Insurance through your job in Denmark: what you have and who pays

Every employer in Denmark must insure you against accidents and illness caused by your work, and the employer pays for it. Your other cover usually depends on your collective agreement (overenskomst) or your contract, and it normally comes bundled with your pension. That includes disability, life, critical-illness and health insurance. Who pays what is set agreement by agreement. Your payslip and pensionsinfo.dk will tell you more than any general rule.

What insurance does every employer have to pay for?

Only one: arbejdsskadeforsikring (work-injury insurance). Under § 48 of the Workers’ Compensation Act, every employer must insure the people working for them. § 2 says that covers anyone employed to work in Denmark, whether the work is paid or unpaid, permanent or temporary. It applies whether or not you are in a union or covered by an agreement.

It covers two things, according to borger.dk:

• Arbejdsulykke (work accident): a sudden event at work that injures you, physically or mentally. Examples include a fall from a ladder or an assault at work. An injury that happens without any particular strain, such as hurting your back while standing up from your desk, is normally not recognised.
• Erhvervssygdom (occupational disease): an illness that develops over time because of your work.

Claims are decided by AES (Arbejdsmarkedets Erhvervssikring, Labour Market Insurance), not by your employer. In most cases your employer or doctor reports the injury and you do nothing. You can also report it yourself. If nobody reports it in time, § 36 lets you claim within one year of the injury. For a disease, that year starts when you learn it is probably work-related. If the claim is accepted, AES can award compensation for permanent injury, for lost earning capacity, and for treatment, medicine and aids. You have four weeks to appeal a decision.

This is not a private accident policy. It pays only for injuries caused by work, under the rules of the Act. AES says the Act does not pay for lost earnings or for pain and suffering. Forsikringsoplysningen adds that on your way to and from work, your own insurance normally applies.

What usually comes through a collective agreement?

Denmark has no statutory minimum wage. Pay and conditions are set in collective agreements between unions and employers, as the Ministry of Employment explains. If your employer is covered by an agreement, it applies to you even if you are not in the union.

Most agreements include an arbejdsmarkedspension (occupational pension). The pension usually comes with insurance attached, paid out of the same contributions. 3F and Forsikringsoplysningen list the usual types:

• Disability cover (tab af erhvervsevne): regular payments if illness or injury stops you working.
• Life and group life cover (gruppeliv): a payment to your family if you die before retirement.
• Critical-illness cover (kritisk sygdom): a lump sum if you are diagnosed with, for example, cancer or a stroke.
• Health insurance or health scheme (sundhedsforsikring, sundhedsordning): faster private treatment and treatments such as physiotherapy or chiropractic. 3F says most PensionDanmark members have one, without needing a doctor’s referral.
• Collective accident insurance (kollektiv ulykkesforsikring): sometimes provided through work, sometimes through a union.

How the cost is split depends on your agreement. 3F says that in the agreements it negotiates, the employer usually pays two-thirds of the pension contribution and you pay one-third. That describes 3F’s agreements only. Other agreements, and contracts outside any agreement, set their own rates, so do not assume a number. Your payslip (lønseddel) shows your own share as a pension deduction. Some payslips also show the employer’s share, which is not taken from your pay.

What does a union add?

A fagforening (trade union) gives you legal help with your contract and pay, and it negotiates the agreements. Many unions also offer member insurance deals. HK, for example, gives members access to insurance with Alka at member prices. Members of both HK’s union and HK’s a-kasse are automatically covered by HK’s lønforsikring (wage insurance). It tops up to as much as 80% of your salary for six months if you lose your job. That is HK’s offer only. Other unions offer different products at different prices.

An a-kasse (unemployment insurance fund) is a separate organisation with a separate fee. It pays dagpenge (unemployment benefit), not insurance against injury or illness. See Do you need a union and an a-kasse?

Who pays, and how is it taxed?

Pension. For an employer-administered occupational pension, both your employer’s and your own contributions are kept out of your taxable income (skat.dk, Den juridiske vejledning). You do not claim a deduction yourself. Your own contribution comes off your salary before the 8% am-bidrag (labour-market contribution) is calculated. The employer’s contribution is not income for you, but am-bidrag is still charged on it.

Health insurance. skat.dk says health benefits paid by an employer are taxable for the employee as a starting point. A health insurance that covers only prevention or treatment of work-related injuries is tax-free. If it also covers anything from your private life, the whole premium is taxable. Tax and am-bidrag are then taken on the market value of the premium. One exception: the part of the premium for treating alcohol, medicine or drug addiction can be tax-free.

Accident insurance. skat.dk says an employer-paid sickness and accident policy is tax-free if it covers only working hours. A policy that also covers your free time is tax-free only if the employer owns it.

We could not confirm on skat.dk how a health scheme paid from your pension contributions is taxed, rather than one paid directly by the employer. Ask your pension company, or check your annual tax statement (årsopgørelse).

How do I find out what I actually have?

1. Log in to pensionsinfo.dk with MitID. It shows your pensions and the insurance attached to them in one overview. Under Dine aftaler (your agreements), you can see which companies hold your schemes and open each one for the details.
2. Read your payslip. Look for pension lines, your own share and the employer’s share. Look for any health insurance shown as a taxable benefit.
3. Ask HR which agreement you are covered by, if any, and which pension company it uses.
4. Log in to that pension company’s site. That is where you name beneficiaries and adjust cover.

What does workplace cover not protect?

• Your belongings. Theft of your things at work is your own problem, not your employer’s. Home contents need your own indboforsikring (contents insurance). See Insurance in Denmark.
• Your bike. Not covered by anything from work. See Bike insurance in Denmark.
• Travel, and accidents in your free time. Unless your job or union gives you a policy that says so, buy your own.
• The commute. Your own insurance normally applies on the way to and from work.
• No collective agreement. You still have work-injury insurance and ATP, because both are set by law. Pension, health insurance and group cover exist only if your contract says so. Read the contract before you sign.
• Between jobs. Cover tied to a pension scheme does not always stop on your last day. 3F says PensionDanmark keeps it for up to five years, paid from your savings. Other companies have their own rules. Check before you leave, not after.

Common mistakes

• Treating the payslip pension line as tax. It is your savings, and it carries your insurance.
• Buying a private policy you already have. Check pensionsinfo.dk before you buy disability or life cover.
• Assuming a percentage from a friend’s job. Their agreement is not yours.
• Never naming a beneficiary. Without one, payouts go to your closest relatives under the default rules, which may not be who you want.