Amendments to the Danish Sickness Benefits Act

By Act no 480 of 12 June 2009 the Danish Parliament enacted a number of amendments to the Danish Sickness Benefits Act. To employers, the following new regulations are particularly relevant:

1. Sickness absence interview (Section 7a)

A duty for the employer to conduct a sickness absence interview with the employee on sick leave is introduced. The interview must take place no later than 4 weeks after the first day of sickness and – based on a dialogue between the employee and the employer – the interview is intended to determine when the employee will be able return to work and how the employer can support this by arranging the work in the best possible way for the employee.

The employee on sick leave should be invited to the interview with a reasonable notice, and as a starting point the interview should be conducted face to face. If a meeting in person is not possible due to the employee's sickness, the interview should take place by telephone, if possible. If