Parental leave as a self-employed person

As a self-employed person with your own business, you have the right to parental leave with your child.

The rules mean that you, as parents, are each entitled to 24 weeks' paid leave after the birth. You can transfer leave to each other, to help you manage your family life, your working life, your business and your finances - however, some weeks cannot be transferred.

How much parental leave you are entitled to and who can transfer leave to whom depends on:

Your family circumstances - do you live together or are you a solo parent?
How you are employed. Are you employed or self-employed?
Are you entitled to unemployment benefits?

As a mother, father or co-mother who is self-employed and lives with the child's other parent at the time of birth, you can transfer up to 22 weeks' leave to the father or co-mother.

If you live separately, are a solo parent, or paternity has not been established, other rules apply.

New rules about parental leave came into force in 2 August 2022. If you child is born prior to 2 August 2022, the old rules apply.

See the rules for parental leave for children born before 2 August 2022

When are you self-employed?

You are considered self-employed if the following applies:

you carry out your work at your own expense, at your own risk and in your own name
you are VAT registered and your earnings are taxed as b income
you can hire others to do your work
you yourself pay for materials, office, car and the like
you determine your own working hours
you determine your own salary or fee and the price of any services and goods
you have entered into written cooperation agreements and have several customers
you carry out your work at home or from your own office
you have taken out voluntary business insurance
you are the owner or co-owner of a sole proprietorship, partnership (I/S) or limited partnership (K/S)

If you are employed in your own ApS or A/S, you are a salaried employee.

MOTHER: Here are the rules for your leave as a self-employed person

Leave before childbirth for the self-employed - 4 weeks

As a self-employed mother, you have the right to leave with maternity benefits for 4 weeks before the expected birth. The day the birth is expected (due date) is included in the 4 weeks.

If you give birth before the expected date of birth, the right to leave before birth will be shortened accordingly. If, on the other hand, you give birth after the planned due date, the leave will be extended.

Obligatory, earmarked leave for mother immediately after birth - 2 weeks

According to the Danish law, you as a mother must not work for the first 2 weeks after giving birth.

If you still choose to work part-time as a self-employed mother, you cannot receive maternity benefit.

The next 8 weeks of leave

When the earmarked leave ends, you continue on 8 weeks' leave with the right to maternity benefits.

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

You can also choose to either extend the 8 weeks' maternity leave by working reduced hours, or you can transfer the 8 weeks' maternity leave in whole or in part to the father or co-mother.

If the child is born after 1 January 2024, you can also transfer leave to social parents if you are part of an LGBT+ family or have children from prior relationships.

Extension of maternity leave: From the 3rd week after the birth, you can work reduced hours and thus extend your leave.

As a self-employed person, you can only take leave either full-time, 75% or half-time.

If you take leave either 75% or 50% of the time, your leave is calculated in relation to the number of hours that you have informed Udbetaling Danmark that you work per week.

This means, for example, that if you have given notice that you normally work 50 hours a week, you must work up to 25 hours a week if you want to take partial leave. In this way, you can maintain your business at the same time as you receive maternity benefits.

If you resume your work with more than 50% of the normal working hours per week, it counts as working full time. You will then no longer be able to receive maternity allowance.

Transfer of maternity leave: As a mother, you can transfer up to 8 weeks of your leave to the father, co-mother or one or more social parents if:

You resume full-time work – in which case the 8 weeks' leave must be taken by the other parent within 10 weeks of the child's birth OR
You continue directly on 14 weeks of parental leave with the child. In that case, the other parent must, as a rule, take the 8 weeks' leave within 1 year of the child's birth. The father, co-mother or social parents can extend the leave by working reduced hours or by postponing it until the child is 9 years old.

You must be self-employed at the time you transfer leave – i.e. the time you notify Udbetaling Danmark about the transfer. It is your employment at the time of transfer that determines how much leave you can transfer.

The remaining 14 weeks of leave

As a self-employed mother, you have the following options:

You can take all 14 weeks of parental leave yourself. You can do this by either taking full-time maternity leave with maternity benefits within 1 year of the child's birth, by working reduced hours and thereby extending the leave, or by postponing the leave.
You can transfer all 14 weeks to the father, co-mother or social parents.

Extension of parental leave: As a self-employed mother, you can extend your leave by working reduced hours. As a self-employed person, you can only take leave either full-time, 75% or half-time (50%).

If you take a reduced-time leave, your leave is calculated in relation to the number of hours you have notified Udbetaling Danmark that you work per week. If you have given notice that you normally work 50 hours a week, you must work 25 hours if you take half-time leave. That way, you can maintain your business while at the same time receiving maternity benefits.

If you work more than 50% of your normal working hours per week, it counts as working full time and you will no longer be able to receive maternity benefits.

Postponement of parental leave: As a self-employed person and a mother, you can postpone your leave and take it at a later time, after the child turns 1 and before the child turns 9.

You can postpone up to 14 weeks of your leave if you as parents live together. If you do not live together or you are entitled to more leave according to other special rules, or you have been given leave from the other parent, you can postpone several weeks' leave.

If you want to take deferred leave as a self-employed person, you must be in employment and, in addition, meet the conditions always applicable concerning parental leave. Also be aware that sickness and maternity benefits do not count towards the calculation of your work as a self-employed person.

You can take the deferred leave in several ways:

You can take deferred leave full time
You can take deferred leave at a reduced time - either 75% absent or half-time.

If you take deferred leave for a reduced period, the deferred leave is basically calculated based on your most recent annual statement as a self-employed person and your average weekly number of hours you are absent at the time you take the leave. Your parental benefit will be paid out in equal shares per day from Monday to Friday, regardless of the degree of absence you take leave with.

You can adjust your deferred leave week by week, i.e. you can hold it for one or more total periods or drop by drop. An overall period consists of several weeks in a row, e.g. weeks 28, 29 and 30. Dripwise means that you take leave in individual weeks spread over the period until the child turns 9, e.g. one week in March, one week in April, a week in December, etc.

Transfer of parental leave: If you live together at the time of birth, you as a mother and self-employed person can transfer up to 14 weeks of parental leave to the father or co-mother, or to one or more social parents.

As a rule, the father, co-mother or social parent must take the leave within 1 year of the child's birth. However, they can also extend or postpone the leave until the child is 9 years old.

If you have salary income alongside your self-employed business or you become an employee within the first year after receiving the child, you must be aware that 9 of the 14 weeks of parental leave are earmarked for you, and you must take them within 1 year after the birth of the child, unless you are prevented due to special circumstances.

FATHER OR CO-MOTHER: Here are the rules for your leave as a self-employed person

As a self-employed father or co-mother who lives with the child's mother, you are entitled to 24 weeks' leave after receiving the child.

The leave is divided into 2 weeks of compulsory, earmarked leave and 22 weeks of parental leave, which can be transferred.

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 the child.

You may wait to start the leave until the child has returned home from hospital.

You can take the leave for a total period, but you can also extend the leave by working reduced hours.

As a self-employed person, you can only take leave either full-time, 75% or half-time.

If you take leave with either 75% or 50%, your leave is calculated in relation to the number of hours that you have informed Udbetaling Danmark that you work per week.

If you resume your work with more than 50% of the normal working hours per week, it counts as working full time. You will then no longer be able to receive benefits.

The next 22 weeks of leave

As a self-employed father or co-mother, you have the following options:

You can take all 22 weeks of parental leave yourself. You can do this by either taking full-time leave with benefits within 1 year of the child's birth, by working reduced hours and thus extending the leave, or by postponing the leave.
You can transfer all 22 weeks to the mother or social parents.

Extension of leave: As a self-employed father or co-mother, you can extend your leave by working reduced hours. As a self-employed person, you can only take leave either full-time, 75% or half-time (50%).

If you work more than 50% of your normal working hours per week, it counts as working full time and you will no longer be able to receive maternity benefits.

Postponement of parental leave: As a self-employed person and father or co-mother, you can postpone your leave and take it at a later time after the child turns 1 and before the child turns 9.

You can postpone all 22 weeks of your leave if you as parents live together. If you do not live together or you are entitled to more leave according to other special rules, or you have been given leave from the other parent, you can postpone several weeks' leave.

If you want to take deferred leave as a self-employed person, you must be in employment and, in addition, meet the same conditions as normal for parental leave. Also be aware that sickness and parental benefits do not count towards the calculation of your work as a self-employed person.

You can take the deferred leave in several ways:

You can take deferred leave full time
You can take deferred leave at a reduced time - either 75% absent or half-time.

If you take deferred leave for a reduced period, the deferred leave is basically calculated based on your most recent annual statement as a self-employed person and your average weekly number of hours you are absent at the time you take the leave. Your parental benefits will be paid out in equal shares per day from Monday to Friday, regardless of the degree of absence you take leave with.

You can adjust your deferred leave week by week, i.e. you can use it for one or more total periods or drop by drop. An overall period consists of several weeks in a row, e.g. weeks 28, 29 and 30. Dripwise means that you take leave in individual weeks spread over the period until the child turns 9, e.g. one week in March, one week in April, a week in December, etc.

Transfer of parental leave: If you live together at the time of birth, you as a father or co-mother and self-employed can transfer all 22 weeks of parental leave to the mother or one or more social parents.

As a rule, the mother must take the leave within 1 year after the birth of the child. However, she can also extend or postpone the leave until the child is 9 years old.

If you have salary income alongside your self-employed business, you must be aware that 9 of the 14 weeks of parental leave are earmarked for you, and you must take them within 1 year of the child's birth, unless you are prevented due to special circumstances.

SOLO MOTHER, SOLO FATHER OR NON COHABITATING PARENTS: Here are the rules for your parental leave as a self-employed person

If you do not live together at the time of the birth, you may be granted additional leave:

Does the child have a registered address with you? Then you can get an extra 13 weeks of leave on top of the 24 weeks you already have. You can transfer the extra 13 weeks of leave to the other parent or postpone the leave and take it before the child turns 9 years old.
Do you have sole custody or will you have sole custody before the child turns 1 year old? Then you can apply to Udbetaling Danmark for an extra 9 weeks of leave with entitlement to parental leave benefits. It is a condition that you were not living together at the time of the birth and do not live together and you have sole custody at the time of application. The 9 weeks can be transferred to the other parent or postponed and taken before the child reaches the age of 9.
Are you a mother who does not have the child living with you? Then you are entitled to 9 weeks of leave in addition to the 10 weeks of leave at birth.
As the father or co-mother, do you have the child living with you? Then you are entitled to 2 weeks of leave at birth and an additional 9 weeks of leave.
Are you the child's only parent at the time of birth? Then you can apply for 22 weeks of additional leave. For example, you are a solo mother, where you have had a child with the help of a donor and there is no legal father. For example, you are a solo father where you have had a child with the help of a foreign surrogate mother. The 22 weeks can be extended by partial return to work or postponed until before the child reaches the age of 9.

If you move apart after the birth, this does not affect the allocation of leave.

As a solo parent, you can transfer leave to a close family member or a social parent.

Parents of triplets or more than three children born at the same time are entitled to extra leave

If you have triplets or more than three children at once, you as parents are entitled to extra parental leave.

If you get twins, you currently do not have the right to extra parental leave.

Learn more about extra leave for parents of triplets

Can I get parental benefits when I am self-employed?

As a self-employed person, you are entitled to benefits if you meet the following employment requirements:

You have worked for at least 18.5 hours per week for 6 months within the last 12 months. Periods in which you have received sick pay, parental benefits or similar benefits do not count as work.
You have worked for the last month before going on parental leave.
There is a profit in your business.
You are with your child every day, i.e. physically spend time with the baby during your leave.

If you have just started working as self-employed and have worked as a self-employed person for less than 6 months, you can count periods when you have worked as an employee.

However, periods in which you have received sick pay, parental benefits or similar benefits do not count as work.

How much can I get in parental leave benefits and compensation from the Parental Leave Fund?

Your parental benefit is calculated on the basis of

the profit in your company
any income transferred to the working spouse
own sickness and maternity benefits
compensation from barsel.dk.

You cannot get maternity benefits if your company does not make a profit and you have not taken out insurance.

If you have purchased health insurance from Udbetaling Danmark no later than 6 months before you apply for parental leave benefits, you can receive at least two thirds of the maximum benefit rate, regardless of how much you have earned.

If you are covered by a waiting period that expires during your leave, with the insurance you will also receive at least two thirds of the maximum maternity benefit rate from the time the waiting period expires.

On borger.dk under How much can I get in parental leave benefits you can see the current rate:

See unemployment benefit rate for the self-employed on maternity leave at borger.dk (In Danish)

If you have an annual income as self-employed that is higher than the maximum unemployment benefit rate, you can also get compensation from barsel.dk (Barselsfonden):

See rules for compensation from barsel.dk at virk.dk (In Danish)

Where and when should I apply for parental benefits and compensation from barsel.dk as a self-employed person?

You must apply for parental leave benefits no later than 8 weeks after the birth of the child.

If you start your leave later after the birth, you must apply no later than 8 weeks after the first day of leave.

When you report leave and apply for benefits, you are also applying for compensation from barsel.dk (barselsfonden).

Apply for maternity allowance for the self-employed at virk.dk (In Danish)

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