Unemployment insurance
As a general rule you should be able to support yourself and your family while working and living in Denmark. However, as the national of another country you can also insure against unemployment and receive financial support if you are made redundant.
You can also transfer seniority from the unemployment insurance fund in your home country to your new Danish unemployment fund (a-kasse).
In most EU countries, unemployment insurance is linked to your employment and is compulsory. In Denmark unemployment insurance is voluntary, and to qualify for unemployment benefit you must register as a member of an unemployment fund (a-kasse).
Free choice of unemployment insurance fund
Like other trade unions in Denmark, FOA, the trade union for the employee groups to which you belong, has an affiliated unemployment insurance fund. But this does not mean you have to choose this fund. The unemployment fund and the trade union are independent of each other, and it is up to you to decide which unemployment fund to join. The advantages of choosing FOA’s unemployment fund are that its staff have specialist knowledge about your precise field of work, and that it is located in the same building as the union’s local branch, which allows the two to coordinate their efforts if problems arise during your employment.
Transferring earned benefit rights
If you come from an EU country where you have been a member of an unemployment fund, your can transfer your earned benefit rights to Denmark.
If and when you return home, you can transfer benefit rights in the same way from your Danish employment fund to your home country.
If you lose your job
If you lose your job, you are entitled to receive benefits once you have been a member of an unemployment fund for a year and have been in full-time employment for at least 52 weeks within the past three years.
To receive unemployment benefit, a person must be unemployed and willing and able to accept another job. This means you must actively seek work.
If you are looking for a job in Denmark in these areas
- care of the elderly, sick and disabled
- children and young people
- catering and cleaning services
- technical and maintenance services