On the first day of illness
The relevant registrant at the department must be notified when the first day of illness begins.
On the 13th day of illness
In case of illness lasting more than 14 days, the PhD administration must also be notified, as Aarhus University obtains refund from the public sector for employees absent due to illness.
Hence, notification of long-term illnesss must take place on the 13th day of illness, and both the department and the PhD administration (Bettina H. Acthon) must be notified.
Please send the following information to Bettina H. Acthon:
Sick leave ends
As soon as you are able to work full-time, both the department and the PhD administration (Bettina H. Acthon) must be notified.
According to rules applying, the employment/enrolment can be extended if a delay in the PhD degree programme can be documented due to the sick leave.
If the deadlines are not met
If you fail to notify the graduate school of long-term illness your enrolment/employment will not be extended with the period of absence due to illness.
You cannot report sick leave retroactively. This means that if you have been unable to work full-time for the past few months without reporting your absence through the official channels (the secretary at your department or Bettina H. Acthon in the PhD administration) you will not be able to get an extension for these days.
Employment requirement in relation to the employer
The right to sick pay from the employer is conditional upon the employee, on the first day of absence,
having been continuously employed by the employer for the past 8 weeks prior to the absence, and
having worked for the employer for at least 74 hours during this period.
Employment requirements in relation to the municipality
Aarhus University is entitled to sickness benefits from the municipality if the employee
See chapter 10 and 11 in the Danish order: https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2025/97
Calculating sickness benefit
Sickness benefit for employees who are unable to work due to illness is calculated on the basis of the weekly number of hours during sick leave and the last three completed calendar months prior to the first day of absence.
Example 1
This person has been ill for a period of 46 days (6 weeks and 4 days) but the absence only corresponds to 31 days (4 weeks and 3 days) full-time.
3.6.2018 - 18.6.2018 - ill 37 hours per week - corresponding to 16 days (full-time)
19.6.2018 - 18.7.2018 - ill 18.5 hours per week - corresponding to 15 days (full-time).
= 31 days (full-time)
The absence is a month and the PhD enrolment/employment will be extended.
If the person above had started working full-time for a week between the full-time illness and the part-time illness the absence would not be uninterrupted and we would not be able to extend the enrolment/employment.
Example 2
This person has been ill for a period of 63 days (9 weeks) but the absence only corresponds to 24 days (3 weeks and 3 days) full-time.
1.10.2018 - 28.10.2018 - ill 15 hours per week - corresponding to 12 days (full-time)
29.10.2018 - 2.12.2018 - ill 12 hours per week - corresponding to 12 days (full-time)
= 24 days (full-time)
The absence is less than a month and the PhD enrolment/employment will not be extended.
Your residence permit has been granted subject to a number of conditions. It is important that these conditions are met at all times. If not, you may lose your right to stay in Denmark.
If you are residing in Denmark based on a PhD student permit (PhD1 or PhD2) one of the conditions are that you must participate actively in the study programme forming the basis for the residence permit. If you are on sick leave this condition is not met and SIRI (The Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration) can decide to revoke your permit.
SIRI will assess each case individually, but please be aware that in principle PhD students cannot stay in Denmark if they are not actively studying full time due to illness.
Because SIRI requires all PhD students to be actively studying full time on their PhD, part-time illness is usually not an option.
If they decide to revoke your permit, they will contact you directly giving you a period to comment on SIRI’s assessment.
Please note that you cannot return to Denmark to continue your PhD studies before you have a new permit, if your permit is revoked. We will help you apply for a new permit when you are fit to return full time to your PhD studies. Be aware that there is a processing time of up to seven weeks on a new permit.
We will grant you a leave without pay from your PhD enrolment/employment, if your permit is revoked. The leave starts on the day your permit is revoked and until you have been given a new permit and can resume work full time in Denmark.
Please contact your PhD programme administrator or SIRI if you have any questions in this regard.
It is important that you indicate whether it is a pregnancy-related illness or general illness when you report in sick.
Pregnancy-related illness must be reported to Udbetaling Danmark while general long-term illness must be reportet to the municipality.
Our deadline for reporting illness to the municipality or Udbetaling Danmark is no later than five weeks after the first day of absence otherwise we will lose the right to reimbursement during your sick leave.
The municipality will reject our request if the absence is just a bit reminiscent of pregnancy-related illness.
When you contact the PhD Administration (Bettina H. Acthon) about pregnancy-related illness, please also state the expected date of birth.
The difference between pregnancy problems and pregnancy-related illness
A basic distinction is drawn between two types of absence and illness during pregnancy
Illness is a holiday obstacle. This means that you are not allowed to take a holiday while you are absent from work due to illness. This applies to all PhD fellows at the Faculty of Arts, Aarhus University who are registered as being fully absent from work due to illness.
If you return to work on a part-time basis, please note that if you inform the municipality that you have recovered from your illness with a view to taking a holiday while you are still partially absent due to illness, problems may arise if you subsequently wish to be absent due to illness again after this holiday. In these circumstances, the municipality alone decides whether this is possible. So you need to ensure that any return to absence due to illness is permitted before contacting the PhD administration about your holiday. This is to prevent the graduate school from losing the reimbursement to which it is entitled.
Please inform Bettina H. Acthon (PhD administration) of the holiday period in question in good time, as well as informing her of the municipality’s decision about returning to full absence from work due to illness after your holiday.
You are responsible for ensuring that the person who registers holiday periods at your school/department updates your holiday record in MIitHR.
Our right to sickness benefits/reimbursements only applies if you remain in Denmark while you are absent from work due to illness. This applies to both full-time and part-time sick leave.
An exception can be made if the doctor (for health reasons) recommends that you travel to your home country. The municipality has the final say in the matter. They may allow you to travel to another country if the departure is recommended by a Danish doctor for health reasons and the recreational stay is under permanent medical supervision. Be aware that different rules apply within EU and outside EU. We are not entitled to sickness benefits for stays with family members.
If you plan on leaving Denmark on recommendation of your doctor you must contact your social worker prior to departure in order to get their aproval of your plans. If the municipality does not approve your request we will lose the reimbursement if you leave Denmark. It is very important that we do not lose the right to reimbursement during your sick leave.
Please let us know prior to departure if the municipality has approved your request.
As a PhD fellow, you are employed in a fixed-term position which has an expiry date.
If your enrolment ends during leave, your salary payments will stop unless you can resume work full-time no later than the day after the enrolment's expiry date.
Your enrolment/employment can only be extended for the part of your leave that is placed within the original/current period of enrolment.
The extension of your enrolment/employment will apply from the day you are able to resume your PhD studies full-time if your application for extension due to illness is approved.
No extension will be given for illness lasting less than one month.
Max one year between enrolment end and re-enrolment
If you report fully fit for work no later than one year after your employment period ended, you are entitled to submit an application for the full-time resumption of your PhD studies. However, you cannot re-enrol for a period which is any longer than the period of absence due to illness occurring prior to the end of your enrolment period.
Please make sure that the following information is written on the invoice
EAN-nummer: 5798000418271
Sted: 1231
Projekt: 12089
Aktivitet: 33997
Attention: Ph.d.-skolen, Arts
Name: Your name must be stated in the electronic invoice.
Bekendtgørelse om elektronisk afregning med offentlige myndigheder
BEK nr. 206 af 11.03.2011
§ 5. Regninger til offentlige myndigheder skal sendes, så de modtages elektronisk i et format, der er læseligt for den offentlige myndighed og umiddelbart kan indlæses i myndighedens fakturahåndterings- eller økonomisystem. Fysiske og juridiske personer, der ikke har mulighed for at fremsende regninger elektronisk fra eget faktureringssystem, kan fremsende regninger via udfyldelse af en fakturaskabelon.
Send invoice
https://indberet.virk.dk/myndigheder/stat/Digitaliseringsstyrelsen/NemHandel_Fakturablanket
If you are suffering from a chronic or long-term condition that is expected to cause at least 10 days of absence in a year, you and the head of your department may ask the municipality for a Section 56 agreement.
You can enter into a Section 56 agreement (in Danish "§56-aftale") in the following cases:
Application: Apply on borger.dk or this Danish application form
For further information please contact Anna Plaskett at the PhD Administration.
Aarhus University
Guidelines regarding illness, including fit note (AU HR's website): English version - Danish version
AU Staff policy (AU HR's website): English version - Danish version
The Danish ministerial order on sickness benefits
The act on sickness benefits during illness: Danish version
The National Labour Market Authority
Employee absence due to illness - employer guide (The National Labour Market Authority's website)
Please fill out the form and sent it to Bettina H. Acthon once you are able to resume your PhD studies full-time.
Please fill out the form and sent it to Bettina H. Acthon if you are able to resume your PhD studies full-time before the pregnancy leave begins. Otherwise, send it to Bettina H. Acthon at the same time as Parental leave form 2.
