Frequently Asked Questions

Holiday pay can be paid in different ways:

• The employee keeps their salary while on vacation. The employee then receives their salary while on vacation, as if they were working.
• Vacation pay is paid into a vacation account at a bank. The vacation pay is then available for withdrawal in May. Please note that tax must be paid on vacation pay.
• It is also common for vacation to be paid with monthly salary with the employee's consent.
• Unused leave shall be paid out upon termination of employment. 
  

The purpose of vacation is for the employee to take a vacation and therefore it is recommended that it not be paid monthly. However, vacation may be paid monthly with salary if both the employer and the employee agree, cf. Paragraph 4 of Article 7 of the Vacation Act No. 30/1987.

Vacation is a form of paid income and is therefore subject to tax. Questions about taxes should be directed to the Tax Office. 

An employer cannot unilaterally decide that an employee should take leave during the notice period. 

When an employee uses their sick leave entitlement, they earn the right to vacation. However, when the sick leave entitlement is fully used, the employee does not earn the right to vacation.

If an employee becomes ill during vacation and is unable to take it, he must notify the employer immediately and in a verifiable manner. If the illness lasts longer than 3 days and the employee provides a medical certificate, he is entitled to compensatory vacation.

Sick leave entitlements vary depending on collective agreements and length of service. You can see information about sick leave entitlements under the rights in each collective agreement below:

• Illness should be reported as soon as possible and in a verifiable manner. 
  
• The main rule is that the employee notifies the employer as soon as possible, so that the necessary measures can be taken at the workplace
  
• The employer's obligation to pay wages during sickness due to illness or accident is dependent on the employee having reported the illness in a verifiable manner
  

Yes, if the employer requests a medical certificate, it must be submitted and the employer is then responsible for paying for the medical certificate. 

Substitute salary

Based on the salary that an employee would have demonstrably received if he had not missed work due to illness or accident, other than attendance bonuses and surcharges for special risks or uncleanliness that are incidental to the performance of specifically specified work.

Full-time job

Full-time wages are fixed wages for daytime work plus shift allowances, bonuses and other performance-related or comparable bonuses for work based on 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week based on full-time work. ​

Daytime salary

Daytime wages are fixed wages based on daytime work (without bonuses and any type of additional payments) for 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week based on full-time work.

An employee receives special sick days due to the illness of children. If they run out, he can apply for sick leave from Efling due to the illness of children. 

An employee is entitled to sick days due to the illness of a child. This sick leave entitlement does not affect the employee's entitlement due to their own illness . This means that an employer may not fail to pay an employee when they are at home with a sick child unless they have fully used their sick leave entitlement. Children's sick leave entitlement applies to children under the age of 13.

However, an employee can apply for sick pay due to children's illness from Efling once they have fully exercised their rights with their employer. 

An employee has the same sick leave entitlement as before taking maternity leave if they work for the same employer. If an employee falls ill in the first month in the same job after maternity leave, the employer must consider the last 12 months before taking maternity leave when calculating the employee's sick leave entitlement. 

Partial illness has been defined so that an employee can be partially unable to work and partially able to work.   

In the general labor market, there has been no agreement on what is called partial sick leave.

In the public sector, it is possible to negotiate partial sick leave with the approval of your supervisor.

Example: An employee may be 60% on duty and 40% sick.

Employees who work shifts earn 12 winter holidays based on annual work for weekends and bank holidays that fall on Mondays through Fridays. 

This is in contrast to the paid time off that daytime employees receive when holidays fall on weekdays. 

It is permitted by agreement between the employer and the employee to pay in lieu of the said holidays, 8 hours of daytime work for each holiday based on full-time work. Employees receive accrued winter holidays upon termination of employment.

Termination can be defined as a notification by one party to an employment contract, employer or employee, to the other party of the end of the employment relationship.

The notice period is the period from the date of notice of termination until the employment relationship ends.

• The notice period is mutual
• All terminations must be in writing and made in the same language as the employee's employment contract
• Generally, the reasons for termination do not need to be specified, but the employee has the right to an interview about their termination and the reasons for termination:

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A request for an interview must be made within four days of receiving the notice of termination, and the interview must take place within four days of that date.

In the general market, the notice period is as follows:

• There is no notice period for the first two weeks of employment
• After two weeks of continuous employment with the same employer: 12 calendar days
• After 3 consecutive months of employment with the same employer: 1 month from the beginning of the month
• After 2 years of continuous employment with the same employer: 2 months from the beginning of the month
• After 3 consecutive years of employment with the same employer: 3 months from the beginning of the month.

Different rules apply to notice periods in the public sector.

Termination of an employment contract is when an employment contract is terminated without notice. An employer or employee may be permitted to terminate an employment contract due to significant non-compliance or breach of conditions.

• If an employer or employee wishes to change employment terms, it must be done by agreement
• If an employer intends to unilaterally change an employee's employment terms, for example to terminate fixed overtime or overtime pay, he must notify the employee in the same manner as if it were a dismissal. The change will only take effect when the notice period has expired
  
• If an employee does not comment on changes, the employer considers that he has accepted them.