Danish holiday pay starts with the employee’s terms and the applicable holiday rules. The employer must identify the payment method, maintain a leave record, report the right information and fund the correct holiday-pay administrator by the deadline.
For foreign headquarters, the main risk is a gap between HR, the global leave system, Danish payroll and the bank payment. This guide focuses on that holiday-pay workflow. For the complete payroll process, see how to set up payroll in Denmark.
1. Confirm the employee’s holiday-pay route
The ordinary Danish Holiday Act framework distinguishes salary during holiday from holiday allowance. Nationality and a foreign employer’s lack of a Danish subsidiary do not, by themselves, settle whether the rules apply. Posted workers, cross-border work and uncertain employee status need separate assessment.
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| Payment route | Typical position | Main payroll control |
|---|---|---|
| Salary during holiday plus supplement | Qualifying monthly paid employee entitled to full pay on public holidays and during sickness | Continue usual salary during accrued paid holiday and calculate the applicable supplement |
| Holiday allowance | Employee outside the salary-during-holiday route, commonly hourly or weekly paid | Calculate holiday allowance from the correct qualifying pay and report days and amounts |
| Collective arrangement | A qualifying agreement may provide different administration or better entitlements | Check the agreement, guarantee, payer and reporting setup |
For the ordinary salary route, the statutory holiday supplement is at least 1%. The ordinary holiday-allowance rate is 12.5% of holiday-qualifying pay. Do not automatically add 12.5% to an employee who already receives salary during holiday and a supplement. Specialist elections and collective arrangements should be checked separately.
Use the official holiday-pay employer guidance to confirm the classification. Document it in the payroll setup alongside the contract and any collective agreement.
2. Keep the holiday year separate from the calendar year
Employees normally accrue 2.08 paid holiday days for each month of employment, giving five weeks over a full holiday year. The accrual year runs from 1 September to 31 August. The holiday-taking period extends to 31 December after that holiday year, giving 16 months in which accrued holiday can be taken.
For example, the holiday year beginning 1 September 2026 ends on 31 August 2027. Its holiday-taking period ends on 31 December 2027. Holiday can generally be used from the month after it is earned.
Part-time work does not simply reduce the monthly day accrual in proportion to hours. The work pattern affects how holiday is taken and recorded. Keep the employee’s schedule as well as days earned, taken, advanced, transferred and remaining.
The right to time off and the right to payment are related but distinct. A new hire may not have accrued payment for all planned leave. Agree how that is handled before approving the absence. The official holiday allowance guide explains the employee-facing rules.
3. Choose the correct administrator and reporting setup
FerieKonto administers holiday allowance for employees outside a qualifying collective holiday arrangement. Feriepengeinfo is the information service through which employees can see reported allowance and identify the payer. They are not interchangeable names for the employer’s leave ledger.
A valid collective agreement with a holiday-pay guarantee can permit the employer or another administrator to pay. The employer cannot simply retain holiday allowance because it prefers to pay employees directly.
The payer determines the eIndkomst configuration. In the ordinary FerieKonto route, applicable AM-bidrag and A-tax are deducted before net holiday allowance is reported and paid. Other arrangements can use different gross or net reporting. Check the current instructions rather than copying a payer code from a different employee group.
Record who reports, who pays and who checks the result. Outsourcing payroll does not remove the employer’s responsibility to supply correct information and meet the deadline. Our eIndkomst reporting guide covers submission checks and corrections across payroll.
4. Check the calculation base as well as the rate
A correct percentage applied to the wrong pay elements still creates an error. Review salary, bonuses, commission, pension and benefits against the applicable rules and contract. Holiday allowance is not calculated on holiday allowance itself, salary already paid during holiday or the holiday supplement.
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| Simplified example | Calculation | Result before applicable tax |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly employee with DKK 40,000 of holiday-qualifying pay | DKK 40,000 × 12.5% | DKK 5,000 gross holiday allowance |
| Qualifying salaried employee with DKK 600,000 in the supplement base and a 1% rate | DKK 600,000 × 1% | DKK 6,000 holiday supplement |
These examples assume the entire stated base qualifies. They do not determine the treatment of a particular bonus, benefit, sickness period or collective arrangement.
For salary during holiday, the supplement can generally be paid when the corresponding holiday starts or through the statutory May/August payment pattern. A contract or collective agreement may provide a higher amount. Keep the calculation and payment dates visible in the payroll calendar.
5. Use the pay-period deadline for reporting and payment
Holiday allowance is reported through eIndkomst. Where FerieKonto is the payer, the reporting and funding deadlines must both be met.
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| Event | Normal deadline | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly/weekly pay period ends on day 1–15 | End of the same month | Report and pay within that month |
| Hourly/weekly pay period ends on day 16–month-end | 15th of the following month | Schedule reporting and payment for the next-month deadline |
| Employee with salary during holiday leaves | Last bank day of the termination month | Calculate untaken holiday, report and fund the payer |
If an ordinary deadline falls on a weekend or public holiday, use the preceding bank day under the current FerieKonto deadline guidance. Give headquarters an earlier internal cut-off so approval and foreign-bank processing can finish in time.
Use the official payment instructions and the correct CVR/SE reference. Keep banking details out of an unchecked permanent template. A payroll submission receipt does not prove that FerieKonto received the money.
Late reporting can also mean late payment. Investigate missing or rejected reports immediately and reconcile the administrator’s account rather than relying only on the bank transfer amount.
6. Treat a leaver as a separate holiday-pay event
For an employee who receives salary during holiday, untaken accrued holiday normally has to be converted to holiday allowance when employment ends. HR must provide the termination date and final leave position early enough for the last-bank-day deadline.
The leaver check should cover:
- The correct termination date and holiday year.
- Earned, taken, advanced and transferred holiday.
- The pay base for the remaining entitlement.
- Holiday salary and supplement already paid.
- Final bonus, commission or later adjustments.
- Correct days, amount, tax treatment and payer in eIndkomst.
- Reporting receipt, payment and reconciliation.
An hourly employee whose allowance has been reported continuously still needs a correct final period. Do not duplicate amounts already reported.
Later adjustments need their own evidence. FerieKonto has a specific route for qualifying delayed adjustments, such as a bonus that could not be determined earlier. Check the current conditions before using that route; it is not a general excuse for late payroll data.
7. Reconcile HR, payroll and FerieKonto every month
Use one employee-level control chain. The employment terms determine the method; the leave ledger records days; payroll calculates pay; eIndkomst records the report; the bank and administrator show funding; the general ledger records the liability.
Before closing the month:
- Compare joiners, leavers and leave changes with approved HR information.
- Check the holiday-pay base, rate, days and payer for each affected employee.
- Review the accepted eIndkomst result and resolve rejected entries.
- Match the expected payment to the amount actually funded.
- Reconcile outstanding holiday liabilities and explain differences.
- Assign every correction an owner and retain the revised receipt.
Keep employer administration charges separate from the employee’s entitlement. Monitor official rate changes through the relevant provider and Samlet Betaling notices.
8. Review exceptions before promising a payout
Unused holiday is not automatically a cash bonus at calendar year-end. Transfer, payment of holiday beyond four weeks, sickness, maternity leave and other holiday obstacles have specific conditions. Extra contractual days, public holidays and a sixth week should be tracked separately from statutory holiday.
For posted workers, compare the home-country rights with the Danish minimum using the official holiday rules for posted workers. The arrangement must be assessed from the actual assignment and employment terms.
If you are preparing a first hire, use our first-employee checklist to assign the wider HR and finance responsibilities. For help organising the ongoing payroll and holiday-pay workflow, contact NordicEstab with the employee groups, pay frequency, collective arrangements and current payroll system.
This guide provides general information. Employee status, contractual terms and collective agreements can change the treatment. Official guidance checked on 9 October 2026.