Store Bededag
Abolition of Store Bededag as a public holiday
On February 28, 2023, the Act on the consequences of abolishing Store Bededag as a public holiday (Act no. 214 of 06/03/2023) was passed by a majority vote in the Danish Parliament.
The law came into force on January 1, 2024. The purpose of the Act is to ensure that Store Bededag are henceforth regarded as an ordinary working day, where the same salary and terms of employment applies as on other regular working days.
As working hours are generally increased in accordance with the above, employees who receive a fixed monthly salary or a fixed salary for another period receive a wage supplement from the employer corresponding to the value of a normal working day calculated as 0.45 percent of the annual salary.
Employees with a fixed monthly salary
For employees with a fixed monthly salary, the law means that the salary increases by 0.45 percent.
The compensation is paid as a special salary supplement twice a year (May and August).
The 0.45 percent is calculated on the basis that a normal working year has 222 working days. Thus, one day is worth 0.45 percent.
Employees paid by the hour.
Employees who are paid based on a number of hours are also partially compensated if they work more, because Store Bededag has been abolished.
Employees paid by the hour are paid for the number of hours they work on Store Bededag, but they no longer receive any public holiday supplement/holiday premium that working on the public holiday previously entailed.