In this solo episode of the How to Live in Denmark podcast, Kay Xander Mellish walks listeners through the landscape of on‑the‑job benefits that Danish employees receive. She structures the discussion around three tiers of benefits: (1) those guaranteed to every full‑time worker by law (e.g., five weeks of paid vacation, public holidays, universal healthcare, parental leave with government‑paid dagpenge, and mandatory pension contributions); (2) benefits that most companies provide to all staff (e.g., subsidised hot lunch, fruit plans, on‑site gyms, private health top‑ups, and employer‑matched pension contributions); and (3) perks reserved for higher‑pay grades or executives (e.g., bonuses, stock options, company cars, and luxury leases). Mellish also highlights benefits that are rarely offered in Denmark, such as expat housing allowances and domestic help, and stresses the importance of tax considerations for any taxable perk. Throughout, she offers practical advice for negotiating benefits, explains why certain perks exist (often as business strategies to boost health and productivity), and points listeners to a text version of the episode and her forthcoming book, How to Work in Denmark.
Chapters
Hello and welcome to the How to Live in Denmark podcast. I'm Kay Xander Mellish. This is going to be one of our longer podcasts. It's about benefits you get on the job in Denmark, and there are a lot of them. It's a chapter in my upcoming book, How to Work in Denmark, which will be published this fall. So get a big cup of coffee or tea, put your feet up, and relax. Ready? Let's go. On-the-job benefits in Denmark come in 3 categories: the kind every Danish worker gets, The kind that everyone at your company gets, and the kind that everyone at a certain level at your company gets. When you talk with a future employer, you can negotiate your salary, but there's not all that much room for negotiation on benefits. In most cases, as American kindergartners say, you get what you get and you don't get upset. Fortunately, the benefits tend to be generous. First, let's talk about what everybody gets. Anyone with a full-time job in Denmark is entitled to 5 weeks annual vacation. This is in addition to the roughly 12 Danish public holidays per year. During your first year on the job, some of this vacation time may be unpaid. You need to save up paid vacation time before you can take it. Everyone is also covered by the Danish public healthcare system as a legal resident in Denmark. But be aware that this insurance is only valid in Denmark if you're not an EU citizen. If you are an EU citizen, the rules are a little different, but everyone, everyone needs extra insurance when traveling outside the EU, like to the USA, for example. Get extra health insurance before you travel. Plus, every Danish employee is entitled to parental leave. If you're the one birthing the baby, you get to stop working 4 weeks before the birth, or if your health requires it, even Earlier, and then you get 14 paid weeks after the birth. After that, you and baby's other parent can divide 32 weeks of paid leave. This leave is paid for by the government through taxes, but what you're going to get is dagpenge. That's the same amount of money that unemployed people receive. This is probably well under your weekly salary if you've come to Denmark as a professional. So many companies top up this dagpenge. So you get your full salary for the first 6 months of your parental leave. If this benefit is offered to anyone at the company, it's generally offered to everyone. Another thing offered to everyone at the company is lunch, usually a hot lunch. Now, this is a business strategy as much as a benefit. The company doesn't want people disappearing in the middle of the day to go find a sandwich or eat at a restaurant. They want them to sit there and refuel for 30 minutes and then get back to their desks. There's usually a small monthly charge for the lunch plan, but this is for tax reasons. If you didn't pay for it, it would be taxed as a benefit and end up costing you more. It's really not a good idea to refuse the company lunch plan unless you have very specific dietary needs. Not being able to eat with your colleagues cuts you off from the all-important group spirit in Danish workplaces. Usually, if you have religious or medical reasons you can't eat something, the lunch provider will work with you to make sure there's something you can eat. It's also common for Danish workplaces to have a fruit plan, which provides big bowls of fresh fruit around the office. Each employee is entitled to one piece of fruit per day. Again, this is a business strategy as well as a benefit. Employees who eat nutritious food are seen to be less likely to require expensive sick leave. Of course, when customers come to call, healthy eating seems to just go out the window. Meetings with external customers are usually catered with sugary sodas, sugary pastries, and sometimes even candy in big bowls. Please go easy on this stuff. I'll never forget the non-Dane who, in a meeting, pulled up a bowl of candy and ate the entire thing himself like a bowl of cereal. Don't do that. Anyway, these meeting treats can be worked off at the company gym, which large companies usually provide for all their employees. The bosses want you healthy not just because you're a nice person, but so that you can work harder and with more focus. Okay, let's talk pension. Everyone who works in Denmark must pay into the Danish government pension plan. Most employers also have private plans in which you contribute about 5% of your income, and the company contributes an extra 10% of your income. You can take this money with you if you leave Denmark, but it will be heavily taxed when you do. The pension plan also usually includes some life insurance and long-term disability insurance. I always chose the plan with the maximum disability coverage available, because Danish government disability benefits are difficult to get and they're not particularly generous. It's also common for companies to offer their employees and their families private healthcare plans. Now, you might ask, why do I need a private healthcare plan in a country like Denmark, where healthcare is tax-financed and free at the point of care? The answer is that public healthcare doesn't cover everything. It provides life-saving treatment, but it doesn't cover less urgent stuff like the dentist for adults or eyeglasses. Treatments like acupuncture and chiropractors are limited, and so is psychiatric or drug counseling if someone in your family should need it. Your private healthcare plan can cover this type of thing. It also provides quicker care for the type of non-emergency operation, that might require a wait from the public hospitals, like a sports injury, for example. Okay, now I've described the benefits that everyone in Denmark gets, and that everyone at specific companies get. Now a few words about the benefits you probably won't get unless you're one of the very top dogs at the company. Top executives usually get extensive bonus or stock option plans, but these are usually restricted to a certain pay grade. Company cars are also distributed by pay grade, and top executives are usually offered a leased luxury vehicle. Although having a driver is considered pompous unless you're a CEO. If you live in Copenhagen or Aarhus, it's considered cooler to bike. Even if you're the CEO. You're going to see the most aggressive and hungriest Danish executives turn up at the office in bike racing gear. They take a quick shower, they put on their business suits, go out to conquer the world. What you won't get. A few employee benefits common in other countries are almost never seen in Denmark. For example, expat housing allowances— very rare. You'll be expected to pay for your housing on your own. Domestic help is uncommon in Denmark. If you plan to live here, even as a professional, and even as a man, you're going to need good cooking and cleaning skills. You might have the option to work from home yourself at least one day a week. If you do work from home, the company will probably pay for good internet service and maybe a mobile phone. These benefits, like so many other Danish benefits, are taxable. When you're offered a benefit from your Danish employer, it's a good idea to think in terms of, is this taxable? Because Danish tax rates are high. If your benefit is taxable, It might just cost more than it's worth. And that's the How to Live in Denmark podcast for this week. You can find a text version of this podcast with a bit more information at howtoliveindenmark.com. You can also buy my first book there, How to Live in Denmark. It's also available on Amazon, iTunes, and Google Play. Follow us on Twitter @howtoliveindk. The 2 is a number. See you next time.
