Unemployment benefits for entrepreneurs and 3.5 hours of work during parental leave
Official title (in Danish): Lov om ændring af lov om arbejdsløshedsforsikring m.v. og barselsloven (Udvidet ret til dagpenge til iværksættere og bagatelgrænse for arbejde i selvstændig virksomhed med fulde barselsdagpenge)
In short
Reading time: 1 min- What changes:
- The act gives entrepreneurs who close their business for a period from and including the third year up to and including the fifth year after start-up the option to have the qualifying periods for unemployment benefits extended, and to choose the last 12 months before start-up as the calculation period for the benefit rate.
- Self-employed people can also work up to 3.5 hours a week in their business during parental leave without this counting as resumed work.
- Who: The rules on unemployment benefits apply to members of an unemployment insurance fund (a-kasse) who have started a self-employed business and stop operating it for a period from and including the third year up to and including the fifth year after start-up. The de minimis limit during parental leave applies to self-employed people who receive full parental benefits, but not during periods of absence under section 6(2), section 7(1), first sentence, or section 13(3) of the Parental Leave Act.
- When: The rest of the Act entered into force on 1 January 2026. Section 2 entered into force on 5 January 2026.
Written by AI from verbatim quotes from the source and checked by code and AI. Dates, tables and the fact box are calculated by fixed rules. Unofficial translation. Always read the original.
Sources and original
Read the official text (in Danish) →
The case at the Danish Parliament (ft.dk)
Source: Retsinformation.dk
Translated from Danish · The Danish version and the original source apply.
Summary by the Danish Parliament (in Danish)
Lovforslaget er en opfølgning på aftale om iværksætterpakken af den 21. juni 2024 om at sikre markant bedre vilkår og et milliardløft til dansk iværksætteri. Aftalen er indgået mellem regeringen, DD, LA, KF, RV og DF. Lovforslaget indebærer en udvidet ret til dagpenge for nystartede iværksættere, som kan anvende lønindkomst i de forudgående 12 måneder før opstart af virksomhed til at optjene dagpengeret og få beregnet dagpengesatsen. Det er en betingelse, at virksomheden lukker inden for det tredje og femte år efter virksomhedens opstart, og at virksomheden gennem sin levetid har haft en samlet omsætning eller har fået en kapitaltilførsel på 500.000 kr. Lovforslaget indfører også en bagatelgrænse for arbejde på 3½ timer pr. uge under barsel for selvstændige, så de har mulighed for at løse helt basale opgaver i virksomheden under barslen.
Source: Folketinget (ft.dk). Reproduced unchanged.
Timeline
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- Introduced · 26 February 2025Status in the Danish Parliament: Fremsat
- Passed · 29 April 2025Status in the Danish Parliament: 3.beh./Vedtaget
- Stadfæstet · 6 May 2025Status in the Danish Parliament: Stadfæstet
- Partly entered into force · 1 January 2026Status in the Danish Parliament: Stadfæstet
- Fully in force · 5 January 2026Status in the Danish Parliament: Stadfæstet