Guide
An employee who is working abroad is not automatically covered by Danish social security.
When an employee leaves Denmark for a short or long period of time to work inside the EU/EEA and Switzerland there is the possibility to keep the employee covered by the Danish rules for social security. This can be achieved by a decision of social security cover and the issue of an A1 certificate.
The company (or the employee) must apply to determine whether the employee is still covered by the Danish rules.
Here you can read about the rules and how you can apply for a decision of social security cover and the A1 certificate.
Being covered by social security in a country means that it is the rules of the country in question that govern whether you are entitled to social security benefits.
Social security benefits in Denmark cover:
health insurance
sick pay and maternity/paternity benefits
unemployment insurance
industrial injury insurance
state pension and disability pension
ATP Lifelong Pension
early retirement pension
child and youth benefits, including child allowance
When the employee is covered by another country's rules on social security, this means that the Danish rules on health insurance etc. does not apply. Instead, both the employee and the employer have duties and rights under the rules of the country in question.
If the employee is not covered by the Danish rules, the company must, for example, pay social security contributions in the countries in which the employee works. The company must therefore apply to determine whether the employee is still covered by the Danish rules.
The same goes for the self-employed.
As a general rule, a number of conditions must be met before your employee can remain entitled to social security in Denmark when posted or working abroad. Some of the conditions are:
That the employee has been posted to a job abroad for up to two years in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland.
That the employee has been posted to another EU/EEA country or Switzerland for a period of over two years, but no longer than three years.
That the employee is working in two or more EU/EEA countries or Switzerland.
That the employee is posted to a convention country.
That the employee is living in Sweden and working in Denmark.
A posted employee will, generally speaking, be entitled to social benefits in the country where he or she is doing the work.
However, an employee or a self-employed professional working for a Danish company, can work temporarily in another EU/EEA country and/or Switzerland but remain covered by the Social Security System in Denmark.
The company (or the employee) must apply to determine whether the employee is still covered by the Danish rules.
It is important that you remember to apply for a so-called A1 certificate from Udbetaling Danmark, as this is documentation for the Danish authorities’ decision on the employee being covered by the Danish rules for social security. It is issued when you apply for the decision on Danish social security.
Many authorities abroad require that posted workers can document that they are entitled to Danish social security when they are temporarily working in the country in question. If this cannot be documented, both the employee and the employer face the risk of being fined by the authorities in the relevant country.
Some countries may refuse access to the workplace if there is no certificate.
Both parties have a duty to apply for the right to social security in Denmark. However, it is sufficient that either the employer or employee send the application.
The conditions for continuing to be entitled to Danish social security include, among others:
That you and the employee do not expect the posting to last longer than two years (in some cases, up to three years).
That you do not post an employee abroad for the purposes of replacing another posted employee abroad.
That you post the employee to work in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland.
That the employee, immediately before being posted abroad, was covered by Danish social security. For example, this may be when the employee is living and has worked in Denmark before being posted.
The employee must have been covered by Danish social security before the start of the employment if already at the time of employment it was agreed that the employee in question would be working in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland.
Your company has a normal scope of activities in Denmark and employs its employees in Denmark.
Being posted abroad for up to three years
If your employee is to be posted for more than two years, he or she can be covered by Danish social security for up to three years.
In such cases, Udbetaling Danmark must enter into a special individual agreement with the relevant EU/EEA country or Switzerland.
You must apply to determine whether the employee is still covered by the Danish rules.
If it is a permanent and predictable part of the employee’s work to travel to another EU/EEA country and/or Switzerland on a regular basis - for example, if working with international logistics, attending conferences, courses, meetings, etc. - the employee is viewed as working in one or more countries. The employee will typically have a contract that states that the work will consist of x number of travel days.
As a general rule, the employee in question must be a citizen of an EU/EEA country or Switzerland to be covered by Danish social security while working abroad. However, different rules apply to employees that live in Denmark and employees that live in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland.
You must apply to determine whether the employee is still covered by the Danish rules.
Working for a single employer
Your employee can be covered by Danish social security if the employee lives in Denmark and at the same time works in two or more EU/EEA countries and/or Switzerland for you.
Among other things, the conditions are:
The employee is only working for one Danish employer.
It has been agreed in advance that the employee will be working in two or more EU/EEA countries and/or Switzerland on an ongoing basis.
Working for multiple employers
Your employee can be covered by Danish social security if the employee lives in Denmark and at the same time the employee is working in two or more EU/EEA countries and/or Switzerland for two or more employers. Among other things, the conditions are:
At least two of the employers are domiciled in at least two other EU/EEA countries other than Denmark. This also applies if one of the employers is domiciled in Switzerland .
Working for a single employer
If your employee is living in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland and working in multiple EU/EEA countries and/or Switzerland, the employee may be covered by Danish social security.
Among other things, the conditions are:
The employee only works for you.
It has been agreed in advance that the employee will be working in two or more EU/EEA countries or Switzerland.
The employee must be working in his/her country of residence for less than 25 per cent of the time.
The employee must contact the social authorities in the country where the employee is a resident. The social authorities will first have to decide on whether the employee is to be covered by social security in that country.
If the authorities of the foreign country assess that the employee should be covered by Danish social security, they will send a preliminary decision on this to Udbetaling Danmark. If Udbetaling Danmark agrees, it will make a final decision that the employee is to be covered by Danish social security.
Working for multiple employers
Your employee can be covered by Danish social security if the employee lives in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland and at the same time works in two or more EU/EEA countries and/or Switzerland for you while also having a side-job in his/her country of residence. The conditions for your employee being eligible for Danish social security is, among other things, that the employee:
Works in two or more EU/EEA countries and/or Switzerland for two or more employers and one of those employers are domiciled in the employee’s country of residence.
The employee does less than 25 per cent of his/her work in his/her country of residence.
If your employee takes a side-job in another country than his/her country of residence, the employee will, however, be subject to the rules of his/her country of residence.
The employee must contact the social authorities in the country where the employee is a resident.
The social authorities will decide on which country’s rules on social security the employee should be subject to.
Your employee who lives in Sweden and works in Denmark and Sweden may be covered by Danish social security.
The authorities in Denmark can enter into an agreement on Danish social security for your employee with the Swedish authorities.
Some of the conditions may be:
The employee lives in Sweden and works in Denmark for a Danish employer.
The employee spends at least 25 percent of the time working in Sweden.
The employee spends less than 50 percent of the time working in Sweden.
If the employee works less than 25 percent of the time in Sweden, there is no need to enter into an Øresund agreement on Danish social security.
Instead, the employee must contact Försäkringskassan in Sweden.
Försäkringskassan will decide on which country the employee should be covered by social security in based on the common rules for working in two or more EU/EEA countries or Switzerland.
Denmark has signed conventions on social security with a number of countries outside of the EEA and Switzerland.
The international agreements are different and typically, they only include rules on social pensions and ATP.
This means that if your employee can document that he or she is covered by Danish social security in a convention country, the employee will still accrue the rights to a Danish social pension and ATP.
At the same time, you as an employer and your employee will be exempt from paying the statutory pension contributions in the convention country.
Agreements have been entered into with:
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Canada
Chile
The Philippines
India
Israel
China
Croatia
North Macedonia
Morocco
Montenegro
New Zealand
Pakistan
Quebec
South Korea
Serbia
Turkey
The United States
In order to get documentation for social security while working in these countries, the company or employee must apply for a decision on this.
If the employee will be working in countries other than those Denmark has signed conventions with, you should not send an application to Udbetaling Danmark.
Instead, contact the relevant national institutions in Denmark and the country in question to hear more about the employee and employer’s rights and duties concerning social security.
You do not need to apply for an A1 certificate if you are working outside the EU or in a country that Denmark has not signed a convention agreement with. In such cases, it is the rules for the individual benefits that determine what you are entitled to when working or living abroad.
Here you can see who to contact for the various benefits:
Social pension and sickness benefits - your municipality
Health insurance - Udbetaling Danmark, tel. 7012 8081
Maternity/paternity benefits - Udbetaling Danmark, tel. 7012 8064
Family benefits - Udbetaling Danmark, tel. 7012 8062
ATP - contact ATP
Industrial injury insurance - the Danish National Board of Industrial Injuries
Unemployment insurance fund - contact the relevant unemployment insurance fund
Here you can read about what you as a self-employed person should do if you wish to apply for a decision on social security in Denmark when working abroad.
You are viewed as working in two or more countries if travel to another EU/EEA country or Switzerland is a permanent and predictable part of your work as self-employed.
If you are working as self-employed in Denmark and need to perform a task in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland, then in effect you are posting yourself abroad.
You can keep your entitlement to Danish social security when self-employed and posting yourself to work in another EEA country or Switzerland for up to two years.
However, you must send an application about this to Udbetaling Danmark in order to document it.
The conditions for continuing to be entitled to Danish social security include, among other things, that:
you do not expect the posting to last for more than two years.
you have comprehensive business activities in Denmark. For example, this means that your company does not merely have internal administrative activities in Denmark.
you have run your company for at least two months prior to the posting abroad.
are working in the same industry while posted abroad.
during your posting abroad, you will maintain all the necessary activities to run your company in Denmark. For example, this may require keeping an office in Denmark, paying taxes in Denmark, continuing to have the permits to work in an occupation in Denmark or remaining registered for Danish VAT during the posting abroad.
Being posted for more than two years
You may also remain entitled to Danish social security if you are posting yourself to another EU/EEA country or Switzerland for more than two years - though at most three years. If you are posting yourself abroad for more than two years, however, it requires that the authorities in Denmark and the country in question enter into a special individual agreement about you remaining entitled to Danish social security. You must send an application about this to Udbetaling Danmark If the total period exceeds three years, you cannot remain entitled to Danish social security.
If you are self-employed and working in two or more EEA countries and/or Switzerland, you may be covered by Danish social security. You are working in two or more EEA countries or Switzerland if, for example, part of your work involves business trips to two or more EEA countries or Switzerland. You may be covered by Danish social security if you live in Denmark and work as self-employed in two or more EEA countries or Switzerland. One of the conditions for being covered by Danish social security is that you have at least 25 per cent of your business activities in Denmark. Udbetaling Danmark looks at things such as working hours, turnover, the number of delivered services and earnings when they assess the scope of the business activities.
In the chart below you can see the case processing time limits:
| Type of decision | Case processing time limits |
|---|---|
| If you a posted to one country | 3 weeks |
| If you work in more than one country | 3 weeks |
| Other applications | 7 weeks |
| Special agreements on social security | 24 weeks |
The case processing time limit period begins the same day Udbetaling Danmark receives your application. You can help ensure that your application is processed as soon as possible by:
Attaching the required documentation
Ensuring that your information in the National Register of Persons (CPR) is correct.
If you are not satisfied with how Udbetaling Danmark has dealt with your case, you are welcome to contact Udbetaling Danmark, International Social Sikring. Sometimes misunderstandings can occur and can easily be resolved with a verbal explanation.
If you disagree with a decision
You may file a complaint about a decision from Udbetaling Danmark if you disagree with it. You will always receive a letter from Udbetaling Denmark, in which the decision will be stated along with a complaint guide.
Udbetaling Danmark must receive your complaint no later than four weeks after your receipt of the decision. They will then assess the matter again. However, if you have received a preliminary decision, you can only file your complaint when you receive the final decision.
If Udbetaling Danmark reject your complaint, they will forward it to the National Social Appeals Board. The National Social Appeals Board is an independent state institution and the highest complaint board for Udbetaling Danmark amongst others.
Complaints about other matters
Udbetaling Danmark will also consider complaints received about other matters in your case and investigate whether there is anything that should have been done differently. You will always receive an answer to your complaint.
How to file a complaint
You can file a complaint by calling Udbetaling Danmark or sending your complaint to Udbetaling Danmark, International Social Sikring, preferably marked ‘Klage over social sikring’.
When you contact Udbetaling Danmark, the administration is obliged as a public authority to register and save your personal data.
This Policy for protection of personal data provides information on how Udbetaling Danmark handles your personal data and your rights in relation to the same.
