PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH
| DENMARK |
| SVANGERSKAB OG FØDSEL PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH |
Under the Sickness and Maternity Benefits Act (Chapter 7), in the event of absence from work in connection with childbirth the starting-point is that the public authorities (the municipality in which the employee lives) pay a maternity benefit (barseldagpenge) to the mother starting from 4 weeks before the anticipated date of confinement. After the confinement, benefit is payable to the parents for a combined entitlement of 24 weeks, 10 weeks of which may, subject to more precisely specified conditions, be claimed by the father after the 14th week following the confinement. Independently of this, the father is entitled to benefit for 2 weeks after the confinement. The rules also cover the case of adoption. The benefit is calculated in the same way as sickness benefit, i.e. corresponding to 90 per cent. of pay but subject to a specified maximum amount.
In the case of white-collar workers, §7 of the White-Collar Workers Act requires the employer to pay an employee half-pay for up to 5 months during unfitness for work connected with pregnancy and childbirth, but not outside a period extending from 3 months before to 3 months after her confinement. To the extent that this maternity pay is accompanied by entitlement to a statutory benefit from the municipal authorities (see above), all or part of the benefit is paid to the employer.
In accordance with the Equal Treatment for Men and Women Act , all employees have the right to time off during the period when benefit is payable under the Sickness and Maternity Benefits Act.
Please note: the European industrial relations glossaries were compiled between 1991 and 2003 and are not updated. For current material see the European industrial relations dictionary.