Attractive working conditions

Denmark has a generous maternity/paternity leave policy. Both the mother and father/non-birth mother of the child are entitled to maternity/paternity leave:

• Mother: Six weeks before expected date of birth and 20 weeks after childbirth with full pay
• Father/non-birth mother: Twelve weeks after childbirth with full pay
• An additional six weeks to be shared between parents

There are many options for using maternity/ paternity leave flexibly. 

Read more about maternity/paternity leave 

International staff members have three different options when choosing a pension scheme. 

• Ordinary pension contributions scheme – an option for all international staff members employed under the collective agreement for academics 
• International pension scheme (taxed immediately when transferred to your pension fund). An option for some academic staff members employed under the collective agreement for academics
• Pension exemption (pension contribution paid out as salary) for a maximum period of five years. An option for some international researchers employed by the university on a fixed-term contract 

You will be asked to choose a pension scheme when negotiating your employment contract. 

Read more about pensions 

When you are employed at Aarhus University as a foreign researcher (minimum assistant professor/postdoc level) or a key employee, you may be eligible for the special tax scheme for foreign researchers or key employees under certain conditions.

The researcher taxation rule means that the salary is subject to a gross tax rate of approximately 32 per cent for up to 84 months including contributions to Danish social security (labour market contributions), instead of the normal income tax rate – typically between 37 and 42 per cent. 

Read more about the researcher taxation scheme 

All staff members are entitled to five weeks of paid holiday per year of employment plus five additional holiday days. 

Ordinary holiday consists of 2.08 days of holiday for each month of employment in a calendar year. You can take your holiday as you earn it from the 1st of each subsequent month after you have earned it. You have 16 months to take your holiday, which must be taken during the holiday period from 1 September in the current year to 31 December in the following year. 

Employees earn the five extra holiday days per year at a rate of 0.42 special holiday days per month, which adds up to five days a year. 

Read more about the rules about earning and taking holiday

Under the collective agreements in force at AU, a full-time position is 37 hours a week. Normally, a 30-minute paid lunch break is included in the 37 weekly working hours. Employees such as PhD students and researchers who plan their work themselves or whose working hours cannot be monitored are not entitled to overtime pay.

Normally you are entitled to full pay during illness. You also have the right to paid leave for the first two days of your child’s illness. Furthermore, all parents are entitled to two childcare days with pay per child per calendar year until the child has reached the age of seven.

Read more about terms of employment, employee well-being and work environment