The vast majority of government employees are covered by a pension scheme as part of their conditions of employment by law or collective agreement.
The pension contribution rate and which pension fund an employee is covered by varies depending on the type of employment and thus also the collective agreement that is linked to the employment.
The pension rates follow the collective agreements and organisational agreements in force at any given time.
For specific questions regarding your pension, you should contact your own pension company. SDU HR cannot advise on pension planning.
At borger.dk you can also find information about pension and early retirement, including how to plan your pension.
Here you can get an overview of compulsory contributions paid by the university in connection with salary payments and optional pensions. You can also see how you can contribute more to your pension if you wish.
Pension paid out as salary or paid into a savings account
From April 2025, some of SDU's employees will have new options when it comes to pension contribution rate. If the pension contribution rate exceeds 15%, there is now freedom of choice for the part of the pension contribution that exceeds 15%. As an employee, you can choose either
- have the part that exceeds 15% paid out as salary
- paid into a savings scheme in the pension fund or
- a combination of payment as salary and payment into a savings scheme.
If you take no action, the part of the pension contribution rate that exceeds 15% will be paid into your ordinary pension scheme.
The timetable here shows pension rates as of 1 April 2025.
|
Professional Organisation |
Pension Rates from 1 April 2025 |
|
HK Office |
16,00% |
|
Laboratory Technicians |
16,00% |
|
Prosa |
16,68% |
|
AC |
18,07% |
|
Craftsmen and Technicians (ingenørass.) |
16,60% |
|
Betjente |
15% |
|
Sanitører, ufaglærte, |
15% |
|
Bioanalytikere og sygeplejersker |
18,40% |
|
Journalists |
18,07% eller 18.97 (if: Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Southern Denmark or with a master's degree programme in journalism or on the basis of a master's degree programme in journalism from SDU in journalism (line A), |
|
Maskinmestre |
17,99% |
|
Værkstedsleder |
17,05% |
|
Konstruktør (alm) |
15% |
|
Konstruktør (teknisk ass./tegner) |
16,87% |
|
Konstruktør (bygningskons.) |
17,58% |
Already employed
Employees at SDU - with a pension contribution rate above 15% - can choose to have the excess paid out as salary, deposited in a savings scheme in the pension fund, or both. The rules for this came into effect in April 2025.
If the employee takes no action, the part of the pension contribution rate that exceeds 15% will be paid into the regular pension scheme.
In April 2025, SDU HR published a news item on SDUnet regarding the handling of the scheme for employees who wanted to make use of the above options effective from April 2025.
A deadline of 12 June 2025 was set for existing employees who wanted to make use of the option of payment as salary, payment to a savings scheme in the pension fund or a combination of the options.
The changes you were able to submit are permanent.
September 2025:
If you wish to make use of the aforementioned options, please complete this form (in Danish only) with your requested changes.
Please note that the form is only available from September 5 at 8.00 AM until September 30 at 11.59 PM.
Requests may be submitted until 30 September 2025. The requested changes will take effect from 1 October 2025 onwards.
Thereafter, it will only be possible to make changes as of 1 April each year via a form.
New hires
Form for chosing pension (in connection with employment)
Form for international academic staff (VIP)
Obligatory contributions
Labor market contributions
All workers and self-employed persons must pay 8% of their income in labour market contributions.
The University subtracts the contribution each time it pays out a salary.
The labour market contribution is deducted from, among other things, salaries and other renumeration, holiday allowances, severance payments, the value of company car and free phone as well as contributions to pension schemes.
ATP - lifelong pension
The ATP Livslang Pension scheme is a supplementary pension that is, as a general rule, statutory. As a starting point, SDU must thus pay ATP contributions for all employees employed by the University in Denmark – regardless of whether the employee is a Danish or a foreign national.
SDU automatically deducts the contribution each time the University pays out a salary. The University pays two-thirds of the contribution. The remaining third is the employee’s own contribution. The law also allows for voluntary payment in a number of cases.
The ATP Livslang Pension will be paid out for as long as the person in question lives – that is, from when the person becomes a pensioner until he or she dies. However, pensions below a certain amount are paid out as a lump sum.
The amount of the person’s pension savings depends on how much money has been paid into their scheme over the years.
Types of contributions
Types of contributions
All workers and self-employed persons must pay 8% of their income in labour market contributions.
The University subtracts the contribution each time it pays out a salary.
The labour market contribution is deducted from, among other things, salaries and other renumeration, holiday allowances, severance payments, the value of company car and free phone as well as contributions to pension schemes.
SDU automatically deducts the contribution each time the University pays out a salary. The University pays two-thirds of the contribution. The remaining third is the employee’s own contribution. The law also allows for voluntary payment in a number of cases.
The ATP Livslang Pension will be paid out for as long as the person in question lives – that is, from when the person becomes a pensioner until he or she dies. However, pensions below a certain amount are paid out as a lump sum.
The amount of the person’s pension savings depends on how much money has been paid into their scheme over the years.
Choice between pension or salary: In a number of collective agreements, it has been agreed that part of the pension contribution can be paid as salary at the employee's request. These are the following groups of employees:
- AC - for employees under the collective agreement for academics in the state, the part of the pension contribution that exceeds 16.8% can be paid as salary.
- For AC clerks, 9% of the availability supplement can also be paid as salary instead of pension contribution payment.
- Journalists - for employees under the collective agreement for journalists in the state, 0.27% of the pension contribution can be paid as salary.
- Physicians - for employees in accordance with the collective agreement for physicians in the state, the part of the pension contribution that exceeds 16.8% can be paid as salary.
What should you do?
If you want to receive an optional pension, please contact SDU HR, Staff by e-mail.
If you want guidance on whether to choose a pension or salary, we recommend that you contact your union representative, your professional organization and / or your pension fund.
If you want to pay more into a pension scheme, you can make the payment to your pension company yourself, or your employer can pay the contribution for you.
Your pension scheme determines how much you can deposit.
If you would like SDU to manage an additional pension contribution as an employer deposit, please contact your pension company and make an agreement with them. After this, please contact SDU HR’s Payroll Office. The Payroll Office needs a date for when the additional pension contribution will take effect, the monthly amount you wish to deposit as well as an account number to which the money must be transferred. The Payroll Office will then record the additional pension contribution in the payroll system and pay it before taxes are calculated.