The new maternity law comes into effect today: 11 weeks of maternity and paternity leave for both parents.
Starting this Tuesday, the new “maternity laws” come into effect, which also allocate 11 weeks of maternity leave for fathers.
In this regard, many Danish companies have changed the rules in place regarding maternity leave, so that cooperating parents are entitled to more weeks of paid maternity leave than before.
Current rules for maternity leave:
- All pregnant women are still entitled to four weeks of maternity leave before giving birth. This is followed by 11 weeks of leave, three weeks less than before.
- The father or mother is entitled to take leave for 11 weeks, resulting in nine weeks more than before.
- In addition, each parent gets 13 weeks each, and they can share them freely – that is, 26 weeks, which is 6 weeks less than before, and this is due to the increased duration of leave allocated to the father.
- If the allocated weeks are not used, the right to use them goes.
- The agreement applies only to employees. If you are self-employed, unemployed, or a student, you can choose to transfer for up to 22 weeks to the other parent.
(Source: Ministry of Labor)
However, there is a big difference in the number of weeks of maternity leave that employees in companies can get, and Novo Nordisk ranks first when it comes to payment during maternity leave, offering up to 35 weeks of fully paid maternity leave to employees regardless of gender, while companies like Mærsk, for example, give up to 24 weeks.
At Jyske Bank, Nordea and Tryg, participating parents can receive full pay for up to 16 weeks, while Carlsberg and Bavarian Nordic offer up to 14 weeks, Demant up to 12 weeks and DSV up to 8 weeks, and many companies such as COWI, Deloitte, Danfoss, Rambøll, Nykredit, PwC, EY and KPMG offer 24 weeks.
Danfoss' HR director for wages and recruitment, Pernille Kristensen, commented: "We hope this will help create diversity, get more women in the workplace and more women in management. It costs some money, but we believe it will pay for itself… employees are doing better work and staying longer.".
Source: TV2
