Employing in Denmark: fourteen questions employers put to us, answered for 2026

1

Which route puts a person on Danish payroll?

Through your own Danish company, or by having an employer of record hold the employment for you. Both routes give the hire a Danish contract, the core written terms within 7 days and a monthly payroll withholding A-skat and the 8% AM-bidrag. Before the first pay run the newcomer must have a CPR number (or, for a short stay, a personal tax number), a tax card, which Skattestyrelsen issues, and a NemKonto. Candidates without EU, EEA or Swiss citizenship also need a SIRI permit before they start.

2

How much above salary does a Danish hire cost in 2026?

Barely more than the salary. A salaried Copenhagen hire on DKK 660,000 a year costs the employer about DKK 674,802 in 2026: the 1% holiday supplement plus DKK 8,202 of flat levies, since Danish employers pay no social security charged as a percentage of pay.

An occupational pension, if you offer one, and the work-injury insurance premium come on top, as neither has a statutory rate. Our fee arrives on a separate euro invoice: Danish hires start from €599 per employee per month.

3

How long before a Danish hire can begin?

On whatever date you and the candidate agree, provided the person may already work in Denmark. We issue the contract and written terms before day one, and the first payslip comes with the next monthly pay run. Chase the tax card early: a preliminary income assessment typically arrives about two weeks after a complete application, and any pay run done without a card must withhold 55%. For a non-EU hire, SIRI’s permit decision comes first and fixes the date.

4

Is a Danish ApS needed before the first hire?

No, if an employer of record takes the person onto its Danish payroll: we sign the contract as employer and run the pay cycle, while you direct the work. The alternative is your own private limited company (anpartsselskab, ApS), with a share capital floor of DKK 20,000, registration on virk.dk inside 2 weeks of the decision to found it and a DKK 670 digital fee. From then on the ApS carries every employer duty itself, from eIndkomst and Samlet Betaling to work-injury insurance, the workplace assessment and daily time records.

5

Freelance invoice or Danish payslip?

An employee, wherever you give instructions, fix the hours and are the person’s sole client, since that is how Skattestyrelsen is likely to read it. Its legal guidance (Den juridiske vejledning, C.C.1.2.1) weighs the whole relationship, and neither the label on the contract nor VAT registration decides the point. If a contractor is reclassified, withholding of A-skat and AM-bidrag is reopened, and ATP, 12.5% holiday allowance, salaried notice rights and an award of up to 13 weeks’ pay for missing written terms can follow.

6

What goes into the written terms, and when?

The essential terms, in writing, on a fixed timetable; the format is up to you. Under Ansættelsesbevisloven the parties, workplace, job, start date, probation, pay and pay dates, normal hours and overtime are due within 7 calendar days. Leave, notice, training, the applicable collective agreement if there is one and the bodies receiving contributions follow within a month. Probation may run to 6 months, but a salaried employee’s 14-day notice works only in the first 3. Electronic copies count if they can be stored and printed.

7

What is withheld from a Danish salary?

Nearly all the statutory weight sits with the employee. Each month the employer withholds the 8% labour market contribution (arbejdsmarkedsbidrag, AM-bidrag) on all pay, with no ceiling, then income tax (A-skat) using the card’s withholding rate after a monthly allowance: 35.40% in Copenhagen for 2026. Personal income over DKK 641,200 also bears a 7.5% middle tax. Small and medium employers file both through eIndkomst and pay them about ten days after the month closes. What the employer adds is a set of flat sums per head.

8

Is any Danish pay rate fixed by law?

No. No statute fixes a national rate; pay floors come from collective agreements (overenskomster) between unions and employer organisations, and they bind an employer covered by one for all staff in scope, union members or not. Without an agreement, pay is negotiated freely, and the Danmarks Statistik 2025 average of DKK 52,846 a month, pension included, is a sensible benchmark.

9

How much holiday and other leave do Danish staff get?

Holiday is 25 paid days a year, accruing at 2.08 days for each month worked under the Holiday Act (Ferieloven), in a holiday year from 1 September to 31 August, usable until 31 December. Salaried staff also get a 1% supplement. Seven public holidays fell on weekdays in 2026. Parents can draw state parental benefit for up to 52 weeks in total, a salaried mother is owed half pay or more until week 14 after the birth, and anyone may take 5 days of unpaid care leave a year.

10

Sick days: whose cost?

For salaried staff, the employer: full salary carries on from day one, and Denmark has no waiting days. The first 30 calendar days form the employer period and are not refunded. From day 31 the municipal sickness benefit is paid back to the employer, capped at DKK 5,085 a week in 2026, so the net cost drops. Staff must report sickness within 2 hours of their start time. A contract may add the 120-day clause, allowing one month’s notice after 120 paid sick days in 12 months.

11

Where do Danish payroll contributions end up?

Mostly with Samlet Betaling, the joint collection run by ATP, on one invoice each quarter. It covers ATP, the statutory supplementary pension of DKK 297 monthly per full-time person, two thirds of it paid by the employer, plus AUB for training refunds, Barsel.dk for parental-leave refunds, the financing contribution for the fund that pays wages after an employer’s bankruptcy, and AES for occupational disease. A-skat and AM-bidrag go to Skattestyrelsen. Accidents at work need a private insurance policy, and any pension above ATP comes from an agreement or the contract.

12

What notice applies when you end a job?

For salaried staff, Funktionærloven sets the employer’s notice: 1 month in the first 6 months, 3 months after that, plus a month per completed three years of service, capped at 6. Notice, given in writing, runs to a month end. After a year’s service a dismissal has to be reasonably justified (rimeligt begrundet), or compensation can follow. Statutory severance begins only at 12 years, with 1 month’s pay, rising to 3 months’ pay at 17 years. Inside a probation of up to 3 months, 14 days’ notice is enough.

13

What applies to home and border workers?

The ordinary Danish rules, lightly adjusted. There is no telework act: BEK 597 of 2026 lifts the workplace-design chapter for home desks but keeps the screen-work rules, while time recording, the 11-hour daily rest and the workplace assessment apply in full. A person living abroad with limited Danish tax liability pays a flat 25% where residents pay municipal tax, and commuters who earn 75% or more of their income from Danish sources may choose resident-style taxation. Work abroad beyond 4 consecutive weeks needs written terms before departure.

14

Which tasks does an employer of record take over?

The employer’s side of the paperwork. We put the Danish contract and written terms in place, run DKK payroll with A-skat and AM-bidrag withheld, pay ATP, settle the quarterly Samlet Betaling invoice, apply the Holiday Act, claim sickness and parental-leave refunds and handle the formal steps of any dismissal. Picking the person, setting the work and signing off holiday stay with you. Billing for this work begins from €599 per employee per month, varying with role and scope.