Payment of unclaimed holiday pay

Remember that the timely payment of unclaimed holiday pay for the 2019 and 2020/2021 holiday years is 15 November 2022.

When is it relevant?

If you have employees who have not used their 5 weeks of holiday, you, as an employer, are obliged to calculate the number of unused days of holiday per 30 September after the end of the holiday period.

The deadline for timely payment of the unclaimed holiday pay for the 1 September 2020 to 31 December 2021 holiday period is 15 November 2022.

To which fund?

If your employees are covered by a collective agreement, the money must be paid to the holiday fund that appears in the collective agreement.

If your employees are not covered by a collective agreement, you, as an employer, must pay the unclaimed holiday pay into Arbejdsmarkedets Feriefond. You must ensure that reporting and payment to Arbejdsmarkedets Feriefond is done via virk.dk in the period 1–15 November 2022.

What happens if we don’t pay?

If you don’t pay the unclaimed holiday pay to Arbejdsmarkedets Feriefond by 15 November 2022, there is default interest of 1.5% per commenced month.

It is not permitted to pay holiday allowance

As a general rule, it is against the Holiday Act to pay holiday pay to the employee without the holiday being taken. However, with the exception of the 5th holiday week and all other holidays beyond the 4 weeks.

The 5th week of holiday is automatically paid to the employee at the latest with the salary payment in March after the end of the holiday period if the holiday has not been agreed to be carried over at the latest at the end of the holiday period.

Carrying over holiday

As a rule, the employee must take 5 weeks of holiday within the holiday period from 1 September to 31 December of the following year. However, the employee can request that all holidays in excess of 4 weeks be carried over to the next holiday period. It is a condition to carry over holiday that the employer approves to carry over the holiday and that a written agreement is entered into with the employee no later than at the end of the holiday period on 31 December.

Don’t forget the deadline – Risk of a fine in case of violation

Remember that there is a risk of being fined if you do not comply with the reporting and payment obligation. That is, if a written agreement has not been entered into regarding carrying over holiday/cash payment and/or unclaimed holiday pay has not been paid to the relevant holiday fund, you risk receiving a fine.

A random check will be carried out, and the companies concerned must present documentation for carrying over holiday/cash payment and payment to the holiday fund.

Need help?

If you, as an employer, need advice regarding holiday legislation or other employee/HR-related matters, you are welcome to contact us.