An unemployment insurance fund is an insurance fund to which you pay a membership fee. By paying money to an unemployment fund, you insure yourself so that you will have a monthly amount to live for if you become unemployed. This amount, which is called dagpenge (unemployment benefit), is not as high as a normal salary, but it is enough money to live on in an emergency situation, such as unemployment.
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You earn the right to receive unemployment benefit once you have been a member of an unemployment insurance fund for at least one year, and once you have worked for at least 1924 hours within the past three years. This is why you should become a member of an unemployment insurance fund as soon as you find a job. If you wait until you become unemployed, it will be too late. Also note that the hours in question only count if you are a member. Therefore, in order to live up to the rule on 1924 hours work within three years, you must have been a member of an unemployment insurance fund for the entire period in question.
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You are entitled to receive unemployment benefit for at total of four years during a six-year period. If you have not found a job by then, you cannot receive unemployment benefit any more. In stead, you can receive the cash benefit. Meanwhile, this is a lower amount than the unemployment benefit.
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You can only receive unemployment benefit if you are available for work. It is up to the unemployment insurance fund to determine whether you are actually available for work
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You lose the right to receive unemployment benefit for a given period of time if your unemployment is self-induced. This is the case if, for example, you quit your job without a good reason or if you fail to appear at a workplace which has been provided for you by the unemployment insurance fund.
To be available for work means:
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That you are actively seeking work
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That you can and will take a job with one day's notice
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That you can and will participate in interviews with Jobcentret and in job activation
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That you give Jobcentret the information that is necessary in order for them to provide work for you
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That you reside in Denmark
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That you can take on full-time work, i.e. that sickness, problems with childcare or a lack of a work permit does not prevent you from taking a job
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That you are registered at Jobcentret and that your CV is filed with Jobcentret CV= database
The unemployment insurance fund also pays out
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Holiday benefits
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Leave benefits for childcare (only valid for children born before 27.3.2002)
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Money for members that are undergoing training (SVU or VEU, see the terminology list)
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Voluntary early retirement pay
For more information on holiday benefits, leave benefits etc.; see the terminology list at the final pages of this booklet.
You can also ask your unemployment insurance fund for advice if you would like to know more about your possibilities for employment and training or your possibilities for taking early retirement, or if you are in doubt about the rules un unemployment insurance.
There are several different unemployment insurance funds, and you are free to choose which one you want to become a member of. If you are in doubt about which one to choose, your trade union, your local authority social worker or the union representative at your workplace will be able to assist you.
