Sick leave - rules for your employee's sick leave

Employee on sick leave

According to the sick pay regulations, your employees must notify you of their illness as soon as possible. If your employees do not follow the guidelines for sick leave, they may risk losing the right to sick leave  even if they were entitled to it. In the event of a long term sick leave, you also have a number of rights and obligations.

In this article, we will therefore make you more aware of which rules apply when your employee calls in sick.

Sick leave from employees

An employee can report in sick due to their own incapacity for work when they are ill. According to the sickness allowance rules, your employee's sick leave notification must be done as soon as possible and no later than two hours after the normal meeting time at the workplace. If your employees report in sick too late, they are therefore not entitled to sick pay from you until the sick report is made.

During the first 30 days – also known as the employer's period – it is the employer who typically has to pay sick pay if the employee is not entitled to pay during illness. The employee may be entitled to pay during illness if they are covered by the Danish Salaried Employees Act or if it is agreed in the employment contract or collective agreement.

The employer must call the employee to an interview after four weeks of illness at the latest, where together you must try to find solutions for how and when the employee should return to work. Here you have, among other things, the possibility to establish a retention plan together with your employee.

Finally, it should be mentioned that you can require documentation from the first day of illness, including a doctor's note. However, it is rarely seen that companies require documentation for short periods of illness.

Reimbursement of sick pay

You can get sick pay reimbursement from your employee's municipality of residence if your employee has been sick for more than 30 days and your workplace continues to pay wages during the sick leave.

The refund is equivalent to the amount of sick pay that your employee would have been entitled to if you had not paid salary. Thus, your company must cover the difference between the employee's salary and the sick pay.

Can you contact an employee on sick leave?

You are welcome to contact your employee on sick leave, for example it is permitted to inquire about the course of the illness or get answers to work related questions. It is also important that the employee checks their email and answers the phone regularly. However, it is worth pointing out that it must not be harassment.

What is the 120 day rule?

According to the 120 day rule, you can terminate your employee with one month's notice until the end of the month, if your employee is a white collar worker or has a similar position and has received pay during illness for 120 days within 12 months. In addition, the 120 day rule applies regardless of how long the employee has been employed by the company.

Your workplace can only use the 120 day rule if the rule has been agreed in writing with the individual white-collar employee in the employment contract.

Can you dismiss an employee due to illness?

Illness is categorised as "legal decay", i.e. that it is not possible to dismiss an employee solely because of illness. If the employer wishes to terminate an employee due to illness, a number of conditions must be met for example:

• The employee has been on sick leave for an extended period of time. This is basically at least 4 months, but the period can be longer depending on seniority or if the sick leave is due to an occupational injury
• There is no prospect of the employee being able to resume their position within the nearest time horizon. The employee's illness and condition must be of such a nature that they cannot resume their work within a short time. If the employee has been employed for a shorter period of time, other guidelines apply. An example of this is white collar employees. If the employee has been employed for less than 1 year, the employee can be dismissed after a shorter course of illness, if the sick leave is not due to a disability or pregnancy

Holiday and illness

What happens if my employee falls ill during a holiday period?

An employee is entitled to compensatory holiday if they fall ill during their holiday. However, not all holiday days are necessarily replaced. The employee can take the compensatory holiday at a later time during the holiday year.

It should be mentioned that the employee only has the right to have their holiday days replaced after five days of illness during the holiday.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that this article is indicative and it is recommended at all times to receive legal assistance in case of illness or termination.

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