The Danish Vacation Year
What’s special about the Danish vacation year
The Danish vacation earning year runs for 12 months. From September 1st to August 31st.
The Danish vacation planning year runs for 16 months. From September 1st to December 31st (the following year).
Because the planning year is 16 months, the planning period consists of 2 overlapping periods from 1/9 to 31/12:
The start of the vacation year overlaps with the old vacation year.
The end of the vacation year overlaps with the new vacation year.
Set up Danish vacation rules
How to create a vacation policy with monthly earning:
Go to Setup Admin
Select Modules
Click Create new policy
Open the Vacation tab
Select the period "Denmark 1/9 - 31/12"
When you select "Denmark 1/9 - 31/12", the Danish vacation law is applied to the policy.
Once the Danish vacation year is activated, the standard setup for creating a vacation policy with monthly earning is followed. Follow this guide.
There are the following deviations from the standard setup that can be enabled when choosing the Danish vacation law:
1. Minimum vacation balance rule
Tab: Rules
Select: Minimum vacation balance rule
Choose a minimum number of vacation days that must be planned before employees can plan days from a supplementary balance (e.g. other vacation, FF days, OK days).
Example of use: The rule can be used to ensure that employees have a maximum of 5 vacation days left before the supplementary balance is used. The Danish vacation law allows a maximum transfer of 5 vacation days left.
2. Advance vacation
Tab: Rules
Select: the planning rule "Advance vacation"
If advance vacation is enabled, employees can plan vacation a month ahead even if the vacation days haven’t been earned yet. The default setting is that an employee can never plan more days than are earned annually.
It’s possible to allow planning more days in advance than are earned in a vacation year. This means a negative balance is carried into the next vacation year. Enable the rule to allow planning more days in a vacation year than are earned.
⚠️ We do not recommend enabling this rule. Allowing a negative balance to be carried over to the next vacation year is not in accordance with the vacation law.
3. Start-of-period or end-of-period earning
Tab: Earning
Select: Start-of-period or End-of-period
Start-of-period earning
Vacation days become available from the beginning of the month they are earned in.End-of-period earning
Vacation days only become available at the end of the month. They can therefore only be planned from the next month.
Understanding the Danish vacation law
Planning vacation left
If the vacation policy follows the Danish vacation year, unused vacation days expire on 12/31 even though the vacation year ends 8/31.
During the transition period September 1st – December 31st, old vacation days are automatically used before new vacation days.
In both of the 2 overlapping periods, there can be a mix of new and old days. The rule is that old days are always planned before new days during the transition period.
BitaBIZ automatically keeps track of which days are old and new during the transition period:
In the "Year calendar" old days are visually shown as "Vacation left":
The "Balance per month" statistics in the year calendar show:
Earning per month.
Planned per month
Vacation left per month
If planned days include a mix of new and old days in the transition period, this is shown in the statistics:
For example: 2+1 means 2 old days + 1 new day
Year calendar statistics view
There are 2 numbers per month in the year calendar:
Earned. Each month, the earning increases by 2.08
(if 25 days are earned per year)Available. Number of days that can be planned in a month.
The 2 numbers don’t have to be the same:
An employee has earned 8.32 days in December (with start-of-period earning 4*2.08)
If the employee has planned 2 vacation days in October, Available in December is 8.32 - 2 = 6.32
Vacation left as of 12/31
Vacation days earned in the old vacation year ending 8/31 can be planned in the next vacation year up to 12/31. Old days cannot be planned after 12/31, unless they are transferred to the new period. Therefore, an employee may have more days available in December than in January, because December includes both old and new vacation days in Available. January does not. Read more about handling vacation left as of 12/31 here.
Decimal vacation
With the Danish vacation law, it’s almost normal for an employee to have decimals left in vacation left. The reason is usually that when an employee is hired, the earning in the first year will be uneven compared to the date of employment.
Example: Hired on June 1st.
The employee earns in the first vacation year 3 months * 2.08 = 6.24 vacation days.
The employee cannot plan the last 0.24 days. These are carried into the next vacation year. If the employee plans one vacation day in October, that vacation day will consist of:
0.24 old vacation days
0.76 new vacation days.
And in this way, the decimal vacation left is carried into the new vacation year.
How to understand the vacation balance in the Danish vacation year
This section explains the Danish vacation year rules that can affect the vacation balance. If you, as Payroll Admin, need to check a specific employee’s balance, use the article “Payroll Admin: Understand and troubleshoot balances in BitaBIZ”.
What you experience | Typical cause | What to check | Where in the system | What you expect to see |
Number of “used vacation days” doesn’t match | Days come from both old and new vacation years | Whether the period is in 1/9–12/31 | Calendar access → Year calendar | Combination of old (vacation left) and new days (e.g. 2+1) |
You can’t add up to the total | Vacation is registered across months | Review all registrations in the vacation year | Calendar access → Year calendar | All vacation registrations in the period |
Balance changes from month to month | Monthly earning minus planned vacation | Earned vs. available | Calendar → Statistics per month | Earned increases (e.g. 2.08), available decreases when planning |
December and January don’t match | December can include both old and new days | Whether there is vacation left from previous vacation year | Calendar → Statistics | More days available in December than in January |
You have more days in December than January | Vacation left can be used until 12/31 | Whether old days are still plannable | Calendar → Vacation left view | Vacation left is included in December, but not in January |
You can’t use “old” vacation days | Date is after 12/31 | Whether the days have expired | Calendar / History | Old days are no longer available |
Decimals make the balance hard to understand | Earning happens with decimals (e.g. 2.08/mo) | Whether there are decimal leftovers | Calendar → Balance / History | Decimals are included in planning (e.g. 0.24) |
History doesn’t match the balance | Balance consists of several components | Review the balance breakdown | “See history” | Transferred + earned – used – paid out |
How to use the matrix
Always start by clarifying:
ℹ️ Which period does the vacation fall in?
1/9–12/31 (transition period)
→ Old and new vacation days can be mixed
(one vacation day can include decimals from both new and old vacation years)1/1–8/31
→ Only days from the current vacation yearAfter 12/31
→ Old vacation days are no longer available
Can't get the balance to match?
→ First, check if there is any vacation in the period 1/9–31/12
Here you'll find the tools for following up on the vacation balance:
Balance per month -> shows if a vacation day is a combination of old and new days.
View history -> shows all balance variables. Earning, used, manual adjustments, transfers.
Year calendar -> Shows all vacation registrations and earning + available per month.
FAQ
How do we best manage vacation balances that follow the Danish Holiday Act?
How do we best manage vacation balances that follow the Danish Holiday Act?
Best practice for vacation balances regardless of country or holiday law:
An employee is connected to a fixed earning that follows the holiday law in a country.
BitaBIZ automatically credits earning per month according to the policy's earning settings. Historical earning is locked. Read more here about how to set up a monthly earning vacation policy that follows the Danish Holiday Act.
The earning is "reduced" by the employee via a vacation request.
When the vacation year ends, BitaBIZ automatically calculates if there is a remaining balance.
Remaining days are sent for processing. Payroll Admin can either transfer, pay out, or delete remaining days. Read more about handling vacation left here!
Manual increase or reduction of a balance should only be used in special cases.
Read more in the article about Payroll Admin calendar access regarding follow-up on an employee's vacation balance. Click here!
Can we plan future earning when the Danish Holiday Act is enabled?
Can we plan future earning when the Danish Holiday Act is enabled?
Yes. The selected vacation planning rule on a monthly vacation policy determines how your employees can plan future earning. Follow the guide for setting up a monthly earning vacation policy.
The guide describes the 3 planning rules: Max, Payroll deduction, and Advance.
I've planned 0.3 vacation days. Isn't that a mistake?
I've planned 0.3 vacation days. Isn't that a mistake?
No, this often happens when vacation is planned during the transition period from 1/9-31/12. If you have earned an uneven number of vacation days and have 0.3 vacation left. When you book days in the transition period, the system will first book the old 0.3 days and then supplement with 0.7 new days. This way, you don't lose the 0.3 vacation days you have left.
I need to create a vacation policy for both trainees and part time employees. How do I do that?
I need to create a vacation policy for both trainees and part time employees. How do I do that?
If your company has employees with special terms, there may be a need for a customized vacation policy for these staff groups.
This typically applies to:
Part time employees, where earning depends on the number of fixed working days
Trainees and apprentices, who may have special rules for e.g. advance vacation
In these cases, it is recommended to follow the relevant articles for correct setup:
Read more about vacation policy for part time employees
Read more about vacation policy for trainees and apprentices
Why does "Available" show the same number for 2 or more months in the calendar statistics, but "Earned" increases each month?
Why does "Available" show the same number for 2 or more months in the calendar statistics, but "Earned" increases each month?
“Available” shows how many vacation days the employee can register in a given month, without exceeding the total number of vacation days earned during the entire vacation year.
This means that planned future vacation is included in the calculation.
Therefore, “Available” is not the same as remaining balance per month.
Example:
Employee earns 25 vacation days annually (2.08 per month)
Up to and including July, 22.88 days have been earned
The employee has planned and registered 20 vacation days in July
Available in July = 22.88 – 20 = 2.88 days
Consequence:
The 2.88 days is the maximum the employee can register in July – also in previous months, as long as the days are earned in the given month
If the employee, for example, registers an additional 3 vacation days in June, then by the end of July, the total registered will be:
3 days in June
20 days in July
= 23 days
But since only 22.88 days have been earned, the employee will have registered 0.12 days more than earned in July.
In short:
“Available” takes into account both earning and future planned vacation – that's why the number can be the same across months.
What does “Vacation days used in the vacation year are not limited to the days earned in the same year” mean?
What does “Vacation days used in the vacation year are not limited to the days earned in the same year” mean?
This setting is relevant if employees should be able to take vacation from the next vacation year (i.e. use more days than they will earn in the current vacation year).
If this setting is not enabled, employees cannot register vacation that actually uses days from the next vacation year – even if advance vacation is activated.
When this setting is enabled, it is possible to use more vacation days in the vacation year than are earned in the same vacation year.
This means the vacation year can end with a negative vacation balance, which is carried over to the next vacation year.
The negative balance is then offset against the earning in the new vacation year.
Please note that carrying over a negative vacation balance to a new vacation year is not in accordance with the Danish Holiday Act.
If the vacation registration rule for advance is enabled, but the setting "Vacation days used in the vacation year are not limited to the days earned in the same year" is not, employees can only use the vacation days earned in the same vacation year and cannot end the vacation year with a negative balance.
I have a new employee starting in the middle of the vacation year. Do I need to adjust the vacation balance?
I have a new employee starting in the middle of the vacation year. Do I need to adjust the vacation balance?
A new employee only earns vacation from their date of employment.
2.08 days are earned per full month the employee has been employed.
If the new employee was hired, for example, on 15/8, he/she would earn 0.07 days from this date per employment day in the first month.
👉 To calculate the correct balance, you can multiply the number of full months from the date of employment to the end of the vacation year by 2.08. And if the employee has been employed for 15 days in the first month, multiply 0.07 by 15 to get the first month's earning.
Example: If an employee starts on 01.09.2025, 4 months × 2.08 = 8.32 days are earned up to December.
Earning 2.08 days per month gives 24.96 days per year. Not 25 days
Earning 2.08 days per month gives 24.96 days per year. Not 25 days
The rule according to the Holiday Act is:
An employee who has been employed the entire vacation year, i.e. has earned 2.08 days for 12 months, earns 2.12 days in August in the last month. This way, they earn 25 days during a full vacation year.
A newly hired employee who is employed during the vacation year and therefore has not earned 2.08 days every month for the whole vacation year does not get the extra earning of 0.04 days in August.
Do I need to do anything when the Danish vacation year changes on 1/9?
Do I need to do anything when the Danish vacation year changes on 1/9?
No. On 1/9, a new vacation year starts as it should. But the old vacation year continues until 31/12. This means that if your employees have vacation left from the old vacation year, they can plan this vacation up to 31/12. From 1/1, any vacation left is sent for vacation left processing. So you only need to do something from this date :)
BitaBIZ ensures that old vacation days are planned and used before new days.