The Danish Vacation Law (Danish: Ferieloven) is a Danish law regulating vacation time for employees. A similar law exists in Norway.
Contents
Danish law
The Danish law on vacation time is administered by the Agency for Retention and Recruitment (Styrelsen for Fastholdelse og Rekruttering), which is part of the Ministry of Labour (Beskæftigelsesministeriet) and by a range of other authorities, including the vacation pay scheme, FerieKonto. The Act applies to most Danish employees, but not, for example, to civil servants. A number of the provisions of the Act may be waived under collective bargaining. The law states, among other things, that "an employee shall be entitled to 2.08 days of paid vacation for each month of employment."
A characteristic feature of the Danish vacation law is that it distinguishes between the accrual and the taking of vacation time. All workers covered by the law have the right to 25 vacation days (five weeks), but only those who have accrued vacation time are entitled to paid vacation time.
So-called "floating holidays" are not regulated by the Act but are agreed on between employer and employee, either individually or through collective bargaining.
Relation to EU
The law in Denmark implements part of European Union directive 93/104/EC of 1993, for example Article 7, which states:
Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure that every worker is entitled to paid annual leave of at least four weeks in accordance with the conditions for entitlement to, and granting of, such leave laid down by national legislation and/or practice.