Feriepenge: Danish holiday pay, explained in English — and how to claim it

Feriepenge is Danish holiday pay: when you are not paid during holiday, your employer saves 12.5% of your pay for you. Here is how to order it, when it arrives, and how to get it without MitID or after leaving Denmark.

How to order your feriepenge

1. Log in to Se og bestil feriepenge with MitID, or use the English version on lifeindenmark.dk, which also has a login for eIDs from other EU/EEA countries.
2. Check each employer, the days and the amount. Udbetaler shows who pays: FerieKonto, a holiday fund (feriekasse) under a collective agreement, or your employer.
3. Order the days after agreeing the dates with your employer. Enter your first holiday day and the number of days; a week is five days, and half days are possible.
4. Get paid to your NemKonto. FerieKonto pays about four working days after your order, but not earlier than one month before your first holiday day. An employer or holiday fund may take longer.

Do not work for pay on days you have ordered as holiday, or you may have to pay the holiday pay back.

No MitID? Use the form Application for disbursement of holiday allowance (Ansøgning om feriepenge). Tick one reason, sign it and send a photo through the contact page named on the form, or post it to Feriepengeinfo, Kongens Vænge 8, DK-3400 Hillerød. Borger.dk lists the forms, including separate ones for a previous job and for the fifth holiday week.

Feriepengeinfo is the public system that passes your order to the payer. FerieKonto holds the holiday pay of employees without a holiday arrangement in a collective agreement and is separate from Udbetaling Danmark.

Feriepenge or paid holiday?

Under the Holiday Act (ferieloven), employees earn 2.08 days of paid holiday for each month of employment, full-time or part-time. A full year gives 25 days. How you are paid for them depends on your job.

Two ways to be paid for holiday

Your job	What you get
Hourly pay, or no full pay on public holidays and sick days	Feriepenge: 12.5% of your pay before AM-bidrag and A-skat, including overtime, supplements and your own pension contribution. You order it when you take holiday.
Monthly salary with full pay on public holidays and sick days	Paid holiday (ferie med løn): normal salary during holiday, plus a 1% supplement with your May and August salary or when the holiday starts. A collective agreement can set another rate.
Salaried and leaving the job	Unused paid holiday becomes 12.5% holiday pay, paid to FerieKonto by the last bank day of the month you leave. You then order it like hourly-paid staff.

You earn holiday from 1 September to 31 August and can use it from the month after you earn it until 31 December the following year. Days earned from 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2026 must be used by 31 December 2026; days earned from 1 September 2026, by 31 December 2027. Extra days off (feriefridage) follow your contract or collective agreement.

Worked example: hourly pay and salary

Liam and Priya are fictional; both earned holiday from 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2026.

Liam orders his money from FerieKonto; Priya's employer pays her directly.

Tax: If FerieKonto or a holiday fund pays you, AM-bidrag and A-skat were deducted when you earned the money, so the payout is not taxed again. If your employer pays holiday pay itself, for example under a feriekort scheme in a collective agreement, tax is deducted when it is paid out, as it is for the ferietillæg (Skattestyrelsen, C.A.3.2).

What to check each month

• Payslip (lønseddel): The holiday pay line (feriepenge or feriegodtgørelse) should be 12.5% of your holiday-qualifying pay (ferieberettiget løn). On a salary, check your holiday days (feriedage) and the ferietillæg.
• Self-service: A month usually appears around the 5th of the next month if your pay period ends by the 15th, and around the 20th if it ends later. Each full month adds 2.08 days.
• Missing or wrong: Only the employer you earned it with can correct it, so keep your payslips.

Our guide to your Danish payslip explains the other lines.

Who to contact

Problem	Contact
Amount, days or a month is wrong	The employer you earned the holiday pay with.
A payment has not arrived	The payer under Udbetaler. FerieKonto: +45 70 11 49 10.
Help with the self-service or a letter about it	Feriepengeinfo: +45 70 11 42 42.
You disagree with a FerieKonto decision	Complain to FerieKonto within four weeks of receiving it.

Both lines are open Monday to Thursday 8:00–16:00 and Friday 8:00–15:30, Danish time. If an employer will not pay, write to them and contact your union if you have one; if the employer is bankrupt, contact Lønmodtagernes Garantifond (LG).

When the money is paid

As a rule, you get feriepenge when you take holiday. The main exceptions, from borger.dk:

Payment without taking holiday

Situation	What happens
Your fifth week is unused	Order it yourself after 31 December. It is paid automatically by 31 March only if you worked full-time for the same employer for the whole holiday period. Earlier payment needs a written agreement with your employer, made after 31 August.
The job ended during the holiday period	Order that job's holiday pay from mid-January to 30 September after the period ends.
A small amount is left over	After 31 December, FerieKonto pays up to DKK 3,000 after tax automatically if the days are beyond four weeks, the job ended by 31 December, or you took the holiday.
You leave Denmark or retire	See the next section.

If you received public benefits such as dagpenge in the period, FerieKonto must approve these payouts and can reduce the days. Holiday pay that is neither used nor paid out goes to Arbejdsmarkedets Feriefond, a fund for holiday purposes.

Leaving Denmark or the labour market

• You move abroad: Register the move so you are deregistered from the CPR register. If you no longer work for a Danish employer or receive Danish benefits, FerieKonto pays your holiday pay automatically, about 21 working days after the CPR register tells it you have left. It can pay to your NemKonto or an account abroad in your own name (DKK 70 fee; amounts under DKK 100 only to a Danish account). If an employer or holiday fund pays you, you get a letter first, and four weeks later the payer is asked to pay.
• You never lived in Denmark, or no money has come: Order it yourself within six months of your last working day, choosing that you have left the Danish labour market. Keep proof, such as your CPR deregistration, membership of a foreign unemployment fund or a job abroad. Later requests are accepted only in very special cases.
• After six months: Book the days as holiday within the holiday period, or order pay from a job that ended in that period from mid-January to 30 September.
• You live abroad but still work in Denmark: Tell FerieKonto, and order holiday pay when you take holiday.
• You retire: On folkepension, førtidspension, seniorpension, tidlig pension or an employer pension, but not efterløn, order within six months of your last working day to get it all at once.

For Liam, whose last working day was 31 August 2026, the six months run to the end of February 2027. See Holiday allowance if you leave Denmark. If you were dismissed, our termination letter guide covers notice and the a-kasse.

Worked in Denmark from 1 September 2019 to 31 August 2020? That year's holiday pay was frozen in Lønmodtagernes Feriemidler. It is paid at state pension age, but you can apply earlier after leaving the labour market for good, for example once you have had an address abroad for at least six months.

Ask your employer to fix a missing month

On 23 September 2026, Liam's August holiday pay is still missing in the self-service. His pay period ends on the last day of the month, so it should have appeared around 20 September. He writes to payroll:

The message gives the month, the payslip amount and the action he asks for.

Frequently asked questions

What is feriepenge in English?

Feriepenge is Danish holiday pay, called holiday allowance on lifeindenmark.dk. If you are not paid during holiday, typically because you are paid by the hour, your employer saves 12.5% of your pay, usually with FerieKonto.

How long does it take to get feriepenge?

FerieKonto pays about four working days after you order in Se og bestil feriepenge, but not earlier than one month before your first holiday day. An employer or holiday fund (feriekasse) may take longer.

Can I get feriepenge without taking holiday?

Only in specific cases: when you leave the Danish labour market or move abroad, for an unused fifth week after 31 December, for a job that ended during the holiday period, and for small amounts left after 31 December.

I have left Denmark. How do I get my feriepenge?

If you are deregistered from the CPR register and no longer work for a Danish employer, FerieKonto pays automatically. If not, order the money within six months of your last working day with MitID, an EU/EEA eID or the paper form.

Is feriepenge taxed?

Yes. If FerieKonto or a holiday fund pays you, AM-bidrag and A-skat were deducted when you earned the money, so the payout is not taxed again. If your employer pays holiday pay itself, tax is deducted when it is paid out.