1 and before the child reaches the age of 9.

The leave can be taken consecutively or in sections - for instance, it can be taken as individual days or weeks.

The 5 weeks of leave are law-based, meaning that you, as an employed person, have the right to take leave later, even if your employment changes. You simply need to notify your employer of the leave and its length at least 8 weeks before it starts.

You cannot postpone more than 5 weeks of leave, even if you are entitled to more leave or have leave transferred from the other parent, without the agreement of your employer.

As a father/co-mother, you can postpone an additional 8 weeks of leave (or more if you have been assigned leave by the mother) by agreement with your employer. You must have resumed full-time work during a period when you would otherwise be entitled to maternity/paternity benefits – that is, between the 3rd week and 1 year after the birth of the child in the case of the mother, and during the first year after the arrival of the child in the case of the father or co-mother.

Leave that you have postponed by agreement with your employer must be taken after the child turns 1 and before the child turns 9, and you do not have to take it consecutively. However, you have no guarantee that you will be able to take the leave you have agreed with your employer at a later point or if you change jobs, for example. That depends on the agreement between you and your employer.

SOLO MOTHER, SOLO FATHER OR NON-COHABITING PARENT: Here are the rules for your leave

If:

• the mother and father/co-mother do not live together at the time of birth
• you do not have joint custody
• a child has only one parent at the time of birth, for example because you have had a child by donor or the other parent has passed away,

leave is allocated differently.

As a solo parent, you also have the option of transferring part of your leave to a close family member. 

If one parent passed away after the birth of the child, the other parent can apply for receiving the deceased parent's parental leave. This leave can also be transferred to other close family members.

Solo mother:

As a solo mother, you are entitled to 46 weeks' leave with maternity benefits after the birth of the child, which must be taken before the child reaches the age of 1.

The leave is divided into:

• 4 weeks of pregnancy leave before the expected birth.
• 2 weeks’ leave immediately after birth.
• 8 weeks of leave from weeks 3-10, which must be taken before the child reaches 10 weeks of age. The first 10 weeks of leave after birth are earmarked to you as the mother and cannot be transferred to a close family member or social parents. 
• 14 weeks of leave, which must be taken before the child turns 1, but which can be postponed and extended until the child turns 9. If the mother is a salaried employee, 9 of the weeks must be taken within the child's first year. If the mother is a salaried employee, 9 of the weeks are earmarked and cannot be transferred to a close family member or social parents. The 9 weeks must be taken within the child's first year.
• 22 weeks of additional leave, to be taken before the child turns 1, but which can be extended by partial resumption of work or postponed by agreement with the employer until the child reaches the age of 9.

Solo father:

As a solo father, you are entitled to 46 weeks of leave with paternity benefits after the birth of your child. As a rule, the leave must be taken before the child reaches the age of 1.

The leave is divided into

• 2 weeks of leave, which must be taken before the child reaches 10 weeks of age. These are earmarked to you and cannot be transferred to close family members or social parents.
• 22 weeks of leave to be taken before the child turns 1, but which can be postponed and extended until the child turns 9. If the father is a salaried employee, 9 of the weeks are earmarked to him and cannot be transferred to close family members or social parents. The 9 weeks must be taken within the child's first year.
• 22 weeks of additional leave, to be taken before the child turns 1, but which can be extended by partial resumption of work or postponed by agreement with the employer until the child reaches the age of 9.

If you are not living together when the child is born:

The parent with whom the child lives will get an extra 13 weeks of leave on top of the 24 weeks of leave after the birth. The 13 weeks of leave must normally be taken before the child reaches the age of 1. The parent can choose to transfer the 13 weeks of leave to the other parent, or to postpone or extend the weeks until the child is 9 years old.

If the parent acquires sole parental authority before the child turns 1, the parent can apply to Udbetaling Danmark for an additional 9 weeks of leave with maternity benefits.  It is a prerequisite that:

• you were not living together at the time of birth
• you are not living together at the time of application
• you have sole parental custody at the time of application.

The 9 weeks of additional leave must, as a rule, be taken before the child reaches the age of 1. The parent can choose to transfer the 9 weeks of leave to the other parent, or to postpone or extend the weeks until the child turns 9, if the conditions are met.

The parent with whom the child does not live is entitled to less leave.

If the child does not live with the father or co-mother, the father or co-mother is entitled to 9 weeks' leave in addition to the 2 weeks' leave at birth, which must normally be taken before the child reaches the age of 1. If the father or mother is a salaried employee, the 9 weeks of leave cannot be transferred to the other parent.

If the child does not live with the mother, the mother is entitled to 2 weeks' leave at birth and 8 weeks' leave. In addition, the mother is entitled to 9 weeks' leave, which must normally be taken before the child reaches the age of 1. If the mother is a salaried employee, the 9 weeks of leave cannot be transferred to the other parent.

If you move apart after the birth, the rules apply as if you were cohabiting, i.e. each parent is entitled to 24 weeks' leave with maternity pay after the birth. This applies even if you move apart shortly after the birth.

Leave for close family members as a solo parent

If you are a solo mother or father, you can transfer leave to a close family member.

Close family members are:

• Your parents or siblings over the age of 18
• Parents or siblings over the age of 18 of a deceased parent

As a solo mother, you cannot transfer the earmarked leave in the first 10 weeks after childbirth, but you can transfer all or part of the leave after the first 10 weeks after childbirth to a close family member. You can also transfer the 22 weeks of additional leave that you may have been granted as the sole legal parent. However, if you are a salaried employee, you cannot transfer the 9 weeks of earmarked leave.

As a solo father, you cannot transfer the 2 weeks of postnatal leave, but you can transfer up to 22 weeks to a close family member. However, if you are a salaried employee, you cannot transfer the 9 weeks of earmarked leave. As a solo father who has had a child with a foreign surrogate mother, you can be granted 22 weeks of additional leave. You can also transfer all or part of this leave to a close family member.

The close family member must take the leave within 1 year of the birth or adoption of the child.

When you transfer leave, you also transfer the right to parental benefit. Therefore, both you and the receiving family member must be employed and fulfil the employment requirement.

Read more about employment requirements and benefit entitlement (in Danish)

The receiving family member must notify their employer of when the leave will begin and how long it will be no later than 8 weeks before they intend to take the leave.

The close family member has the option of interrupting the leave to take holiday, but must be aware that the leave must still be taken within the child's first year.

Once the leave is transferred, the leave is considered taken even if the leave is not taken by the close family member. However, the close family member can transfer the leave back to the legal parent, for example, if the close family member falls ill.

Extra leave for parents with triplets or more children at the same birth

If you have triplets, quadruplets, quintuplets or more children at the same birth, you as parents are entitled to extra parental leave.

This right does not currently apply to parents of twins, but a bill has been proposed for extra leave for parents of twins. The change is expected to come into effect for children born on or after 1 May 2024.

For parents of three or more children at the same birth, you are entitled to an extra 26 weeks of leave in addition to the standard 24 weeks of postnatal leave.

You decide how to divide the 26 weeks of leave. For example, you can take 24 weeks of leave at the same time and then use the extra 26 weeks for each of you to take 13 weeks of extra leave, or for one of you to take all of the extra 26 weeks.

If you are a solo mother or father, you are entitled to the extra 26 weeks in addition to the extra 22 weeks you have as a solo parent. Please note that the 22 weeks must be taken within 1 year of the birth.

The extra 26 weeks of multiple birth parental leave must be taken within 18 months of the birth.

The extra 26 weeks cannot be extended or postponed to a later date.

To be entitled to parental benefit during the extra 26 weeks of leave, you must fulfil the statutory employment requirements.

Read more about employment requirements and benefit entitlement (in Danish)

Leave for social parents

If your child is born after 1 January 2024 or later, as a mother or father in an LGBT+ family, blended family or donor family, you can choose to transfer leave to the child's legal parent (i.e. the father or mother who is registered as the parent of the child), and/or you can transfer leave to social parents in the same way and according to the same rules as if it were a legal parent.

You can transfer your leave to more than one social parent, for example, as a mother you can transfer weeks to a co-mother plus one or two social parents. You can then take leave together or consecutively.

What are social parents?

Social parents are:

• The legal parent's spouse.
• The cohabiting partner of the legal parent who has lived in a marriage-like relationship with the legal parent for at least 2 years at the time the leave with the child starts.
• A known donor of the child.
• A spouse of a known donor.
• A known donor's cohabiting partner who has lived in a marriage-like relationship with the legal parent for at least 2 years at the time the leave with the child starts.

Benefit entitlement for social parents

When you transfer leave to a social parent, you also transfer the right to parental benefit that you as a mum or dad are or would be entitled to.

This means that the social parent can receive parental benefit if they fulfil the employment requirements of the Parental Leave Act.

Read more about employment requirements and benefit entitlement (in Danish)

Extension of leave for social parents

Social parents can extend the transferred leave by working reduced hours if they can make an agreement with their employer to do so.
If you are unemployed, you must take full leave as a social parent. In this case, you cannot extend the leave.

Postponement of leave for social parents

Social parents can postpone assigned leave by agreement with the employer. The leave must be taken before the child turns 9 years old.

If you change jobs as a social parent, you can only take the deferred leave if you can make an agreement with your new employer.
You also have the option of transferring the leave back to the legal parent, who will then be able to take the leave before the child turns 9 years old.
To take the deferred leave, you must fulfil the employment requirement.

How do I give notice of my leave?

As a mother, you must give notice of maternity leave as follows:

• At least 3 months before the expected date of birth: Deadline for telling your employer that you are pregnant and if you want to take 4 weeks of leave before the birth.
  
  
• At least 4 weeks before the expected date of birth: If you, as a mother, want to transfer up to 8 of the weeks in the first 10 weeks after the birth, you must tell your employer now. You must also tell them if you are continuing directly on the following leave.
  
  
• 6 weeks after birth: If you are on leave for the first 10 weeks after giving birth, you must now tell your employer when you will return to work. If you take leave after the first 10 weeks after giving birth, you must also tell your employer when you will take leave and how long it will last. If you want to postpone up to 5 weeks of law-based leave to be taken before the child turns 9, you must also give notice thereof before 6 weeks after the birth. Remember that you also need to give notice 8 weeks in advance when you want to take the postponed leave.
  

As a father/co-mother/social parent, you must give notice of maternity/paternity leave as follows:

• At least 4 weeks before the expected date of birth: now you must inform your employer if you want to take leave during the first 10 weeks after the birth of your child. You must tell your employer when you want to take leave and for how long.
  
  
• 6 weeks after birth: If you want to take leave after the first 10 weeks after giving birth, you need to tell your employer when you want to take all your leave and how long it will last - also if you get leave transferred from the mother. If you want to postpone 5 weeks of leave to take after the baby's first year you need to inform your employer now. If you want to postpone up to 5 weeks of law-based leave to be taken before the child turns 9 years old, you must also give notice within 6 weeks of the birth. Remember that you must give notice of your intention to take the postponed leave 8 weeks before you take the leave.

Do you want to take postponed leave?

When you want to take up to 5 weeks of postponed leave, you must inform your employer at least 8 weeks before the start of the leave when and for how long you want to take the leave. You must take the leave before the child reaches the age of 9.

Let us help you

If you have any questions concerning your terms of employment when you are or are going to become a parent, IDA can help you to get an overview of your maternity/paternity leave entitlements.

You can also get advice about your additional rights - for example, the possibilities of postponing periods of leave or extension of leave periods, opportunities for partial resumption of work, the allocation of leave between parents and caring for sick children.