Maternity/Paternity rights

In connection with pregnancy and maternity/paternity, the parents have different rights and obligations. Below, you will find general information about maternity/paternity and about where you can read more.

Terminology

In connection with the maternity/paternity period, there are different types of leave. Some is reserved for the mother, others for the father and some can be shared by the parents. Below, you can see the name, the period and who is entitled to the leave. You can find more information about the different types of leave as well as notification rules under the keyword here in the Staff Handbook.

Pregnancy leave
Six weeks’ leave, before childbirth, can only be taken by the mother

Maternity leave

14 weeks’ leave, after childbirth, can only be taken by the mother

Paternity leave

2 weeks’ leave, after childbirth, can only be taken by the father

Parental leave

32 weeks’ leave, taken from week 14 after childbirth, can be divided between the parents

Procedure

When an employee (or partner) becomes pregnant, the employee must inform his/her department of this. The department must be notified of any pregnancy leave or paternity leave.

When HR has been informed of the pregnancy and the requested leave, a letter is sent to the parents asking them to complete a form in which they specify how they wish to take their maternity/paternity/parental leave.

If the department is able to accommodate the wishes, a ‘maternity/paternity agreement’ is prepared stating the obligations of both the department and the employee.

HR has prepared an overview of the entire maternity period which can be downloaded from HR’s website under the item ‘maternity/paternity’ – here you will also find the relevant leave notification forms.

Pay during absence

The leave periods partly consist of periods with pay and partly periods with benefits – you can read more about the specific distribution under the relevant leave types here in the Staff Handbook.

Extension, postponement and periodic leave

There are many possibilities of making an agreement for a flexible parent leave arrangement. As such an arrangement is in effect an agreement, it requires that the employee and the employer (here, the department) can agree on the terms.

For more information about the various options, see the topic ‘parental leave’.

More information

For more information about the different types of leave, see the Staff Handbook under the relevant keyword. Furthermore, HR offers a dedicated maternity/paternity page where you can find all relevant information and necessary forms.

If you still have questions after having read the relevant sections of the Staff Handbook, you can read more in the Danish State Employer’s Authority’s ‘Barselsvejledning’ (PDF – maternity/paternity guidelines – in Danish) which provides a detailed explanation of rules and options.

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