Reimbursement of maternity/paternity benefits

When an employee is going on maternity/paternity leave, you must apply for a reimbursement for the salary you pay during the leave. You will automatically be reporting a new case when applying for reimbursement.

You must also report a new case if the employee is not getting paid during the maternity/paternity leave. The leave must be reported from 4 weeks before the expected due date and no later than 8 weeks after the payment has stopped. When your application for reimbursement has been approved, you will receive the money within a month.

It is important to notify of changes to the leave, for example, when stopping salary payments, when there are holidays or when someone is on sick leave. Some information can be changed by you directly in NemRefusion, and other changes require that you contact Udbetaling Danmark.

Self-reporting: When salary payments stop

Remember to report it when you stop paying salary to the employee. You can at the earliest report this from the date the salary payments stop. Please note that people cannot apply for maternity/paternity benefits before you notify that the salary payments have stopped. The employee must apply for maternity/paternity benefits no later than 8 weeks after the salary payment has stopped. If you pay a half salary during the leave, you must stop the case on the last day that a full salary is paid. Then create a new case: Report ‘Halv løn under orlov’ (‘Half pay during leave’) on the new case.

Self-reporting: Changed date or other reason for absence

If you have reported a wrong reason for absence or a wrong date as the first day of absence, you have to annul the case and create a new one.

Notify of: Working hours, holiday, expected date of birth

If there are changes or errors in your reporting of the number of work hours or the date of the holiday starting or the date of birth, you can get this information corrected by contacting Udbetaling Danmark. Udbetaling Danmark will automatically receive salary information from the Danish Tax Agency. Udbetaling Danmark cannot change an employee’s salary information.

Employees are entitled to take a paid holiday or a holiday with holiday pay during maternity/paternity leave, but this must be agreed upon with the employer. You must then inform Udbetaling Danmark of the holiday via NemRefusion. You cannot be reimbursed during a holiday period. This is because an employee cannot receive either salary or holiday pay while receiving maternity/paternity benefits.

Holidays lasting at least 1 week Report and apply for reimbursement again

After a week’s holiday, the leave will automatically be interrupted. If the holiday lasts for one week or more, you must therefore:

• report the leave as a new case

• apply for a reimbursement again if you are still paying a salary.

NB: The holiday must be taken as a single calendar week (Monday-Sunday) - also even if the working week is, for example, Tuesday to Saturday. Example: An employee takes holiday for the entirety of week 30. You must report the leave and apply for a reimbursement anew once he or she is back on leave on the Monday of week 31.

Report and apply for reimbursement once the holiday is over

You can only report the leave once the employee’s holiday is over. You can also only apply for a reimbursement if you are still paying salary.

If the employee is a mother

If an employee takes sick leave due to pregnancy complications, you must apply for reimbursement for the maternity benefits, not the sick pay. You can receive reimbursements from the first day of absence when the employee is sick due to pregnancy. She must therefore report that she is taking time off due to illness from the first day of absence. You can then apply for reimbursement from Udbetaling Danmark.

Apply for reimbursement

When applying for reimbursement, you will automatically be reporting the absence. This must take place 5 weeks after the first day of absence.

Report absence and apply for reimbursement

You can apply for reimbursement for salary paid in connection with an absence within 8 weeks after the end of a period of leave. You can apply from Udbetaling Danmark – Public Benefits Administration via NemRefusion. If you apply after this deadline, you lose your entitlement to reimbursement for this period.

If the employee is absent due to pregnancy before 4 weeks before the due date, you must report the absence via NemRefusion to Udbetaling Danmark – Public Benefits Administration no later than 5 weeks after the first day of absence. If the absence is reported after this deadline, you may lose your entitlement to reimbursement until the absence is reported. The employer can only get a reimbursement if the employee is absent for at least 4 hours per week.

It is possible to agree that the employee works reduced hours during his/her leave. Then the employee’s maternity/paternity benefits will be reduced by the number of hours he or she is working. At the same time, the leave will be extended by the total number of working hours. This is called partial leave or partial resumption of work. If you report it correctly from the start, it will help to ensure that you get reimbursed for the amount that you are entitled to. If the employee is on partial sick leave, this must also be reported.

How to report a partial resumption of work

Partial leave or partial resumption of work is for situations where the employee

• works while being on leave or

• is on partial sick leave due to the pregnancy.

This may be for specific hours or specific days during a week.

If the employee wishes to extend his/her leave

Postponed paid leave

If you are paying salary to the employee during the postponed leave, you can report the leave from the first day of absence.

You can also apply for reimbursement no later than 8 weeks after the last day of paid leave. If the application is submitted after this date, the entitlement to reimbursement for this period is lost. When applying for a reimbursement, you will automatically be reporting a new case.

Postponed unpaid leave

You must report the leave even if the employee does not get paid. You can report this from the first day of absence - and ideally, as quickly as possible, so that the employee can apply for maternity/paternity benefits.

Dispensation from having to adhere to the deadline

It is possible to get dispensation from having to adhere to the deadline if you have applied too late due to, for example, operational issues with NemRefusion. Send documentation for the reason for the delayed application, and then we will take another look at the case.

An employee that loses a child under the age of 18 may be entitled to leave with unemployment/sickness/maternity benefits. This is called ‘grief leave’. The employee must fulfil the employment requirement on the first day of absence in order to be entitled to unemployment/sickness/maternity benefits during the grief leave. The leave can at the earliest begin the day after the death of the child.

If you are paying salary during the leave, it is up to you when and how often you want to apply for reimbursement. You can apply on a monthly or quarterly basis or after the leave has been taken.

If an employee has lost a child

Your employee may be entitled to up to 26 weeks of grief leave with unemployment/sickness/maternity benefits if the child was stillborn or dies before reaching the age of 18. If the employee has given up the child for adoption within 32 weeks of the birth of the child, the employee may be entitled to 14 weeks of grief leave with unemployment/sickness/maternity benefits. The employee can work on a full-time or part-time basis during the leave and will also be able to switch between working and being on leave in the 26-week period. The employee cannot extend or postpone the part of the grief leave that is not taken.

How to report

The employee’s grief leave must be reported via NemRefusion to Udbetaling Danmark – Public Benefits Administration.

Go to self-service

If the leave is interrupted for more than 1 week, you must report the employee’s absence again.

It is important that you report the absence as soon as possible if you are not paying salary to the employee during the grief leave. This because the employee can only apply for unemployment/sickness/maternity benefits when the absence has been reported.

Deadlines

The employee must apply for unemployment/sickness/maternity benefits by no later than 8 weeks after the first day of absence. The first day of absence can be from the day after the child died at the earliest. If you are paying salary to the employee during the leave, you must report the absence as soon as possible after the last day of salary is paid so that the employee can apply for unemployment/sickness/maternity benefits.

When the salary payments stop, the employee must apply for unemployment/sickness/maternity benefits by no later than 8 weeks after the last day of being paid a salary.

Your request for salary reimbursement must be submitted via NemRefusion to Udbetaling Danmark – Public Benefits Administration by no later than 8 weeks after the end of the leave period.

Here you can find information about legislation and how to complain.