Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.
Factsheet for measure DK-2020-11/625 – Updated – measures in Denmark
Country | Denmark , applies nationwide |
Time period | Open ended, started on 12 March 2020 |
Context | COVID-19 |
Type | Legislations or other statutory regulations |
Category |
Supporting businesses to stay afloat
– Direct subsidies (full or partial) |
Author | Carsten Jørgensen (FAOS, University of Copenhagen), Anders Randrup (Oxford Research) and Eurofound |
Measure added | 15 April 2020 (updated 23 March 2022) |
The government proposes a bill that employers are granted an extended right to reimbursement for wages or sickness benefits that are paid to employees who are absent as a result of COVID-19. It is also proposed that self-employed persons receive an extended right to sickness benefits for absence due to COVID-19. The purpose of the bill is to mitigate the negative financial consequences for employers as a result of the spread of COVID-19.
The law will allow reimbursement to employers for paid wages and sickness benefits to employees who are absent for the first 30 days of the sickness period – the so-called the employer period. In addition, self-employed workers can receive sickness benefits from the first day of absence instead of after the usual self-employment period of two weeks.As the rules are today, employers have a duty to pay wage expenses during sickness or sickness benefits for 30 days. The bill will suspend the obligatory ‘employer period’ regarding employees who are infected or quarantined due to COVID-19, but will continue to apply to persons and employees who are on sick leave for any other reason.
The compensation measure will be in effect from 27 February 2020 until 1 January 2021.
The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.
14 December 2021 |
The government has decided to expand the entitlement for employer’s reimbursement for sickness benefit. The new bill, which have been approved is as follows: “The employer is entitled to reimbursement under the Sickness Benefit Act from the first day of absence if, because of infection with COVID-19 or as close contact with a person infected with COVID-19, an employee is in isolation in accordance with the Danish health authorities' recommendations to this effect. Similarly, it is proposed that a self-employed person should be able to receive sickness benefit from the first day of absence in the same situation. In addition, it is proposed that parents who may stay at home to care for their children because the child has been found infected with COVID-19 or have been repatriated because of one or more COVID-19 cases of infection in the day care, school or institution, etc., will be entitled to unemployment benefit under the Maternity Act. The new legislation is in force from December 14th, 2021” |
23 March 2021 |
The Danish parliament agreed to extend the scheme which gives employers an extended right to reimbursement from the employee's first day of absence until 30 June 2021. |
The proposal is expected to result in considerable public expenditure in the order of DKK 1,650 million. The cost of the proposal will largely depend on the development in the number of COVID-19 infected.
Workers | Businesses | Citizens |
---|---|---|
Applies to all workers | Does not apply to businesses | Does not apply to citizens |
Actors | Funding |
---|---|
National government
Company / Companies |
National funds
|
Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:
Trade unions | Employers' organisations | |
---|---|---|
Role | No involvement | No involvement |
Form | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
No involvement.
Since the government intended to rush the bill through Parliament, the social partners were not informed or consulted the regular way.
Citation
Eurofound (2020), Expanded entitlement for employer for reimbursement and for self-employed for sickness benefit, measure DK-2020-11/625 (measures in Denmark), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/DK-2020-11_625.html
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