The Danish vacation year
The Danish vacation earning year runs for 12 months. From September 1st to August 31st.
The 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 9/1 to 12/31:
The start of the vacation year overlaps with the old vacation year.
The end of the vacation year overlaps with the new vacation year.
In both of these overlapping periods, there may 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 yearly calendar, old days are visually marked as "Vacation left"
The "Balance per month" statistic in the calendar shows:
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:
Example: 2+1 means 2 old days + 1 new day
Yearly calendar statistics view for monthly earning
When an employee follows a vacation policy with monthly earning, the employee's statistics are shown per month directly in the calendar.
There are 2 numbers per month in the 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 two numbers do not 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
Planning future earning
The chosen vacation registration rule on a monthly vacation policy determines how your employees can plan future earning. Read more about choosing vacation registration rules here.
The default setting, which always applies as a minimum, is that you can plan vacation in the future. At the very least, once the days are earned, they can be planned.
Vacation left as of 12/31.
Vacation days earned in the old vacation year can be planned in the next vacation year up to 12/31. Old days cannot be planned after December 31st, unless they are transferred to the new period. Therefore, an employee may have more days available in December than in January. This is because December includes both old and new vacation days in Available. January does not.
Decimal vacation
With the Danish vacation law, it's almost normal for an employee to have decimals left in vacation left. The reason is typically that when an employee is hired, the earning for the first year will be uneven depending on the date of employment.
Example: Hired on June 1st.
The employee earns 3 months * 2.08 = 6.24 vacation days in the first vacation year.
The employee cannot plan the last 0.24 days. These are carried over to 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.
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 reason | 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 | If the period is between 9/1–12/31 | Calendar access → Yearly 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 → Yearly calendar | All vacation registrations in the period |
Balance changes from month to month | Monthly earning + 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 includes both old and new days | If 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 | If 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 | If 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) | If 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?
9/1–12/31 (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 vacation in the period 9/1–12/31
Here you'll find the tools to follow up on the vacation balance:
Balance per month -> shows if a vacation day is a combination of old and new days.
See history -> shows all balance variables. Earning, used, manual adjustments, transfers.
Yearly calendar -> Shows all vacation registrations and earning + available per month.
FAQ
How do we best handle vacation balances that follow the Danish vacation law?
How do we best handle vacation balances that follow the Danish vacation law?
Best practice for vacation balances regardless of country or vacation law:
An employee is connected to a fixed earning that follows the vacation law in a country.
BitaBIZ automatically adds earning per month according to the policy's earning setting. Historical earning is locked. Read more here about how to set up a monthly earning vacation policy that follows the Danish vacation law.
The earning is "reduced" by the employee via 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 decrease of a balance should only be used in special cases.
Read more in the article about Payroll Admin's calendar access for following up on an employee's vacation balance. Click here!
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 9/1–12/31. If you have earned an uneven number of vacation days and have 0.3 days 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.
Why does "Available" show the same number for two or more months in the calendar statistics, while "Earned" increases each month?
Why does "Available" show the same number for two or more months in the calendar statistics, while "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 the remaining balance per month.
Example:
The employee earns 25 vacation days per year (2.08 per month)
By the end of 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 – and also in previous months, as long as the days have been earned in the given month
If, for example, the employee 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 different months.
I have a new employee who starts in the middle of the vacation year. Do I need to adjust the vacation balance?
I have a new employee who starts 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 for each full month the employee has been employed.
If the new employee was hired, for example, on 15/8, he or she would earn 0.07 days per day of employment from that date during 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 will be 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 vacation law is:
An employee who has been employed the entire vacation year, i.e., has earned 2.08 days for 12 months, will earn 2.12 days in August for the last month. This way, they earn 25 days over 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 throughout the vacation year does not get the extra 0.04 days earning 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 until 31/12. From 1/1, any vacation left is moved to vacation left processing. So you only need to do something from that date :)
BitaBIZ ensures that old vacation days are planned and used before new days.