Employees’ right to absence for special family-related matters is extended

According to the applicable law on employees’ right to absence from work for special family-related matters, employees have the right to unpaid absence when:

• Compelling special family-related matters apply in the event of illness or accident that makes the employee’s immediate presence urgently necessary (force majeure),
• The employee is employed by the municipality in accordance with the relevant provisions in the Social Services Act to look after a close relative with a significant and permanent reduced physical or mental ability to function or an intervening chronic or long-term disorder, or
• The employee receives care allowance in accordance with the relevant provisions in the Social Services Law for caring for a relative who wishes to die in their own home

With the adoption of the new law, employees’ right to absence is extended. The most significant changes are:

• The right to absence is extended so that in future the employee is entitled to a total of 5 days of unpaid carer’s leave per calendar year to provide personal care or support to one’s own children, parents, spouse, or partner who needs significant care or support due to a serious health condition. Unused care days cannot be carried over to the next calendar year.
• The protection against dismissal or deterioration of the employee’s conditions as a result of requesting or using the right to unpaid carer’s leave is extended to also include employees who take unpaid carer’s leave, as described above.
• A so-called “shared burden of proof” is introduced in the event of dismissal, so that the burden of proof is turned against the employer f the employee can demonstrate factual circumstances that give rise to the presumption that the dismissal is based on the carer’s leave.
• The employer can request the employee to medically document the need for significant care or support
• The law enters on 2 August 2022, and until 31 December the employee has the right to take two unpaid care days as a transitional arrangement.

For some companies, the legal change may also result in the need to adapt the personnel handbook and the procedures for handling employees’ unpaid leave.

If you have any questions about the new rules, please do not hesitate to contact our employment law specialists Partner, Attorney Michael Møller Nielsen, Attorney David Bar-Shalom or Attorney Julie Flindt Rasmussen.