Parental Leave

When do you need to notify HR about your parental leave?

The Danish Parental Leave Act sets the deadlines for when you must submit the relevant leave forms to the HR Absence Team.

You can find the forms and deadlines on the right-hand side of Aarhus University’s staff page on parental leave.

Parental Leave and Holiday

You continue to accrue holiday while you are on parental leave. As a result, you may have a significant amount of holiday saved up when you return to work. All holiday earned during the current holiday year must be taken before the end of that year. For example, if you return to work in October with 25 days of holiday, you will need to use them all by 31 December. It is therefore a good idea to include holiday planning when organising your parental leave.

Please note: If you are planning to take partial parental leave, be sure to familiarise yourself with the specific rules regarding holiday and partial parental leave and reflect them in the leave plan you submit to HR. You can read more on the AU parental leave page under “Holiday and Parental Leave.”

For VIP Supervisors/PIs: Dialogue about parental leave

It is recommended that you have dialogues with your employee both before and after their parental leave to align expectations and make any necessary agreements.

You can find more information about it in “Employee dialogues in connection with leaves of absence”, which can be found under “Additional Information” on the AU parental leave page.

Please note that employees are entitled to a staff development dialogue (MUS) if their leave overlaps with the period in which MUS is normally conducted in your section.

NAT-TECH Parent Network

At NAT-TECH, there is a parent network for researchers who are expecting a child or have young children. The network provides a social forum where researchers can share experiences about parenting in Denmark and the transition between parental leave and academic work.

The network meets once a month. If you are interested in joining, please contact Birgitte So-Young Ahn at bsa@au.dk.