As a new employee at SDU, if you have children under the age of 8, you must inform your absence manager at the institute and SDU HR Employees (hcm-fravaer@sdu.dk) about the number of children, including their birth dates. If you have previously been employed by a state institution, you should also indicate if any days for the current calendar year have already been taken with the previous employer.
Once SDU HR Employees have received this information, the days will be allocated in our absence system HCM as care days and can then be planned for use.
If you are employed and have a child during your employment, the care days will automatically be allocated in connection with the birth/signed maternity plan – the days for the birth year will automatically be transferred to the following year if they are not used.
The following year, you will have 4 care days for the newborn child to be used in the relevant calendar year – only the days from the birth year can be transferred, and if they are not used, they will be forfeited.
Below are the applicable rules for care days:
According to the maternity agreement, biological parents, co-mothers, adoptive parents and persons holding parental custody are entitled to two care days per child in each calendar year up to and including the calendar year in which the child turns seven. It is an additional condition that the child has its 'home' with you. This means that the child either lives with you or is in regular contact with you.
The right to two care days per calendar year applies regardless of what time of year that employment begins.
Care days cannot be taken before the birth nor can they be saved. Unused care days are forfeited at the end of the calendar year and cannot be converted to cash compensation.
However, care days from the calendar year in which the child was born/received can be transferred to the following calendar year, regardless of when in the calendar year the child was born/received. In addition, the care days can be transferred to the next calendar year if you are prevented from taking the days because you are on maternity/paternity or adoption leave for an entire calendar year.
If you change workplace, and your new workplace is covered by the maternity agreement, you will still be entitled to 2 care days in the calendar year in question - unless you have already taken the days off. If your new workplace is not covered by the maternity agreement, your forfeit your right to take care days off.
There are no notice deadlines for taking care days off, but you must request taking care days as soon as possible. No special conditions of use apply. The care days can be taken when needed, e.g. in connection with the child's illness, institution start, doctor's visits and the like.
Care days can be taken independently of the other of the parents' possible leave and/or care days.
On care days, you will be paid the salary that you would have been paid during sick leave, i.e. salary including any foreseeable benefits.
If you become ill before the care day has begun, the day will not be considered taken. If you are otherwise unavoidably absent on the care day, the day is considered taken. The same applies if you become ill after the care day has begun. Access to full or partial leave with pay on the child's first sickness day is not affected by the care day scheme.
A care day corresponds to 7.4 hours for a full-time employee and a proportionate part of this for part-time employees.