Shared parental leave in Denmark and Sweden

If you are two parents who are covered by social security in different countries, parental benefit between the countries must be coordinated. In this case, the number of days taken in each country is deducted. 

Swedish parental benefit consists of 480 days in total. In Sweden, the parent can decide how many days per week are to be paid. To receive the maximum benefit, the parent must request seven days per week. If you are on full parental leave in Denmark, Danish parental benefit is paid as a weekly amount. One week of parental leave from Denmark is equivalent to seven days of parental benefit in Sweden.

Example:
If the person working in Sweden takes parental leave first, it is the person working in Denmark who must be able to document how much leave has been taken in Sweden. The Danish authority Udbetaling Danmark wants this documentation, in order to know how much of the leave remains in Denmark.

The entire period paid from Denmark will be deducted from the Swedish parental benefit days, including any period paid by the Danish employer. This is usually done when the parent who is insured in Sweden applies for parental benefit again after the Danish period has ended.

Even if no parental leave has been taken from Denmark, Försäkringskassan may require documentation. The respective authorities then calculate how many days/weeks remain for the parent who has not yet taken any leave or who is entitled to more days.

 

Do you receive a salary from your employer in Denmark during your parental leave?

If so, bear in mind that these days/weeks are also counted for the purposes of the settlement between the countries.

Some employers in Denmark pay full salary to their employees at the beginning of the parental leave and in turn the employer receives a refund from Udbetaling Danmark. They can do this because you would have been able to receive parental benefit if you had not been paid. The period for which your employer receives reimbursement is therefore counted when Udbetaling Danmark looks at how many days you have taken in Denmark.

The mother is entitled to 4 weeks of pregnancy leave before the birth of the child and 24 weeks of leave thereafter.

If it is the mother who works in Denmark (and lives in Sweden), she can apply for an additional 13 weeks of leave from Denmark if it can be documented that the other parent is not entitled to the corresponding parental allowance for the same period in the other country.

In some workplaces, you have an agreement which means that you receive your salary from the employer during a certain number of weeks of parental leave.

If you are employed, your employer must report the absence via NemRefusion to Udbetaling Danmark. You will then receive a letter from Udbetaling Danmark with the option to apply for parental leave paid from Udbetaling Danmark. As a parent, you have eight weeks after the first day of leave to apply for parental allowance from Udbetaling Danmark.

If you receive a salary during your parental leave, you have eight weeks after the salary stops to apply for parental allowance with payment from Udbetaling Danmark. If the employer pays salary during the leave, the parent cannot receive parental allowance at the same time from Udbetaling Danmark. The employer instead receives compensation for the paid salary from Udbetalning Danmark. If Udbetaling Danmark receives an application after the deadline has expired, the applicant can generally only receive parental allowance from the day Udbetaling Danmark has received the application.

The parent who works in Sweden can have the right up to 480 days, minus the days taken in Denmark. If the parent working in Denmark has received compensation for 41 weeks, 287 days (41 x 7 days) will be deducted from, primarily, the father's/co-mother's 390 days based on income. The father/co-mother then has 103 days left based on income and 90 days with SEK 180/day. You who have taken days in Denmark must have a certificate from Udbetaling Danmark, which must state how many days of parental leave you have taken in Denmark (including days your employer has paid full parental salary).

 

The mother is entitled to all 480 days of Swedish parental allowance. As the father/co-mother is not socially insured in Sweden, he/she is not entitled to his/her 240 days, but instead receives Danish parental pay.

You who are a father or co-mother and work in Denmark are entitled to 24 weeks leave.Please note that the first 2 weeks must be taken within 10 weeks of the child's birth, after these you have 22 weeks to be taken before the child turns 1. There may be an opening to extend or save leave. Read more under the sections Extended parental leave and saving parental leave.

Please note that the 2 weeks you take after the birth of the child will also be deducted from the other parent's Swedish parental benefit days. If the other parent takes parental benefit in Sweden at the same time, these weeks will be counted as double days (2 weeks in Denmark = 14 double days).
This means that if you take a double day, two days will be deducted, one for each parent. For example, if you take all 60 double days, you will have used 120 days of parental benefit.

The father/co-mother who is covered by social insurance in Denmark can apply for an additional 13 weeks of paid leave if it can be documented that the other parent is not entitled to parental benefit for the same period in Sweden. This means that it is not possible to utilise ‘double days’ on these days.

If you are employed, your employer must report the absence via NemRefusion to Udbetaling Danmark. You will then receive a letter from Udbetaling Danmark with the option to apply for parental leave paid from Udbetaling Danmark. As a parent, you have eight weeks after the first day of leave to apply for parental allowance from Udbetaling Danmark.

If you receive a salary during your parental leave, you have eight weeks after the salary stops to apply for parental allowance with payment from Udbetaling Danmark. If the employer pays salary during the leave, the parent cannot receive parental allowance at the same time from Udbetaling Danmark. The employer instead receives compensation for the paid salary from Udbetalning Danmark. If Udbetaling Danmark receives an application after the deadline has expired, the applicant can generally only receive parental allowance from the day Udbetaling Danmark has received the application.

 

However, there are some important prerequisites for you to receive parental benefit in Denmark as a father/co-mother:

• You must meet the "employment requirement". You must be employed no later than the day before or on the first day of your parental leave
• You must have worked at least 160 hours during the last four full months before the leave
• You must have worked at least 40 hours a month for at least three of the four months
  
  

Udbetaling Danmark automatically receives this information from your employer.

If you want to know more about the system of deduction between countries, or need help to count your days of parental leave, please contact Øresunddirekt, or contact Försäkringskassan or Udbetaling Danmark directly. 

Contact Øresunddirekt

 

Contact Udebetaling Danmark

 

Contact Försäkringskassan

The Danish parental leave is a total of 52 weeks.

The mother has the right to 4 weeks before the child's birth and 14 weeks after. The father/co-mother has the right to 2 weeks in connection with the child's birth. The parents distribute the remaining 32 weeks of parental leave between themselves.

The mother who is socially insured in Denmark is entitled to 50 weeks from Denmark if the father/co-mother is not on parental leave in Sweden during the parental leave period.

Certain workplaces have an agreement that for a certain number of weeks of the parental leave, your employer pays you a salary and in turn receives the maternity benefits, which you would otherwise receive from Udbetaling Danmark. At the end of the period with a salary, Udbetaling Danmark takes over paying maternity benefits.

The father/co-mother who is socially insured in Sweden has the sole right to 480 days, including the days taken in Denmark. If the working mother in Denmark has received compensation for 50 weeks, 350 days (50 x 7 days) will be deducted from the Swedish parental allowance, those which are based on just under 80% of the sick pay qualifying income. The father/co-mother then has 40 days left with sickness benefit level and 90 days with the minimum level of SEK 180/day.

If you have taken days in Denmark, you must have a certificate from Udbetaling Danmark stating how many days of parental leave you have taken in Denmark (including any days for which your employer has paid full parental pay).

In this case, the mother is entitled to all 480 days with Swedish maternity benefits. As the father/co-mother is not covered by social insurance in Sweden, he/she is not entitled to his/her 240 days and instead receives Danish maternity benefits.

The father/co-mother working in Denmark may be entitled to a salary for a certain period of time during which the employer receives the maternity benefits from Udbetaling Danmark. As you are the only person covered by social insurance in Denmark, you are entitled to 16 weeks of parental leave with a salary or maternity benefits. 

You can take more weeks if your employer agrees and if the other parent has not taken any parental benefit in Sweden. If you have taken 16 weeks in Denmark, 112 days will be deducted from the remaining days in Sweden (e.g. 16 weeks x 7 days = 112 days).

One requirement for entitlement to parental benefit in Denmark is that you fulfil the work requirement.