Leave of absence  

Leave of absence means that the employee is relieved of all or some of their official duties for a specific period with the right and obligation to return to a position within the area of employment at the end of the period.

Normally there is no legal entitlement to leave of absence, but the university may grant an employee leave of absence upon application. Examples of cases where an employee is currently entitled to leave are listed at the end of this page. 

In cases where an employee is not entitled to leave, leave is always granted without pay and pension.

Leave can be granted upon application from the employee. It is the management that decides whether an employee can be granted leave.

In the decision, management may, for example, emphasise:

• whether the duties of the place of employment/employee can be fulfilled in another way during the leave period
• whether the leave may be in the university's interest
• whether the leave conflicts with the university's interests

Leave is normally only granted for up to 1 year at a time. The leave period may be extended upon reapplication.

Leave of absence

Personal leave can be granted on individual days (up to a maximum of 5 consecutive days of absence).

Leave of absence can be granted with or without pay. You can read more about the cases in which we at Aalborg University grant paid leave in AAU's rules for paid and unpaid leave. In addition to the cases described in the rules, only unpaid leave is granted. 

You are not entitled to unpaid leave. Leave can only be granted by agreement with your manager. 

However, in certain cases you may be entitled to leave of absence (either with or without pay). You can read more about this at the end of this page. 

If a leave of absence is agreed, you need to find the form "Leave of absence without pay". You can find a link to the form at the top of the page. The form is completed and signed by both manager and employee. Then submit the form to HR-loen@adm.aau.dk. 

Cases where employees are entitled to leave 

In certain cases, employees may be entitled to leave or leave of absence (either paid or unpaid) as a result of law or governmental agreements. Some of these possibilities are listed below:

• Leave for family illness
• Maternity leave
• Leave for military service and UN service
• Leave for civilian service
• Leave for service abroad, international organisations and the Greenland Home Rule
• Leave for participation in the Danish Defence Reserve Forces

Whether the leave or leave of absence is paid or unpaid and whether you accrue paid seniority, holiday, etc. depends on the specific provisions that the leave or leave of absence is based on.