We Compare Time Off Work in Denmark VS USA - By Dealing Cards :)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 มี.ค. 2021
- We wanted to examine the amount of time a typical salaried worker gets in the US compared to Denmark.
Here are links to some topics we discussed in the video:
Danish Holiday Act - www.workindenmark.dk/Working-...
US Family Medical Leave Act - www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla
Parental Leave in Denmark - lifeindenmark.borger.dk/worki...
www.borger.dk/kampagnesider/B...
Instagram - / travelinyoung00
Facebook - / travelinyoung
Website -
![[TH] 2024 PMWC x EWC Main Tournament Day 3 | PUBG MOBILE WORLD CUP x ESPORTS WORLD CUP](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3EM6gpHgLk4/mqdefault.jpg)
My American boss used to call Danes lazy and said they didn't want to work. I used to greet him with the following: Welcome back to the land of the truly free. May your stay be One of peace and insight. 😀😊 We got on famously.
It's funny, because a friend of mine was starting danish stores in the US, the stores over there had to have around double staff, mostly because they didn't work as fast and efficient. I'm sure it goes the other way around in other places, but my feeling is Europeans are just a lot more efficient.
@@darabbit333 Mostly European retail staff just aren't dead tired from working their second job in the evenings in order to make ends meet.
@@Doomlonbbyn makes sense
To be fair; who _wants_ to work? We do it because we need cash.
I’ve said it before in another of your videos, but it is soooooo rewarding to me, as a dane, to hear your point of view on things I take so much for granted. I’ve lived with it my entire life, so a lot of stuff in society, is just “normal” until you guys highlight it.
Making me increasingly more grateful to be the nationality I am. 😂❤️
And we are so grateful that Denmark has welcomed us in to live here :). Thanks for your comments and for following us!
Præcis!! Lige mine ord! Thank you, Youngs for thise kind of videos 🙏😊 and, they are fun, or should I said, you guys are fun 😃👍
As an American I never understood why soooooo many people view the US as THE Country to be in, we have been a fucking shit show since the 1800’s,
Guys, I think it is a HUGE deal that you couldn't mention maternity leave. In Denmark we are ALL entitles to ONE FULL YEAR off for every kid we have. You even get paid during this year - in different levels of pay though, the first 14 weeks are "birth leave", the remaining weeks are maternity/paternity leave and can be split between parents. You can even save 8-13 weeks of the maternity leave and take it any time you want until your child I 9 year old.
Yes it sounds too good to be true, but there you have it.
No not all get paid a year. I got paid for three months, and the rest of the year was money from the goverment.
it’s your own money you get back with anything here in Danmark...why do think the taxes are so high?
@PLANT ya but i wouldn’t call it free, as there is no such thing anywhere in the world.
@PLANT The cost for healthcare is higher per capita in the us, than in denmark. Even thou our healthcare is better, we use less money on it. I dont know the actual numbers, but i think its around twice as much that costs the government than in Denmark. Per person that is.
All becuase we have centralised it, government controlled and can make bigger deals, because we buy it in bigger bulk.
But yes.. people think healthecare is more expensive in Denmark, becuase we pay it over the taxes, but actually its the other way around.
@@AnitaBlingBling Does it matter where the money comes from??
Maternity/paternity leave is as follows:
Mom:
3-6 weeks before the baby's due date
12 weeks after the baby is born
Dad:
1-3 weeks after the baby is born
To share between mom and dad:
36 weeks after the first 12 weeks that go to mom
It differs, from employer to employer, how much of the leave is paid at 100% your normal salary. Regardless, the rest is paid at your "a-kasse" rate (roughly) by the state.
It's a pretty sweet deal!
Sounds like you are in Sweden, using the term "A-kassa"
It’s called “A-kasse” in Denmark as well.
Those laws are constantly being updated... Something about men getting more and more weeks etc.
@@tysej4 > at the expense of the woman. Cause equality. Now, there is less freedom to divvy up the shared weeks, compared to previously a lot more necessarily has to be taken by the father - despite many households not wanting to do so.
To be honest.
As born and raised in Denmark.
I find it hard to understand how people can really complain about anything in this country.
If every time something bad happns to you. You just remeber you were born one of the luckiest people on the planet.
It is hard to get mad.
@Hizors Man behøver ikke være socialist for at værdsætte at være født i norden.
We don't even know how good we've got it.
@Hizors Heldigvis er det flertallet der bestemmer. 👍👍
@Hizors At være kunne sætte pris på det man er givet. Har vel 0 at gøre med politisk tankegang?
Exactly.
In DENMARK you cannot use vacation for being sick. If you are sick when your vacation starts you’ll have to wait starting the vacation until you are well
you CAN if you want too, but if you show a doctors note, you get your vacation days reimbursted.. at least, that is how it is in Norway.
@@christinwilhelmsen9460 Afaik: Doctors note isn´t necessary unless you´re sick over longer time (more than two weeks i think) - It was changed because doctors have better things to use their time on... Yes. If you are sick, it doesn´t count as vacation. The vacation isn´t automatic extended, wouldn´t be fair to the employer, but you will be able to get the missing days at a later time.
@@fastertove you need a doctors note if you want the days you where sick on a vacation to get reimbursted. you cant just tell them you where sick, even if its just 2 or 4 days of a vacation. Else alot of people would take advantage of it and just "say" they where sick during their vacation, even if they where not, just to get more vacation days..
@@christinwilhelmsen9460 Thanks for correcting me. Just read up on it.
It seems, that the employer can demand to see a doctors notice - so it is up to the employer.
It also seems, that the beginning of your illness is important(the day you first report sick). If you are sick before a vacation begins you can get all days back (this essentially means that the vacation haven´t begun).
If you get sick during the vacation (fx halfway) you won´t get the (up to) 5 first days of vacation back.
@@fastertove my mum worked for NAV for decades, so whenever I had any questions, I always asked her. Im always up for discussions with mindful people like you, and if im wrong, Im not afraid to admit that either ;) see you around ;)
Watching this friday morning in a break. Working from home as pretty much every one else. Thinking to myself "this is gonna be interesting", and then I hear the line "Im having a whisky because why not".
I laughed out loud, and then seriously looked at my liquor cabinet and thought "yes.. why not?"
Yee, I will wait until afternoon, but thanks alot for the laugh and lots of fun and interesting videos.
Haha! No problem, we are so glad you enjoy, both our videos and whiskey :).
That line was wonderful!
And it shows quite a high degree of integration with Danish culture, I feel. If it were up to me, she'd be given immediate permanent residency just for that!
I heard Beer and Whiskey so I thought about a Submarine :)
Love you guys and your stories :) Always funny to hear about how "normal" life is in the US compared to "normal" life in Denmark seen from your perspective :)
Keep up the good work
@@jrgenarlgade4581 Thanks, will do! Glad you enjoy!
It's awesome news for Denmark that you're sticking around 😊👏
Aww, thanks!
Agree!!
I worked on farms in the US when I was younger. Zero paid vacation, one week vaca a year after one year. No sick days. I worked 6 days a week and holidays (no extra pay). I also worked on farms in DK with all the benefits you guys mentioned plus rotating weekends off. Not sure why I should have gone back to the US, that was a stupid decision, I was too young to know better.
Maternity leave is definitely the single most important difference here and the last one I would want to be without.
I couldn't imagine my wife having to go back to work 2 days after.
Most women dont need to work in the US. One salary is enough, thats why
@@jimmybaldbird3853 This is absolutely not true.
@@areteeeye yeah it is
@@jimmybaldbird3853 I just researched that. And it is partly true. More women, compered to other civilized contries, are not working in the US. But that is actually because the US, don't care if you get a child. So many families, needs to let the mom not work. Not because they choose to, but because they have no other option.
@@TheChrisMiR does that make sense to you? That we are just a nation of cold, uncaring people that prioritize work over family culture? We have traces of traditionalism mixed with higher salaries. As the US industries are shipped and outsourced over seas, this is changing a bit. But no, Americans are paid more, and therefore, only require a single family income. It is more desirable for the children to be raised by their mother than an institution
In Denmark, the new "vacation" law is as simple as this:
Each month of employment, you earn 2.08 vacation days which equals 25 days per year - So 5 weeks vacation.
plus 37 timer =feriefri timer .
About Maternity in Denmark. You get free 4 weeks before due date (8 weeks if you work in public jobs). When you have born the kid you have 6-9 month full pay and after that you can get paid from goverment, i believe it is 3-6 month (total 12 month). But the goverment pay is lower than regular pay...
Good video it is difficult topic
Remember that you as a farver gets 2 weeks fully paid just after the birth of your child.
This is not true. Maternity leave benefits differ a lot from company to company. It is in no way normal to have 6-9 months of full pay. You have 2 weeks before kid is born, then 14 weeks dedicated to the mom and then 32 weeks that the parents can share. This totals less than a year. You could also end up being on government paid maternity leave for the full duration if your job doesn't offer any pay.
4 weeks before for the pregnant person
Then 14 weeks after birth.
Then there's 2 weeks at birth for the partner.
Total of 20 weeks.
Beyond that there's 32 weeks you can freely divide as you you wish between both parents. Totally 52 weeks or a full year.
@@kimf.wendel9113 as a bonus you also earn full vacation time even though you are on maternity leave, which is another five weeks
For sick days in Denmark, I believe that you are allowed 120 days, without consequence.
But a unspoken rule is, that if you’re sick, you’re sick - you don’t spend it on anything else.
No you are not allowed to have 120 days without consequence. But if you get a long term illness you cannot be laid off before 120 days for that reason..
It's so nice to see some of the differences between the countries. And it makes me appreciate Denmark even more now for all that we get. Thank you for sharing. Great videos, here's my subscribe....And welcome to Denmark :)
and a short point:
Danish taxes pay for sick leave, maternity leave etc...no extra insurance needed 👍😊
And the US REpuplicans call Danmark socicalistic!!! It is a capitalistic Government
Regarding sick leave in Denmark, there are actually some restrictions. After 4 consecutive days your employer can demand a doctors note to document that you are actually sick and if you have more than 120 days of sick leave within a 12 month period they are allowed to fire you with 1 months notice regardless of how long of a notice you would normally be entitled to. I believe this is also the only circumstance under which an employer is allowed to fire you while you are on sick leave
The 120d rule, has to be specifically stated in your employment contract, and most contracts doesn't. Yore will still be able to claim at least 120 days on 'sygedagpenge' before you are to use unemployment benefits (dagpenge)
Mit engelske er ikke så godt. Men mange tror, at 120 dages reglen er en fordel for medarbejderen. Det er den ikke. Fordelen har arbejdsgiveren, for på den 120 sygedag kan han fyre dig med kun en måneds varsel, uanset om du har pga din lange ansættelse har flere måneders opsigelsesvarsel. Og det skal fremgå af overenskomsten, at 120 dages reglen er gældende.
My kids both here and the ones that live in Canada would love theese
In Denmark, if your sick your sick. You take the time you need to get better and come back full of energy and ready again.
If it takes time, then the system is set up so your company will be helped out, and all you have to worry about is getting better. Even if it takes a looong time.
Ps remember to bring cake for class b-day boy ;)
Felt real lucky getting a kid in Denmark, had 4 weeks off right after birth, and then another 10 weeks of Barsel later. Really get the time to get to learn your kid at that age, a time that wont come back later. Very informative video, and makes me even happier to live here already :)
Now...as you wished for, I have done my work to make your channel growing a ton. And its not just empty words...its because of your fantastic way of delivering your experience among people from both sides of the Atlantic ocean. Just want a lot of people to see what I see... a harmonic family taking chances, enjoying life and sharing with us all! ✨ You are really some of the few I really wants to blend in with, learn from and well just wants to spend my sparetime with. I'm fond of the american way of just be in the moment....specially you are so open for new human connections. I like that a lot! I was subscribing very early on your channel, and i just love to see your channel grow ;-)
Haha, thank you so much! We really appreciate the support. This whole experience has been so much fun for us.
Love your attitude and relaxed way of presenting stuff,
A dark beer and a whiskey is my favorites.. kudos ;)
And yes... just subscribed .
Thanks for the kind words and the sub! :)
Here Your childrens first sick day. Is a day You get to. And a Lot of us get 5 ekstra days. Take care days (in Danish OMSORGSDAGE)
I just met an old friend who actually travelled to Australia, where his wife had to study, and took his maternal leave there. Awesome!
This is actually interesting. I've been interested in work as a concept artist, which is mostly in California, US.
So it's interesting to see what kind of vacation time I can expect when I make the move.
5w, most employment contracts will give you 6w + bankhollidyas which are 8-12d depending on the calendar
I'm sure a lot of us have already shared you on our Facebook sites ;-) ! As always, very interesting post :-) !
og bare for at hjælpe jer lidt på vej kommenterer jeg på Dansk! :) Tak for de fine videoer, jeg deler dem med mine venner i USA, det er en sjov måde at vise både forskelle og ligheder!
One thing worth noting, at least in the public sector in DK, is "afspadsering".
If for example your regular job involves working evenings and nights (and weekends), you accrue afspadsering. If you for example work in a hospital or place that is operating 24/7/365, and you are scheduled to work on holidays during the week you get an additional hourly compensation, both in time off and monetary regard.
This is your time to take off as you see fit - as long as it can be planned in respect of work place requirements. So if you give your boss sufficient notice - usually a week - they can cover your 'time off' with a substitute. There are some rules about how much you can accrue and how long you can save up time before you must take it... You also get extra pay for hours between 5 pm and 7am.
Also, the standard work week in DK is 37(?) hours, compared to 40 in the USA.
Anyway, that's how it was when I left DK in 2003.
I’ve been in the private sector. We were all in a flex time agreement, which just means you need to work your 37 hours/week. Usually everyone were at work between 9-14, the rest depended on how the employees flexed their time. This is great for when you have kids, or if you just dislike rush hour on the roads.
Then we also had a flex account. This means that could be -37 to 37 hours. That means that if you needed extra time off you could work up your hours on the flex account and then take a day or two... or maybe a whole week. If there were something acute you had spare room for it, and then could work up the flex account afterwards.
This also means that you just had to have a mean week of 37, but every week didn’t need to be 37 hours.
If your flex account went above 37 hours, you would get these hours paid out on the following pay check.
I know not everyone have this kind of format at work in DK, but many have a kind that resembles. It is my believe that flex time is rather normal in Denmark.
And of course nothing longer is sudden in this without giving your boss a call about it.
When our oldest had to stay one week in hospital, it felt very safe to have this system ❤️
In Ireland Maternity leave is 26 weeks starting from the day your baby is born, plus extra leave for the number of weeks between your baby's actual date of birth and the date you had planned to start your maternity leave. Maternity Benefit is payable for the whole of this extended maternity leave. The Family Leave and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2021 will provide three extra weeks of paid leave to each parent to be taken in the first two years after the birth or adoption of their child.
Most mothers use their unused annual leave days after the maternity leave runs out and then ;may take some unpaid leave.
We have 36 weeks in Denmark by law. (You don’t have to take all 36 weeks, and they can be split freely between the mother and father)
Most work places do offer up to one year, as a benefit.
So I’m going to try and sum up some of the danish rules regarding maternity leave.
In general expectant mothers can stop working 4 weeks before the due date, but some can stop 6 or even 8 weeks before the due date. After the birth the mother gets 14 weeks, often with full pay and the father receives 2 weeks also often with full pay. If you do not qualify for full pay you get a stipend equal to unemployment benefits. Both parents also get a shared 32 weeks of “parent leave”, these can be divided as you wish and can be extended with 8 weeks, but at a reduced pay rate. Most people get 6-12 weeks of this leave with full pay and the rest at the rate of unemployment benefits. If your newboen is sick and has to stay in the hospital after birth these days can be added to the end of the maternaty leave.
For each child under the age of 8 many people get 2 “carer days” every year to care for their child. Also the childs first sick day is paid, and for some the childs first 2 sick days er paid. If a chlid gets chronically sick you can recieve permanent leave to take care of the child either full time or part time.
Regarding hollidays usually there is between 9 and 12 in any given year.
Many employers also gives more. My wife had 12 months full paid maternity.
Really cool with this comparison video! Would be awsome if you could do this again comparing US with DK on other topis!
For comparison with maternity leave:
All pregnant women are entitled to 4 weeks before the due date and 14 weeks after giving birth
Men are entitled to 2 weeks within the first 14 weeks.
On top of that: there are 32 weeks that you can split however you like (men are allowed to spend some of that time during the first 14 weeks after spending the aforementioned 2 weeks)
Fun as one from Denmark to see your videos
Aaaaawww that is sooo nice ! My baby daughter is born on april 7th. She will be 1 year old this year 😊. And it's so true with time off, i feel like my husband is constantly working, he can't afford to take any time off, if it's not payed. I think another topic that danish people are probably not aware of, is the commutes. I wasn't aware of them, before i came to America. The amount of time spent in the car everyday is unbelievable ! I hope you get to your 10k subscribers fast 🤞
For sickness, usually there is the 120 day rule. But everything depends on your employment status - "Funktionær" (monthly paid) or "timelønnet" (hourly paid).
Sickleave : it's 22 weeks, you'd might loose your job (unusual) but you're still payed + extensions if your'e even more sick.
You just got one more subscriber. I live in Kolding, where You have been. You seems like such nice people! So no matter what you talk about, i'll just watch :D
Thanks, that is awesome to hear.
The funny thing is that productivity in Denmark is, on average, not lower than in the States. But how can you survive with only 2 weeks?
Because Americans are not conditioned to deserve a vacation. Rules are for the rich people.
This is a great channel. Subbed!
Thanks!
Quite a lot of people actually have 6 weeks. It depends on how effective the coresponding union has been during the years.
As a swede we get 5 weeks but I negotiated an extra week when I started at my current job. Ususally take 4 or 5 in the summer and pre-covid usually 1-2 weeks somewhere warm in the winter.
Thanks for a nice video - USA i s such a "funny" 'Survival of the fittest' country!! A little request, since i like to listen to you both: split the talking time, so each of you have 50% each - i think that would give the videos a little better balance. Cheers!
2 days after having a baby? 2?? And the generosity of one day of parental leave! Wow. And America thinks of itself as an advanced nation 😥
While that isn't common, it is common that you may have to take time off without pay. And not being paid isn't something most people can handle.
Yeah, Jesus - I had an emergency Caesarian section, and was really poorly for a few weeks.
But even my friends who had relatively easy births, couldn’t even sit properly after 2 days :-/
@@TravelinYoung but compair that to the minimum of 9 months and max 12 months of payed leave that you can split between the parents in denmark. then 2 days is insane
I would not judge a nations' level of advancement by days to hold maternity leave.
@@guldberg75 depends on what kind of advancement you want to mesure. there is many defirent kinds of advancement.
In Norway its 5 weeks and after 60 you get 6 weeks.
If you get sick the employer pays the first 10 days and after that the goverment continues. You get 100% payment.
100% Paid wow, greetings from Sweden. In Sweden, you get nothing the first day then it is 80% of your salary for two weeks then the insurance fund pays 80%, but they have a maximum ceiling that is set quite low. Then if you are ill for a long time, they lower it for a period to 65%, to then raise it again. Very confusing. But it is of course better than in the US, even if it is extremely difficult for someone with a low income to manage on 65% of the salary.
Depending on your union, you can have 8-10 weeks off (paid) for long term health issues, in case of eg surgery or other
In Denmark, maternity leave begins 4 weeks before birth. When the child is born, the father has 2 weeks leave. The parents can now share 32 weeks of maternity leave between them.
Some unions have made collctive agreements with employers which includes "senior days". That's some extra days off work if you're over a certain age. I'm turning 61 this autumn and I have got 34 hours this year. As I work part time (30 h/week) that's more than a week for me.😊
I love your videos, it is so interesting to see how others experience our society🇩🇰 I work as a family consultant for the state. In 2016/2017 I had a simpel hand operation that evolved into massiv infection. I was operated on 14 times and I was on/of sick for 10 months. I got to keep my job🙏🙏🙏 I don't know all the details about the financiel agreement, but the imployer gets some reimbursement from the state. Once again there is another good resason to pay high taxes. And we danes are brought up to see the benefit in taxes, even if you are never sick or never have the advantage of free "sick days" or the free healthcaresystem. We don't know any other way than solidarity. In the USA it seems more like: you are on you own, no matter what and in Denmark it is more like: the strongest have to carry the heaviest. Not all danes agree with that but the majority do. 🇩🇰🇩🇰
I'm a bit envious about the "move holyday to the closest weekday" rule you have in the US. We usually distinguish between "employer-" and "employee x-mas" depending on if the holyday ends up in the weekend or not.
Week 6 is normally called Ferie fridage, which are days you can choose to get days off from work or you can have them paid out, which means that you get an extra weeks pay added to your salary. or you can choose to have just 1 day paid out, up to you and 4 as vacation.
As others have mentioned, you could also look into "maternity leave" - the HOLE package! The mother gets 4 weeks "graviditetsorlov" before the expected date of the birth, then 14 weeks after (2 fixed) and after that you get 32 weeks "forældreorlov" which can be split freely between both parents. The father gets 2 weeks "fædreorlov" right after birth and can extend this with with "forældreorlov". If there are complications before the 4 weeks "gravititetsorlov", then there is also the option for "graviditetsbetinget sygefraværd" which just requires a referral from your doctor. Other than that, some (most?) companies also have 1 or 2 days "barn syg" and in my case my employer also grants me 5 days "indlæggelse med barn" per year, which came in handy when we were admitted to the hospital again right after our daughter was born. Finally all of this "off" time is paid for in some way (employer or state) either fully or mostly, and there is also no hospital bill. Procreation is very much encouraged in the kingdom of Denmark ;)
One thing i remember about The States from the news growing up was people going postal
Good people. The 6th holiday week is an agreement between unions and employers 👊🏻
I love you guys
I live in Vanløse (suburbs - Metro 1 and Metro 2 goes there) - you guys seem like someone I'd loooove to grab a beer with one time!
Hey guys, your vids seem super wholesome and enjoying the few i've seen just now - your takes seem to be pretty rounded as well, a joy that it isnt just denmark good america bad, or opposite.
I just had a thought about the intro (this is super not really important at all). But in the end where all three of you say "Keeping us young" one by another seems (to me) a little outdated, and (I think) would flow much better if you just did one word each.
Another thing is notice time if you are dismissed. If you are an "office" worker, you will by law, with up to six months work, have one month notice, after six months work, you will have three months notice. It will increase, so after 9 years work you will have six months notice, and some companies will give you more, if stated in your contract. Employee is required to give one month notice, but employer can require longer notice, if he also give a longer notice than required by law. It will be stated in the contract.
Hey you ❤.
Love your vids.
Hope you stay at denmark
Thanks so much, we hope to :).
24 cards for paid long term sick leave in Demark ;)
Very interesting! I guess I take my vacation weeks for granted compared to the US :o
Regarding the 120 days and you are fired, is not always. My dads firm kept him even though he had 2 periods trough his work life he exceed the 120 day rule, first time for a lung illness akind to pneumonia, just way harder on the body, the last time because the cartilage in his spine was deteriorating. For the last one he was re-educated to do a more manageable job at the company, so worker retention is also something Danes value in the workplaces
Yes. The number of days etc. is different from company to company. Generally for the banks I have worked in it has been very relaxed and fair here in Denmark :-)
Pleje-orlov is maybee relevant in this connection? If a close relative of yours is eg terminally ill, your can get 3-4 months off to take care of her/him. You'll be paid the equivalent of sickpay or unimployment rate.
you're right. We have 5 weeks of holidays, and some companies have whats called "Feriefridage" which gives you 1 extra week off. So a total os 6 weeks of. Often if you work at a supermarket, or shoppingcenter you have 6 weeks.
You two are typical Danish people, bye spirit, i like that. Keep enjoying your new life, if you have more American friends, that want to move here, please let them come, we need yaa badly 💎👐🏻
Thanks!
Could you compare american TV to danish TV. stuff like the news seems to be different in america. Would also like a review on Matador if you have gotten around to watching it.
You get 5 weeks vacation plus 1 week in some companies. For maternity leave you get 26 weeks full pay as a mother and the father normally gets 14 weeks fully paid. On top of that the parents can share 26 weeks between them on dagpenge (government pays for this one)
Kid's first sick day is actually not there by law, but by "Overenskomst", which is an agreement between the industry and the workers' unions.
Not everyone is covered by such an agreement
You need to come by the city of Kalundborg. Love to see your videos, and would love to host and show you around :)
I started a new job on Dec12th of 2005 and I was able to use my vacation time on January 1st 2006!!!!
I saved my entire 4.25 hours of vacation time to travel to Sweden in November.
After second day of sickness the company is partly reimbursed for rest of the period.
In a public institution you have to follow up on your co-worker within a month. (4 weeks).
Workdays closed in by a holiday can be given to you freely. Ex. Thursday = holiday and Friday = given. But you can't count on it.
To be fair, there are some (a few) companies in the US, that give you really great benefits like retirement, pension, maternity/paternity leave. As a father, I got 12 weeks paid time off for paternity leave that I had to use in the course of 12 months. We also get 4 weeks of PTO per year plus national holidays.
Hopefully more jobs here realize how much these benefits can contribute to the happiness factor of their employees.
Also there’s extra days you get off - depending on your overenskomst (agreement made between the workers union, the government and the industri(?)) - for example if you’re moving, when you go to a funeral, birthdays such as 40,50,60. And there might be others.
About holidays og weekends. We have a name for it. We say that the year is an ‘employer year’ or a ‘salary earner year’.
Ah yes yes, I'd heard that but couldn't remember the name. Thanks!
The extra week of vacation you are talking about is called "feriedage" and you have 5 days where you can choose to take your vacation or get them paid on your last paycheck year, and you can use it whenever you want and as many as you want "total 5 days"
But it is usually the craft industry that has it, due to the agreement with the unions.
and the new holiday law was forced on Denmark due to the EU-Kommissionen in 2014, because the old holiday law was illegal according to them.
And most public servants😊
Maternity leave is 52 paid weeks - some of this time can be split between the father and mother. If you have sick days during your vacation in Denmark they legally count as sick days - not vacation days (not many use this option however). The difference in time on work also equalizes the wage gap between Denmark and the US. Thus, generally people in the US earn more - but in Denmark people have more time off in stead.
Norway and Denmark have simelar rules for maternity leave:
Norway: Total 52 weeks where 12 weeks can be during the pregnancy, 6 weeks after for the mother then shared but the father have to use 15 weeks.
Denmark: 4 weeks before birth and 14 weeks after, then 64 week shared.
In Denmark you can be sick for 120 days before your work can fire you (after 3 days it's required by management to call and talk about the reason and how long the employee will be gone for. Then there will be frequent conversations/meetings during the 120 days)
In regards to pay and vacation.
The new rules, as they mentioned, is that you start earning your vacation days on january 1st and then they roll evenly measured on how many days you have worked (in full weeks 37hrs, if I remember correctly, I havent been under the new rules, but had to help implement them at my last job)
And then you can start using them as you see fit, 1 day at a time if you can get your employer to agree to that.
As for pay when you go on vacation
People who are in a hourly based job they save up "feriepenge" which is 12½% of their pay which your employer pays into an account, that you then apply to get your pay from when you take your vacation. and the famous 6th week basicly works like the other 5, you can spread the days out or take them all in 1 big lump, but most employers prefer you to take 3 weeks in summer and 2 weeks in winter, and then the 6th as single days. Many use the 6th week to stretch the public hollidays, like around easter (like Maundy Thursday and good friday they spend 3 days monday-wednesday to get a whole cheap week)
Then you have others who work on a contract, usually middle management in the private sector (and yes all you people I know there are many others, this is just an example) whom has a fixed pay with basicly no max hours in their contracts, they have paid vacation, so the employer just pays their wages when they have vacation.
And then as a small twist, if you get sick during your vacation, you should call your employer and tell them you are sick, because then you can get those sickdays back and take them later, and the days you were off will be counted as sick days instead in this whole big system :D
12:40 I think there is a fairly simple recepe to why we land in the top 3 happiest ppl in the world.... CONSECUTIVELY!!
Maternity leave is 4 (private sector) or 8 (public sector) weeks leading up to term and 8 months after birth.
Paternity leave is is way more stringent and only allows for (if I recall correctly) 2 weeks after birth, with an option to share several months with the mother, in all up to 12 months total.
Regarding sick leave, in Denmark you have to call in sick (generally required via phone, but most accept email, no reason given). This activates a governed refund at a fixed rate to the employer (most just pay your regular salary) and to get this refund thay have to report it within 5 weeks.
Within 4 weeks the employer must have a talk about the sick leave to find a solution that can shorten the extend.
The employer can ask for a medical statement (from the GP or other official institution) but have to pay for it.
There are numerous other regulations in regard to this little "dance", but buttom line is... You can be sick for up to 120 consecutive days befor your employer can rightfully/legally fire you.
During sick leave you are not ENTITELED to more pay than the "sygedagpenge", but it is far from unheard of that employers receive full pay throughout.
Most white collar workers in Denmark also has 'flextid' (flexible working hours), meaning that if your contract says you have to work 8 hours each day and you work 10 hours one day, you can leave two hours earlier on another day (workload permitting). These hours can be saved up and if you are lucky may be spent as whole weeks.
True.
Many places this is done by having a fix-time between 9 and 15, where people are supposed to be at work. And flex-time from 7-9 and 15-17,
Of cause some types of jobs is better suited for more flexibility than others and for some jobs that arrangement would make no sense,
you are so welcome to stay here in Denmark 😀 where I work a host for 40 years and more be more 20 years
maternaty leave is normally about a year. Kids sickness could happen pretty offen sometimes up to once af month... your sick leave is normally a weak or two depending on situation but 3 to 6 month can also happens on sickleave...
Usually if you are working on a holiday they have to give you another day of but only if you are working on a holiday. And if a holiday lands on a Thursday you mostly get friday off and when you are sick you can usually get up to 6 weeks before it becomes a problem. You get around 1 year for maternity leave and they can´t fire you from a job when you are pregnant
When talking about vacation you have to touch on weekly work hours, because there is a reason the vacation is divided into 5 weeks + 1 week. The reason is that you can have the last week as reduced work hours distributed over the hole year. I'm not sure if that is a right or it's a negotiation with your employer, but it's something some people do.
For example for påskeferie monday through wednesday u pay for your self as public workers (6th vacation week) and the public holiday thursday and friday which u don't pay for, correct?
@@g9nnar Not sure. I always chose reduction in weekly work hours distributed over the hole year.
Tillykke med fødselsdagen :)
Tak!
if you work in the private sektor in Denmark your is allowedur 14 days the you have to give your imploier a Dockers note and after 3 months you can loos your job
Also if you're a public employee in Denmark and you get sick in the beginning of your vacation, then you can get a possibility of having your vacation afterwards from when you have regained healthy status
Great video guys. Thx a lot.
When comparing time of work by weeks, aren't you omitting the issue of how many hours a week you go to work?
To my understanding there is a difference there too, that would amount to some cards per year.
And thanx for coming here! It adds to the diversity and you guys seem like great people to be around.
Unfortunately in my experience the 37.5 hour work week in Denmark has been a policy only on paper but not in practice. I work the same hours as I did before coming here. But....when I’m off work for sick or holiday here, people leave me be which wasn’t the case in the US.
Also, there are some jobs that have 37.5 hour work weeks in the US as well, not common but it does happen. Often with non profits as they tend to have lower pay so they strengthen other benefits.
Also thanks! We are super happy to be here :).
@@TravelinYoung Well, I guess you're the exception that confirms the rule then :-)
And of course you're videos are from personal experience, as they should be.
I got curious though and had to look it up. On average danes work about 10 weeks less per year than US citizens. That's 37 h/weeks ;-)
I am Danish living in Chicago since 1995. It has been my experience that Denmark has way more public holidays than the US. Many of which are religous
Short about maternity: Mom gets 4 weeks before expected birth and up to 14 weeks after birth. Then on top of that the parents together get up to 32 weeks they can share how they like. So Dads get maternity leave too (if they want). Over the years there have even been times were certain portions of it was earmarked for dads.
In Norway, which is quite similar to Denmark in many ways, you can call in sick to work yourself 12 days a year (a bit different counting if the company is an inklusive company, and it has to be a lot for the company to react upon it. This is called egenmelding and typically used if you have the flu etc, something that you dont need a doctor for. Then, if the doctor deems you need to take sick leave, it’s called sykemelding. The first 2 weeks are payed by the employer, and after that “Nav” (social security fund?) pays after that. In theory you can have sykemelding up to maximum one year. After that the employer can fire you, or but they still need a valid reason. And if you still are too sick to work after one year, you will most likely not get full pay, but go into a process with social security to get that on permanent basis.
Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland are very similar.
there are 6 mounth of merturnity leave for women and the father gets 6 weeks. fully payed. and the 1 sick day for the kid is called " the childs 1st sick day" and both parrent have it and there is also the kids 2nd sick day.
I fell down the depressionhole, and was quite astonished that the company I worked for couldn't fire me, before 120 days had gone by. So that's 4 months of sickleave before termination... That's another 80 cards... I love this country...
Don’t forget child’s first sick day of. The 120th day rule will normally only be used if you’re in a habit of generally over average amount of sick days off.
With danish family in the US, it’s nice to follow the other way around.👍😎
Hope you guys do well here.
It's interesting to hear what americans living here have to say about our society. I'd wish that more americans heard about the differences or just in general about how society works in other countries.
ps. I get six weeks off, many of us do. I also get 2 days per child under the age of seven, I have two kids so that's four days. I had two months of paternity leave when my daughter was born, it was awesome.
Many of our rights as workers are thanks to how strong the workers unions are here. One of my best friend is australian. It took a while to persuade him to join a union, back home he would've been fired for joining one.
I had 12 weeks of paid leave. And that's not including the 2 weeks (also paid) right after birth.
My wife(studying at the time) got a year worth of student pay (somewhere around 5500dkk/880usd dkk a month), so she had the option to stay home for a year or eg. stay home for 6 months and get 2xstudent pay for the last 6 months.
Also, the state pays you ~4500 dkk every quarter of the year until the kid is 3 and then it gradually decreases until the age of 18.
It is generally not well seen to put your kid in childcare when they are under 10-12 months old in Denmark.
Also, this doesn't affect paid vacation :)
Normally if you fall sick within the first 13 weeks of employment you need to get money for compensation from your municipality. After taht time, the workplace pays, normal procedure is a Doctors note after 2 weeks, but employer will ask and will pay for it. You can not be fired during a " sick leave".. however if often sick, you csn be required for a dictors note from first day, which you have to pay yourself...
Norway is even more generous. 49 weeks maternity leave 1/3 for dad 1/3 for mother and 1/3 you can divide as you see fit. Also medical leave is usually 21 days own notice if the company is with the governmental scheme called including worklife (Else its 3) For medical leave with doctors notice it is up to 52 weeks. After that the employer can end your job, but you would still qualify for support (albeit lower than your salary)
In most jobs with unions you typically have 216-220 work days a year. Not included sick days.
I would love to see a comparison on what happens when you lose your job. US vs DK.
Just wanna point out that if you get sick before your planed hollidays and it extends in to your holliday, your employer cant holde the time your sick as spend holliday and you can replan thoes days at a later time.
I think that employment and vacation laws are similar across the EU. In Greece you are entitled of up to 26 working days a year of paid vacation (it depends on your years of registered experience). We have up to 10 days of national Holidays but same as Denmark, if it falls on a weekend, tough luck. You have 12 weeks of birth leave (can be split up before and after birth as you like) and up to 9 months of leave for the new baby which can only be taken from one of the two parents (4 months for the private sector). There is actually a law, that an employee has to guarantee a new mother's job for at least 18 months AFTER she returns to work. Which means that if they want to change jobs they can, but they cannot be fired. There are frequent cases of mothers taking up to 3 years of paid leave because of back-to-back pregnancies.
Sick leave without certified hospitalization is up to 14 calendar days but it has to be verified by a doctor that is registered with the National Healthcare and Social Insurance Institute. The time after the first 3 days is split between the government and the employee.
You also get a week of paid vacation extra if you get married. You're also entitled a paid day off each month for attending meetings with teachers for your children's school.
Also, and I don't know if this applies, in the private sector by law you are entitled a full month's salary as a Christmas bonus , another half month's salary in Easter and another half month's salary as leave time bonus, which is usually paid out by the end of June. This was the case for the public sector as well but it was cut after the financial crisis of 2009